Remember the time long, long ago when you first logged onto the internet? If you are among the 'normal' beings, it is quite likely that you must have been baffled to no end, especially when it came to chatting. Yes, chatting is one of the first attractions online, whether you are chatting on any instant messenger or within a social networking website or even from your cellphone.

The baffling part comes when the person on the other end turns out to be a veteran user of the internet, unlike you who has only been online a couple of times or don't have an idea of which abbreviations are used while chatting.

So, whenever the other person uses shorthand or an abbreviation, you feel totally silly and have no clue about the meaning and you don't want to ask what that means. On the other hand, the other person is obviously expecting you to reply accordingly. A lot of people can actually identify with this scenario — it has happened to most of us when we began to chat.

But the question is, in such a situation, what is the best course of action? The answer is simple. You put the abbreviation in a Google search box and check out the result. If you are on an instant messenger, you can go to the official website of that messenger and see what the different emoticons stand for.

Interestingly, there is actually a category of websites which has emerged to help out people in sticky scenarios. Internet Slang Dictionary (http//www.noslang.com) is one of the handiest websites around. All you need to do is to enter the abbreviation or acronym in the search box on its main page, and it will tell you what it means. For instance, enter 'brb' in it and it will return the result 'be right back.'

Such abbreviations, acronyms and symbols are used while sending messages not knowing what the symbols mean can prove quite embarrassing and, not to mention, it can land one in sticky situations too.

There are many websites which will give you a comprehensive list of the most commonly used abbreviations and acronyms over the internet and through cell phones. However, going through such lists can be a bit mind-boggling, because there are many acronyms there, which are not used in this part of the world.