There are acronyms that we cling to long after the conditions that created them cease to exist. Although first recorded on internet chatrooms in the 1980’s, it was mobile phones that were the making of “LOL” (laugh out loud), when we were charged per letter in text messages; the acronym has since become synonymous with the brick and flip phones that were once the height of modernity. In escort advertising, we have plenty of acronyms that have endured beyond the time when we paid for advertising in the back of newspapers and magazines and were charged by the word. “BBBJ” (bareback blowjob), “DFK” (deep French kissing), “GFE” (girlfriend experience), “PSE” (porn star experience) and others that are more reminiscent of sports, such as “MSOG” (multiple shots on goal). If a client evidences too much familiarity with the more obscure of these acronyms, such as “DATY”(dining at the Y, a stomach-turning term for cunnilingus), I see it as either proof of his age or a red flag that he has spent too much time on escort review forums. Similarly, my continued use of “LOL” probably dates me as a millennial to the younger generations.
Acronyms have the incredible beauty of being entirely dependent on context, and somewhat chameleon. “CBT” to many people is cognitive behavioural therapy, whilst to me it is cock-and-ball torture. They can mark you as part of a fandom, as my insistence on “LOTR” (Lord of the Rings) does, or as simply part of pop or internet culture, like “BDE” (big dick energy). As contexts change, they can pass quickly into unintelligibility, which makes them almost chimeric, composed of phrases and words of another era. Who really knows what “RSVP” stands for anymore?
I certainly struggle to decipher any of the Second World War postal acronyms that were once written in letters or on the backs of envelopes between lovers due to wartime censorship, such as “SWALK” (sealed with a loving kiss) or “ITALY” (I trust and love you). Brevity seems to be preferred, with “LOL” and the French “MDR” (mort de rire) outlasting more complex ones such as “ROFL” (rolling on the floor laughing). Ease of pronunciation also plays a part, though: many of these acronyms that are easier to say transition from the written to the spoken word, such as in the case of “LMAO” (laughing my ass off), which I hear almost as often as I see.
Some have taken on other meanings as they’ve reached a wider audience. “T4T’”(trans for trans)—which was used, along with acronyms such as “M4M” (masc for masc) and “ISO” (is seeking out) in personal classifieds to signify dating or casual sex preferences, both in print and online—has taken on a politically charged meaning in this decade, and is often used as an expression of power or community. Many such message board acronyms reflect a purity of intention, a cutting to the chase, even if they’re also somewhat dehumanising. “ASL” (age sex location), which I used extensively in my teens on anonymous sites such as Omegle, reduced everyone to three factors that would quantify their interest or value to you—ultimately, a time saver.
While we are less limited in word space these days, with even X (FKA Twitter) lengthening the word count it allows for posts, many acronyms are still useful as a coded way to communicate, either to signal to others in the know or to disguise illegal acts. “PNP” (puff/party and play) is used to denote chem sex (sex sessions involving the taking of illicit drugs). And some have just become customary in their own right. “LOL” has gone through a cycle, in my lifetime, of being cutting edge, then dated, then ironic, then post-ironic, then acceptable again and likely here to stay. This reminds me of what the director Paul Verhoeven said about his 1995 film Showgirls, when it achieved cult status after terrible reviews—it was “a resurrection” beyond his original vision. Which acronyms will be opaque to us in coming years, and which are here to stay, a permanent PS to our shifting language and culture?
