This file is a simple guide to common abbreviations for games and game features. In fact, it attempts to provide de-mystifying definitions for almost any acronym which might be used in rec.games.pinball (and therefore a few general Usenet acronyms may be included). The listing is alphabetical by acronym. Often, people will make up abbreviations/acronyms "on the fly" (OTF :) ). Those should be rather obvious in their own context. To learn the meaning of many non-acronym terms used in rec.games.pinball, read Dave Hollinsworth' "Info/playingtips" file (or the DFAQ). Please send updates, corrections, comments to me: Kevin Martin sigma@mcs.com Last update: 17-Nov-95: Kevin Martin, sigma@mcs.com * Updated with feedback from rec.games.pinball 16-Nov-95: Kevin Martin, sigma@mcs.com * Added abbreviations from the "canonical list" - article 49416 in the rec.games.pinball Database: http://pinball.cc.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/abrowse.pl?a=49416 * Added the (np) tag. * Used 'col -x' to remove the hundreds of tabs that Keefer missed ;) 13-Nov-95: Keith Johnson, keefer@access.digex.net * Added lots of new ones since it hadn't been updated in awhile. * Added the (ru) and (amb) flags. * No more tabs. NOTES: * (ru) = rarely used * (amb) = possibly ambiguous, you'll probably have to qualify your use of it somewhere in your posting * (np) = acronym not really pinball-related, but sometimes seen in rgp articles * Where I (KEF) was pretty sure, I put the name of the manufacturer when an abbreviation/acronym refers to a game's name. Abbreviation Explanation ------------ ----------- 8B (ru) Eight Ball (Bly) 8BD Eight Ball Deluxe (Bly) A13 Apollo 13 (Sega) ACMAG MAGnetic ACcelerator (from DM) AFAIK "As Far As I Know" AFM Attack From Mars (Wms) AG Alvin G. & Co. (ex-manufacturer) AI (np) Artificial Intelligence (used in TAF, for example) AIUI "As I Understand/Understood It" AKA "Also Known As" AMOA Amusement and Music Operators Association ASAP "As Soon As Possible" ASCII (np) American Standard Code for Information Interchange Assy (np) Assembly B "Billion" BAPA Bay Area Pinball Association BB (ru) Bang Back BB (ru) Bone Busters (Gottlieb) BBB (np) Better Business Bureau BBBB Bugs Bunny's Birthday Bash (Bly) BC (ru) Bad Cats BF Batman Forever (Sega) BG (ru) Big Guns (Wms) BK Bear Kicks (from TAF) BK Black Knight (Wms) BK2K Black Knight 2000 (Wms) BK2000 Black Knight 2000 (Wms) Bly Bally (manufacturer) BOP The Machine: Bride of Pinbot (Wms) BR (amb) Banzai Run (Wms) BR (amb) Black Rose (Bly) BS (ru) Battle Simulation (from STTNG) BTTF Back To The Future (DE) BTW "By The Way" BW Baywatch (Sega) CBW Cue Ball Wizard (Gottlieb) CFTBL Creature From The Black Lagoon (in 3-D) (Bly) CJ (ru) Cactus Jacks (Gottlieb) CMOS (np) Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor CP Checkpoint (DE) CPU (np) Central Processing Unit CRC (np) Cyclic Redundancy Check CRT (np) Cathode Ray Tube CTS (np) Carpal Tunnel Syndrome DCS Digital Compression Sound (?) DE Data East (manufacturer) DFAQ DynaFAQ (see FAQ) DH Dirty Harry (Wms) DM Demolition Man (Wms) DMD Dot Matrix Display DOHO -sorry, figure it out yourself- DOS (np) Disk Operating System DS (ru) Death Save DSP (np) Digital Signal Processor DW (ru) Dr. Who (Bly) EB (ru) Eight Ball (Bly) EB Extra Ball EBC (ru) Eight Ball Champ (Bly) EBD Eight Ball Deluxe (Bly) EEPROM (np) Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory eg "Exempli Gratia" - "for example" EGM (np) Electronic Gaming Monthly (magazine) EM Electro-Mechanical machine EOB End-Of-Ball Bonus EOS End-Of-Stroke EOSS End-Of-Stroke Switch EPROM (np) Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory ES Earthshaker (Wms) FAQ "Frequently Asked Question" or compilation thereof FF Final Frontier (from STTNG) FG (ru) Flash Gordon FH Funhouse (Wms) Frank Frankenstein (Sega) Freddy Freddy: A Nightmare On Elm Street (Gottlieb) FS (ru)(amb) Frankenstein (Sega) FS (amb) Flintstones (Williams) FS "For Sale" FSPA Free State Pinball Association FT Fish Tales (Wms) FTP (np) File Transfer Protocol FWIW "For What It's Worth" FYI "For Your Information" G/P (ru) Gottlieb/Premier (manufacturer) GB (np) GigaByte (also see in JM) GC Grand Champion GI Gilligan's Island (Bly) GI General Illumination GIF Graphics Interchange Format ((c) Compuserve) GMJ GameMaster's Journal (e-zine) GNR Guns 'n' Roses (DE) GTB Gottlieb (manufacturer) GW (ru) Gold Wings (Gottlieb) HD (ru) Harley Davidson (Bly) HH Haunted House (Gottlieb) HH (ru) Hollywood Heat (Gottlieb) HS High Score HS High Speed (Wms) HS2 The Getaway: High Speed II (Wms) HSII The Getaway: High Speed II (Wms) I5 Indianapolis 500 (Wms) IANAL "I Am Not A Lawyer but..." IC (np) Integrated Circuit ie "Id Est" - "that is" IFPA International Flipper Pinball Association IJ Indiana Jones (Wms) IMHO "In My Humble Opinion" IMNSHO "In My Not So Humble Opinion" IMO "In My Opinion" Indy (amb) "Indiana Jones" or "Indianapolis 500" IPD Internet Pinball Database IPP Internet Pinball Project IRC (np) Internet Relay Chat ISBN (np) International Standard Book Number JB Jack*Bot (Bly) JD Judge Dredd (Bly) JM Johnny Mnemonic (Wms) JP Jackpot JP Jurassic Park (DE) JPEG (np) Joint Photographic Experts Group K "thousand" KB (np) KiloByte KWIMV "Know What I Mean, Vern?" LAH Last Action Hero (DE) LAI Leisure & Allied International (?) LCD (np) Liquid Crystal Display LE Limited Edition LED (np) Light Emitting Diode LITZ Lost In The Zone (from TZ) LOL "Laughing Out Loud" LW3 Lethal Weapon 3 (DE) M "Million" Mav Maverick (Sega/DE) MB Multi-Ball MB (np) MegaByte MIDI (np) Musical Instrument Digital Interface MK (np) Mortal Kombat (also II and III) MNF Monday Night Football (DE) MPEG (np) Moving Pictures Experts Group MPU (np) Main Processing Unit MS (ru) Magna-Save(TM) MW (ru) Mushroom World (see SMB) (Gottlieb) NF No Fear (Wms) NOS New Old Stock OT (ru) Operation: Thunder! (Gottlieb) OTOH "On The Other Hand" PAPA Professional and Amateur Pinball Association PAPS Pinball Arcade Preservation Society PCB (np) Printed Circuit Board PF Police Force PIA (np) Peripheral/Programmable Interface Adapter (?) PM Pinball Magic (Capcom) POA Path of Adventure (from IJ) POTO Phantom Of The Opera (DE) PROM (np) Programmable Read Only Memory PZ Party Zone (Bly) QA (np) Quality Assurance QC (np) Quality Control QMB Quick Multi-Ball R&B Rocky & Bullwinkle (DE) R911 Rescue 911 (Gottlieb) RAM (np) Random Access Memory RF Royal Flush (Gottlieb) rgp rec.games.pinball RHPS (np) Rocky Horror Picture Show RK (ru) Road Kings (Wms) ROM (np) Read Only Memory ROTFL "Rolling On The Floor Laughing" RPM (np) Revolutions Per Minute RTFM "Read The Freakin' Manual" RS Road Show (Wms) SCPA Steel City Pinball Association SDTLO "Straight Down The Left Outlane" SDTM "Straight Down The Middle" SDTO "Straight Down The Outlane" SDTRO "Straight Down The Right Outlane" SF2 Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (Gottlieb) SFII Street Fighter II: Champion Edition (Gottlieb) SG (ru) Stargate (Gottlieb) SJ Super Jackpot SMB Super Mario Brothers (Gottlieb) SNES (np) Super Nintendo Entertainment System SnS Surf 'n' Safari (Gottlieb) SOL "Short Of Luck" SOTS "Straight Out The Side" SP Super Payday (from RS) SS (ru) Silver Slugger (Gottlieb) SS Solid-State machine SS (amb) Space Shuttle (Wms) SS (amb) Space Station (Wms) ST Star Trek (Bly) STDM "SDTM" - possibly one of most common typos on rgp STTNG Star Trek: The Next Generation (Wms) SVUK Super Vertical Up-Kicker SW Star Wars (DE) SW "switch" SW "software" T2 Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Wms) TAF The Addams Family (Bly) TAFG The Addams Family Gold Edition (Bly) TFTC Tales From The Crypt (DE) TIA "Thanks In Advance" TIP (np) ??? TLA "Three Letter Acronym" TM (np) TradeMark TMNT Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (DE) TO Tee'd Off (Gottlieb) TOM Theatre Of Magic (Bly) TRPA Three Rivers Pinball Association TTFN "Ta-Ta For Now" TTL (np) Transistor-Transistor Logic TTM Tour The Mansion TZ Twilight Zone (Bly) URL (np) Uniform Resource Locator (also URI, URN, etc) VAPS (np) Video Arcade Preservation Society VDC (np) Volts Direct Current VFBTF "View From Behind The Flippers" VGA (np) Video Graphics Array (or Video Gate Array) VJ Vacation Jackpot (from Whitewater) VM Video Mode VUK Vertical Up-Kicker WChS World Championship Soccer (Gottlieb) WCS (ru) World Championship Soccer (Gottlieb) WCS World Cup Soccer (Bly) WD Who Dunnit (Bly) Wms Williams (manufacturer) WOW (ru) old name for "Special" WPC Williams Pinball Controller WTB "Wanted To Buy" WW (amb) Waterworld (Gottlieb) WW (amb) Whirlwind (Wms) WW (amb) Whitewater (Wms) WWF World Wrestling Foundation (Royal Rumble) (DE) WWW (np) World Wide Web XB eXtra Ball YASAPAW "Yet Another Stupid Acronym Pronounced As a Word"