afk: Away from keyboard.

atm: At the moment.

bbiab: (I'll) be back in a bit.

bbl: (I'll) be back later.

bbs: 1. Be back soon. 2. Bulletin board system. BBSes were once the popular mode of online communication before the explosion in popularity of the internet. Each BBS was dialed to directly, and BBSes were not connected with each other. Persons would dial in and communicate by leaving messages on various bulletin boards, or download available files.

botspot: The last name on the WHO listing.

brb: (I'll) be right back.

brt: (I'll) be right there.

btw: By the way.

character: Your online persona. This term is sometimes used synonymously with player, in the sense that a player is one of the four MUSH object types that represents a person actually logged in to the MUSH. Sometimes the word character is used to distinguish the person's virtual persona from the actual, real person.

db: Database.

desc: Description. This is what others see when they look at you, and you can set your description with the @desc command.

fubar: [Messed] up beyond all repair (or recognition).

globals: Soft-coded commands, created or installed by the MUSH wizards, that work anywhere within the MUSH. These commands often have the + prefix. (Examples: +finger, +who)

god: 1. A special type of wizard, that has even more powers than a wizard (such as the ability to make a player a wizard or make a wizard a normal player. A MUSH has only one god of this type. 2. God (or goddess) is also used to refer to a wizard who acts as a supervisor or boss of the other wizards.

hard code: MUSH commands that come with TinyMUSH. These commands often have the @ prefix. (Examples: @desc, @tel, look, get)

ic: In-character. It means that a player is acting not as himself or herself, but is acting as an alternate, made-up persona (character) that he or she has created.

imho: In my humble opinion.

imo: In my opinion.

irl: In real life (as opposed to virtual reality).

jk: Just kidding.

lol: (I'm) laughing out loud.

mortal: A player who is not a wizard (or god).

MU*: A generic term that refers to all the different virtual text worlds, including: MUSH, MUD, MUX, MUCK, MUSE, and MOO.

MUSH: Multi-User Shared Hallucination. It is a virtual world created of text in which players can interact with each other, and run by a program called TinyMUSH.
(See the What's a MUSH? page for more detail.)

omw: On my way.

ooc: Out-of-character. It means that while a player normally interacts as an alternate, made-up persona (character) that he or she has created, he or she is doing or saying something as himself or herself, and not as that persona.

otoh: On the other hand.

player: 1. One of the four MUSH object types, that represents a person actually logged in to the MUSH. 2. This is sometimes used to refer to the real person who is logged in to the MUSH, as opposed to that person's character or virtual persona.

puppet: A puppet is a special MUSH object that is controlled by another player. The puppet acts like a player, in that it talks and acts at the controller's command, and the controller sees everything that the puppet sees when the puppet is in a different room than the controller.

rl: Real life.

rotfl: (I'm) rolling on the floor laughing.

soft code: MUSH commands created created by players within the MUSH. Soft code includes global commands and player-created commands placed on things or rooms.

spam: A lot of unwanted text on your screen, usually scrolling by so fast that it's difficult to read or text that you want to see gets lost in it. Creating unnecessary spam is considered rude.
(See the Etiquette page for more.)

spoof: Using MUSH commands to either fool others into thinking that you are another player, or to fool others by sending them private messages that they think are public. This is considered very rude (and against Shambala's rules).
(See the Etiquette page for more.)

@toad: @Toading is a MUSH punishment. It is when a wizard turns a player into a toad, disconnecting that player and preventing log-in to that player again. This is considered harsh punishment reserved for the worst offenses.

ts: Tinysex. This is the act of simulating a sexual encounter on a MUSH.

ttfn: Ta-ta for now.

ttyl: (I'll) talk to you later.

twink: A person who is rude, obnoxious, or who takes advantage of MUSH commands and code to harass others. Don't be a twink! Follow proper Etiquette.

vr: Virtual reality.

wizard: Wizards are players who act as administrators of the MUSH. They have some abilities other players don't have (the ability to @teleport anywhere, the ability to modify any object) that help them act as administrators.

wtf: What the [heck]? A vulgar exclamation of unpleasant surprise or confusion.

wtg: Way to go.