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 == {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} * 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 {{col-break}} * 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 {{col-break}} * 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 {{col-end}} ==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]]