NP. JK. But CB, OK?

With instant messaging (IM) such a hit in business -- research firms estimate that up to 20 percent of enterprise workers use IM -- it was inevitable that surveys probing for the most popular workplace acronyms would follow.

Actually, the results released Wednesday by Omnipod, a maker of enterprise IM software, come from the company's second annual poll.

"It's interesting to see how IM slang evolves," said Gideon Stein, the chief executive officer of Omnipod in a statement. "This being an election year, I wasn't surprised to see something election oriented in the top 10."

As ranked by 2,000 Omnipod users, the top 10 IM shorthand was, in ascending order:

NP: No Problem

JK: Just Kidding

LMAO : Laughing My Ass Off

CB: Call Back

TTYL: Talk To You Later

WTG: Way To Go!

NCIH: No Chance In Hell

DHT$: Don't Have The Budget (or Dollars)

WRUV4: Who Are You Voting For?

RFL?: Ready For Lunch?

"People seem to be getting more comfortable in their general use of IM as a conversational medium with more and more slang entering their acronym use," said Stein. "LMAO and NCIH are prime examples."

The trend toward "more comfortable" slang -- "potty mouth" some mothers might put it -- can be seen by a quick comparison with last year's top 10 list, which featured squeaky clean acronyms like BRB (Be Right Back), BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious, and not to be confused with the get-out-the-soap BFD), and SLAP (Sounds Like A Plan).

Interestingly, number 9 on last year's list, IHMB (I Hate My Boss), was AWOL from 2004's, perhaps because bosses got nicer.

IMO (In My Opinion).

NICUAR (Now I Could Use A Raise).