Learning something new is always challenging. This is especially true for seniors, who have already had many decades in which to develop their routines and patterns. Stepping outside their comfort zone is difficult enough, but the fact that they might have to learn almost a whole new language stops many seniors in their tracks. If you're a senior just learning to use the internet, here are some common abbreviations you may come across.

LOL - stands for "Laugh Out Loud," but in common usage, users are rarely actually laughing as they text the message. If is often used to indicate a factitious or self deprecating statement.

OMG - stands for "Oh My God" - an expression of surprise and/or awe

ROTFL - stands for "Rolling On The Floor Laughing". Again, users are rarely actually on the floor, but simply find something very funny and/or clever.

LMAO - stands for "Laughing My Arse Off". Usage is similar to ROTFL but is more common.

B4 - stands for "Before". Is simply quicker to type.

BRB - stands for "Be Right Back". This is often used when users are about to step away from their keyboard for a few minutes to visit the bathroom or a kitchen, for a five minute break.

TTYL - stands for "Talk To You Later". Used to end a conversation with a vague promise of hooking up again at a later time.

BTW - stands for "By The Way".

IDK - stands for "I Don't Know"

JK - stands for "Just Kidding". Also written j/k. Used to indicate a joking statement, such as a bad joke, where there is no tonal spoken component to give the joke away.

L8R - stands for "Later".

OIC - stands for "Oh, I See".

P2P - stands for "Peer to Peer". Used to refer to networks such as Limewire or Isohunt where users can exchange files between one another. These sites are often a source of free copyrighted files, which is known as internet piracy.

THX - stands for "Thanks", which itself if an abbreviation of Thank You.

PLZ - stands for "Please".

PM - stands for "Private Message". Often used in public chat rooms to request that you retreat to another program or private room where you can talk about private matters or other sensitive topics without other users being able to read your messages. PMs can also be used for keeping something on the DL or "down low". As way to let one or two people in on information without blasting it out to the whole internet.