What is afk? Detailed analysis

The further, the more people use various incomprehensible cuts in speech. Let's deal with one of them. What is "afk", from what phrase this expression has happened and where it is applied - read in the article.

Borrowing and jargon

In any living language, spoken by people, new words borrowed from foreign languages and adverbs gradually appear. With slang, everything is somewhat different. Usually these are distorted words of the native language or their abbreviations. But they can also come from foreign speech, and for some specific reason, fall in love with people.

Especially the Internet played a big role in this. Its widespread distribution led to the fact that it even formed its subcultures, legends and, of course, slang. The latter varies depending on the specific community of people. And one of these words, understandable by far not all, is afk. So what is afk, how did it happen and who is used? In this we will understand.

Definition

The word is derived from the English phrase AFK - Away From Keyboard, which in literal translation means "walked away from the keyboard". But, why would anyone tell such information, and even reduce it to an obscure abbreviation? It's all about brevity, say or write "afk" much easier and faster, and all at once it is clear that the person at the moment is not at the computer. So now we know what afk is.

the Internet

It all began with the first programs for communication on the Web. Many adult people remember those times - the lack of common nowadays social networks and other things led to the fact that instant messengers for instant text messages and other chat rooms were insanely popular. In addition to communication between two people, there were also common channels, where many users were rewritten, united by common hobbies or something else. And since there were no presence indicators in those programs or they were not working correctly, it was fashionable to write "afk", informing all interlocutors that you are leaving the computer and you will be able to answer only later. So now we know what afk is.

But in our time, text messaging programs are no longer as popular as they used to be. Social networks replaced them, but they could not completely displace them. True, it is the old versions and varieties that few people use, only their ardent supporters. But if so, why is this word alive and used so far? It's all about online games.

Online Games

Such games differ from ordinary computer games in that they can be played with their comrades or random people. Of course, the entire virtual world is not inhabited exclusively by "living" people, there are also non-player characters (NPCs). Of course, most of them can be quite comfortable playing alone, but at certain stages you still have to cooperate with other players and fight all together. However, it is for this they are loved.

When playing all together, coordination is very important, especially in situations where even the slightest mistake can lead to the death of the group or the failure of the task, and therefore, to warn their comrades about being absent, it is customary to write "afk" in text or voice chat. So now we know what afk means.

Conclusion

Of course, we can quite rightly argue - why do we need incomprehensible abbreviations, when you can use your native language? But so it is accepted that in any community, subculture and even online game, gradually there is a slang. Of course, forcibly no one forces them to use, but most of the words have remained since the time when online games or programs did not have a Russian translation. And as already mentioned, writing or saying "afk" is much faster and more convenient, and everyone immediately understands everything. So we sorted out what afk means.