what does '~' mean in text chat?

[md1101]

i dont know if any you know what ~ means in chat? so many chinese girls use it when send sms's or using msn.

[semantic nuance]

I guess it's similar like this: or it might mean something you said was a bit embarrassing and those girls chatted with you didn't how how to respond, so they used that icon. But it's only my wild guess.

Hope it helps!

[Josh-J]

I was under the impression that it was a sort of intensifier.. but thats for Japanese usage, and I can't remember where i heard it

[gougou]

I believe it softens the sentence, a bit like "..." in the west, something that makes the sentence end not so abruptly.

[horas]

*

I'm sure someone here using the nick rose~ could answer that question

-

[Nibble]

In Japanese, and more recently in English (mostly among anime fans), it lengthens the syllable, as in "Oh no~" ("Oh noooooo") or "Bye-bye~" ("Bye-byyyyye"). It can make the person sound "cute" or "whiny", depending on the context.

I would guess that it has the same meaning in Chinese.

[johnmck]

On chinese chat I have seen "88". It took me a while to figure it out, it means good-bye (baba = bye-bye). Now that's chinglish for you.

[imron]

I saw someone useing 3Q the other day (3Q = san-Q = thankyou).

[xiaojiang216]

Nibble is right. It is used similar to how it is used in Japanese.

I learned this from my friend who is an exchange student from 台灣.

Whenever I talk to him or any of his friends back at home, they all use it. I've started to use it, too.

"~" kind of gives it an emphasis of the last word in the sentence.

你最近怎麼樣?

ni3 zui4 jin4 zen3 me yang4

--最近還可以啦~

zui4 jin4 hai3 ke3 yi3 laaaa

~ 是這樣用的

[anticks]

i always thought it was just a way of making it seem cuter etc. I first saw it used online "hi there~" or even "Hey^^" .. ^^ i think most likely comes from ^_^ being a happy eyed face.. ive even seen "hey^^~!!".. i think its decoration more than anything.

[pozzi]

I am a Chinese, and i often use this in my chating with friends.

Actually, the meaning depends.

1.To emphasize sometimes, such as “我靠～～～” which means "shit~~~"

2.used after a sigh, such as "唉～"

3. a lot of meanings and all these meanings are only used in the informal communications such as chating. the former posters have mentioned that.

Hope to be helpful~

[md1101]

hehe just when i thought i had got it...

you end with

hope to be helpful~

ill take take that as you're slurring your helpful... or maybe trying to be cute? ah i dont know..