Personal advertisement
822164
225396790
2008-07-13T13:39:16Z
86.96.227.74
{{redirect|Personals||Personal}}{{redirect|M4M||Measure for Measure}}{{Two other uses||the Lonely Hearts film|Lonely Hearts (film)|the Angel episode|Lonely Hearts (Angel episode)}}
A '''personal''' or '''personal ad''' is an item or notice traditionally in the [[newspaper]], similar to a [[classified ad]] but [[personal]] in nature. With its rise in popularity, the [[World Wide Web]] has also become a common medium for personals, commonly referred to as [[online dating]]. Personals are generally meant to generate [[romantic love|romance]], [[friendship]], or casual (sometimes sexual) encounters, and usually include a basic description of the person posting it, and their interests.
Due to newspaper prices being based on [[character (computing)|characters]] or lines of text, a [[jargon]] of abbreviations, [[acronym]]s and [[code word]]s arose in personals, and have carried over to the internet.
==Examples of single-letter abbreviations used in [[three-letter acronym]]s (TLA)==
* 4: [[Prepositions|for]] ("seeking", "desires", etc.)--for 2nd letter of a TLA
* A: [[Asian people|Asian]]--for 2nd letter of a TLA
* B: [[Black (people)|Black]]--for 2nd letter of a TLA
* C: [[Couple]]--for 3rd letter of a TLA
* F: [[Female]]--for 3rd letter of a TLA
* G: [[Gay (term)|Gay]]--for 1st letter of a TLA
* H: [[Hispanic]]--for 2nd letter of a TLA
* J: [[Jewish]] or [[Japan]]ese--for 2nd letter of a TLA
* L: [[Latino]] or [[Latino|Latina]]--for 2nd letter of a TLA
* M: [[Male]] (or Man)--used as 1st or 3rd letter of TLA
* M: [[Marriage|Married]]--for 1st letter of a TLA
* S: [[Single person|Single]]--for 1st letter of a TLA
* T: [[Transgender]]--used before or after 4
* W: [[White (people)|White]]--for 2nd letter of a TLA
* W: [[Woman]]--used before or after 4
==List of common abbreviations, [[acronym]]s, and [[code word]]s ==
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* ASL: Age Stats Location OR Age Sex Location
* 420 (or 4:20): refers to [[cannabis]] (see [[420 (drug culture)]])
* B&D (also B/D): [[Bondage (BDSM)|Bondage]] and [[Discipline (BDSM)|Discipline]]
* BB: [[Bodybuilding|Bodybuilder]] or [[Barebacking]]
* BBC: Big Black Cock
* BBC: Big Black Cunt
* BBW: [[Big Beautiful Woman]] ([[Overweight]])
* BMW: (Big Mexican Woman) overweight Mexican woman
* [[BDSM]]: [[Bondage (BDSM)|Bondage]] and [[Discipline (BDSM)|Discipline]], [[Domination and submission (BDSM)|Dominance and Submission]], [[Sadism and masochism|Sadism and Masochism]]
* BF: Black Female, or Boyfriend
* BHM: Big Handsome Man (uncommon, see [[BBW]])
* Bi: [[Bisexual]]
* BiF: Bisexual Female
* BiM: Bisexual Male
* CD: [[Cross-dressing|Cross Dresser]]
* D/D: drug and disease
* DDF: Drug and Disease Free
* [[Down-low (slang)|DL]]: Down low: engages in secretive same-sex sex, often when in a heterosexual relationship
* Dom: Male Dominant partner/participant in [[BDSM]]
* Domme: Female Dominant partner/participant in [[BDSM]]
* D/s: [[Domination and submission (BDSM)|Dominance and Submission]] - lowercased "s" signifies power exchange
* DTE: Down-to-earth
* DWF: Divorced White Female
* DWM: Divorced White Male
* FTM: Female-to-Male Transgender
* FWB: Friend With Benefits (friendship plus sex and no emotions)
* GAM: Gay Asian Male
* GBM: Gay Black Male
* GF: Gay Female (Lesbian), or Girlfriend
* GG: Genetic Girl/Real Girl/All-Girl as opposed to a TV/TS/TG "girl"
* GSOH: Good Sense Of Humour
* GHM: Gay Hispanic Male
* GWC: Gay White Couple
* GWF: Gay White Female
* GWM: Gay White Male
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* Het: [[Heterosexual]]
* [[HWP]]: [[Height Weight Proportional]]: indicates an 'ideal' body weight
* IRL: In Real Life: face to face meeting
* ISO: In Search Of
* LTR: Long Term Relationship (opposite of NSA)
* M4M: Man seeking man
* M4MW: Man seeking man and woman
* M4T: Male seeking [[transsexual]] or [[transvestism|transvestite]] (cross dresser)
* M4W: Man seeking woman
* MBC: Married Black Couple
* MBiC: Married Bisexual Couple
* MHC: Married Hispanic Couple
* [[MOTOS]]: Member of the Opposite Sex
* [[MOTSS]]: Member of the Same Sex
* MTF: Male-to-Female Transgender
* MW4M: Man and woman seeking man
* MW4MW: Man and woman seeking man and woman
* MW4W: Man and woman seeking woman
* MWC: Married White Couple
* ND: Non-Drinker
* NS: Non-Smoker or Non-Smoking
* NSA: No Strings Attached (opposite of LTR)
* OFAC: Own Flat And Car
* OHAC: Own House And Car
* PNP: [[Party and Play]] (drugs, usually [[crystal meth]], and sex)
* Pre-Op: Pre-Operational [[Transsexual]] with [[genitalia]] unaltered, typically male-to-female
* RTS: Real-Time Sex
* S&M (also S/M): [[Sadomasochism]], aka Sadism & Masochism
* SAE: Self Addressed Envelope
* SASE: Self Addressed Stamped Envelope
* SBF: Single Black Female
* SBM: Single Black Male
* SBiF: Single [[Bisexual]] Female
* SBiM: Single Bisexual Male
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* ski: an outdoor [[skiing|snow]] or [[water skiing|water sport]], or code for [[cocaine]] use
* snow: [[cocaine]]
* STD: [[sexually transmitted disease|Sexually Transmitted Disease]]
* Str8: Straight (not bisexual or gay)
* sub (also subby or subbie): Submissive partner/participant in [[BDSM]] (always lowercase)
* SWF: Single White Female
* SWM: Single White Male
* SWS: Sex Without Strings(one night stand)
* TG: [[Transgendered]] person
* Tina: [[Methamphetamine]]
* TLC: Tender Loving Care
* TS (also Transsexual or Tranny): [[Transsexual]] person, typically male-to-female
* TV: [[Transvestism|Transvestite]] person
* TYVM: Thank You Very Much
* VGL: Very Good Looking <!-- http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/VGL -->
* VAS: [[Vasectomy]]
* W/E: Well Endowed: larger than average male organ
* W/S: [[Urolagnia|Watersports]]
* W4M: Woman seeking man
* W4MW: Woman seeking man and woman
* W4W: Woman seeking woman
* WLTM: Would Like To Meet
* YO: Years Old
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==References==
* http://www.stargazers.com/abbrevad.html
* http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/
* http://www.1-true-love.com/datingtips/abbr.shtml
* http://www.all-acronyms.com/?tg=personals&o=a
==See also==
*[[Contact magazine]]
*[[Craigslist]]
*[[Gumtree]]
*[[Online dating service]]
[[Category:Advertising]]
[[Category:Interpersonal relationships]]
[[de:Kontaktanzeige]]
[[eo:Konatiĝa anonco]]
[[fr:Annonce personnelle]]
[[sv:Kontaktannons]]