And OBF stands for "Our Blooming Friends" Both acronyms are for different Round Robin swap groups. Making New Friends (MNF) does not have any requirements for becoming a member and joining in the monthly swaps. Just post that you wish to join the current swap and the host for that month, or any other member, will be more than happy to help guide you. Our Blooming Friends (OBF) does have membership requirements, one of which, I believe, is having successfully completed a trade with two different members and then being assigned a "Big Sister" to help guide you. For OBF, I believe that Carol (veeja11) is one of the people who keeps everything organized, so you might email her to get more details. There are several other groups as well with various acronyms. Most of them have requirements to become a member of that group. MNF is an organized group with no membership requirements. There are also some Round Robins that are just ideas that an individual thought would be an appealing swap, but are generally just a one time swap rather than an organized monthly group swap. If you have questions about joining any swap, you can either post that you'd like to join the swap and ask for someone to let you know what you'll need to do. You'll get several people willing to help you learn :) Or, you can just email the person who posted the opening post for that particular swap :) All that said, and I hope I didn't confuse you more! :), I am a member of MNF and would be happy to help you with that group. Just email me at kathyl.walker@yahoo.com and make sure you put GW in the subject line and include your GW ID in the email so I know who I'm talking to! Kathy

I have been posting here for a long time and I still don't know what most of them mean. I'm sorry but I am not going to try and remember them. If I a poster can't take the time to type what they mean, I just back out.

I remember a while back someone had posted a question and signed it TIA. So, in my response, I called her Tia--not realizing that TIA meant "thanks in advance." Duh! Also, especially on the kitchen forum, SS can mean soap stone. btw, in the last email I ever received from my FID (former interior designer), she told me to FOAD. For those of you who don't know that lovely acronym, here's a link to urban dictionary. Here is a link that might be useful: Urban dictionary

Asclepias--plants in the milkweed family BST--black swallowtail bidens--a group of flowers in the daisy family; attractive to butterflies BS--Black Swallowtail cat--caterpillar, the larva of a butterfly or moth comma--a type of butterfly cremaster--the 'stem' of a chrysalis eclose--the emerging of the adult butterfly from the chrysalis or pupa frass--caterpillar excrement, like bird droppings on a smaller scale frit--fritillary, a type of butterfly GF--gulf fritillary gregarious--Caterpillars having a tendency to group together or live in a colony GS, GST--giant swallowtail GSF--Great Spangled Fritillary hibernaculum--web enclosure made by hibernating caterpillars host--the specific plant a caterpillar eats HP--host plant id--identify, identification instar--a stage of caterpillar growth; the skin is then shed like a snake io--a type of moth ladies, lady--painted lady butterflies looper--a type of moth caterpillar LTS--long-tailed skipper meconium--fluid expelled by a butterfly or moth after eclosing NABA--North American Butterfly Association OE--Ophryocystis elektroscirrha, scientific name of parasitic spore harmful to Monarchs osmeterium--smelly protruding horns used by swallowtail caterpillars as a defense ovipositing--laying eggs peacock--a type of butterfly PL--painted lady butterfly pod--as in seed pod PVS--pipevine swallowtail queen--a type of butterfly question mark--a type of butterfly RSP--Red-spotted Purple butterfly skipper--a type of butterfly soldier--a type of butterfly sulfur--a type of butterfly TS--Tiger Swallowtail USDA--United States Department of Agriculture white--a type of butterfly zebra--a type of butterfly