Americans are known for their desire to shorten words. This is usually due to the fact that they sometimes do not have time for long tedious conversations, and for faster exchange of information, some words are reduced.
At first, the notorious “okay” came to us from overseas, which more often replaces the word “good” in the ordinary language, but now there are more and more incomprehensible combinations of letters that are really impossible to understand.
Youth slang
The tendency to use foreign words and abbreviations is usually attributed to the younger generation, in whose life Internet communication takes up most of the time, including in English, from where these obscure and illogical sets of letters that are used in everyday life come from.
Knowing the English language, of course, it is easy to figure out what's what, but there are cases and much more neglected ones. If it is easy to deal with abbreviations like bye and k, then with more complex combinations of letters there are problems. For example, an inexperienced Internet user is unlikely to guess what is behind the “asap” combination, or will think for a long time what “offk” is.
Slang abbreviations from English words are mainly common among players in online multiplayer games, because that is where people often have to communicate on European servers, where English is the most convenient language for interaction. Sometimes gamers get so used to such communication that they involuntarily transfer it to their personal lives. And now the interlocutor sits and thinks: what kind of strange “brb” or “ofk” is this? This is a rather interesting question, which we will try to disclose below.
What do abbreviations mean?
Many people nevertheless come to the conclusion that using abbreviations is much more convenient than, for example, writing "I will leave" or "I will soon" every time. Instead, you can limit yourself to three letters - “brb” or “afk”.
The first came from a steady English expression, be right back, which means "speedy return." This is equivalent to the fact that the Russian person will say: "I literally for a minute." Another way to notify the other party of a longer absence is to write “afk” to him. It stands for Away from keyboard, in the literal sense - "moved away from the keyboard." This shortcut is useful for chatting and in games.
Do not confuse “afk” with a very consonant, but completely different “offk”, since the definition of the word “offk” is completely different. It came from the English Of course, which means "of course." Simply put, the interlocutor absolutely agrees with you, and he has absolutely nothing to argue or add. Often “offk” is a sarcastic mockery of something that the interlocutor says. It means that the conversation is over, and still do not want to listen to you. The same as exclaiming “well, of course!” and splash hands. An incorrect example of the use of the abbreviation “ofk” in the meaning of “now”, “this minute”. Although some people use the phrase of course in this sense, this is not the right decision.
OFC as an abbreviation
If with the English language everything is quite simple, then in Russian this combination of letters may mean something completely different. If on the modern Internet “offk” is a buzzword used by lovers of “hanging” on the Web, users who are closer to realities can argue with them.
For example, for many, OFK means “official fan club”, established by a group of fans and most often engaged in charity work on his behalf. Football fans may argue that the meaning of the words “OFK” is directly related to this sport and means either a team from Belgrade or the Confederation of Oceania Football. It is undesirable to argue with such people, because to some extent they are right.
It is very rare in Russian that the OFK is the Federal Treasury Authority, but people who are close to politics use such a reduction.
The use of abbreviations
Having learned what these or other abbreviations mean, some people begin to actively apply them, often without making sure of the direct meaning of these words. As a result of this, a person looks very stupid in the eyes of others. Naturally, do not overdo it with the use of contractions. Before even actively introducing new words into your speech, you should ask what exactly they mean and in which cases they are applicable. The abuse of such buzzwords and completely disfigures the ordinary Russian language.
Abbreviations can play a cruel joke with people, because, having learned what “offk” is, a person seeks to share it, and sometimes inserts it into his speech and is completely inappropriate. In business correspondence, such slang is completely inappropriate.