35 Text Abbreviations You Should Know (and How to Use ...

1. LOL. This is perhaps the most ubiquitous texting acronym. · 2. OMG. The abbreviation “OMG,” for “oh my God” (or gosh, or goodness, or your ... Skiptomaincontent TheHealthy Food Home Humor Knowledge Holidays Subscribe RD.COMKnowledgeGrammar&Spelling 35TextAbbreviationsYouShouldKnow(andHowtoUseThem) MeghanJonesBryceGruberUpdated:Feb.08,2022 rd.com Knowingthemeaningofthesetermswillkeepanyonewithaphone,socialmedia,orevenjustwebaccessfrombeingconstantlyconfusedinthedigitalworld! OMG!IMO,textingabbreviationsaretheGOAT!Ifyouhaveabsolutelynoideawhatthatmeans,itmightbetimetobrushuponyourtextingabbreviations.Thesecollectionsofletters,shortforasinglewordorgroupofwords,aresocommonintextingthatmanyhavemigratedintospokenconversations.Andthey’vemovedbeyondtextconversations,becomingwidespreadinsocialmediacaptionsandcommentstoo.Ifyou’repairingthesetextingabbreviationswithaGIF,findoutwhatGIFstandsfor. Whydoweuseabbreviationswhenwetext? Itseemsimpossibletoimaginetextingwithoutabbreviationstoday,buthowdidabbreviationsbecomesuchamassivepartoftextinglingo?Well,inthedaysbeforesmartphones,andevenbeforekeyboardphones,texterswereworkingwithalimitednumberofcharacters—160,tobeexact—andbefore“unlimited”plansbecamethelawoftheland, eachtextcostmoneytosend.Plus,typingjustwiththumbsisn’tquitethespeedyprocessthattypingonatraditionalkeyboardis.Nottomention,before keyboardphones,youhadtopressthenumbercorrespondingwiththeletteryouwanted—enoughtimesforthatlettertoappear.Needlesstosay,typingfullwordswascumbersome,anditbecamecustomarytoshortenwordsandphrases.And,ofcourse,abbreviatingisjustconvenientingeneral,andiscertainlynotexclusivetotexting—justlookatallthesecommonabbreviationandacronymexamples. rd.com Classictextingabbreviations 1.LOL Thisisperhapsthemostubiquitoustextingacronym.Shortfor“laughingoutloud,”“LOL”isnowusedtoexpresseventhemildestamusement.Youcanrespond“LOL!!”perhapspairedwithoneofthesepopularemojis whenyourfriendtellsyouahilariousstory,butyoucanalsojustsaysomethinglike,“Iforgottohavebreakfasttoday,LOL.”It’ssomethingofacatch-allreaction.Anothernote:“LOL”doesnot standfor“lotsoflove.”Intheearlydayswhentextingabbreviationsbecamemainstream,plentyofpeoplemadethisLOL-worthymistake. 2.OMG Theabbreviation“OMG,”for“ohmyGod”(orgosh,orgoodness,oryourexpressionofchoice)vastlypredatestexting.Infact,theOxfordEnglishDictionarytrackeditsearliestrecordedusetoaletterwrittenin1917!Today,you’llseeitusedinsentenceslike,“OMG,canyoubelievehowhotitistoday?!”It’saprettycatch-allexclamationorreaction. 3.IDK “IDK”isperhapsthethemeofthisarticle,becauseitliterallymeans“Idon’tknow,”whichisexactlyhowyoufeltaboutallthesetextabbreviationsbeforeyoulearnedwhattheystoodfor.Nexttimeyougetatextfromyourkidaskingwheretheirfavoriteshirtis,replywith“IDK,askyourmother/father/sibling.” 4.JK “JK”means“justkidding.”Useittoindicatethatyou’re,well,kidding—butuseitwithcare.Postingascathingbackhandedcomplimentandthenquicklyaddinga“JK!!!”reallydoesn’tdomuchtosoftentheblow.Makesurethattheaudienceofyour“JK”isonboardwithyoursenseofhumor.Thiscommonabbreviationisoftenpairedwithanother:“JK,LOL”isadismissive,sometimesself-deprecatingcombooftextingabbreviationsthatyou’lloftensee.“Iacedmymathtesttoday!!!JKLOLitwasrough.” 5.ROFL You’remostlikelynot literally“rollingonthefloorlaughing”whenyouusethisabbreviation,butit’sstillabitstrongeranindicatorofmirththan“LOL.”Usually,it’sastandaloneresponsetosomethingfunny.Addexclamationpointsandlaugh/cryingfaceemojisasyouplease. 6.YOLO Shortfor“youonlyliveonce,”“YOLO”isarallyingcryforlivinglifetothefullestandallthatthatentails,especiallyinthesocialmediasphere.Orderingapizzawhenyou“should”beorderingasalad?YOLO!Goingbungeejumpingforthefirsttime?YOLO!Itcanencourageotherpeople’sdoingofsuchthingsorcommemorateyourowndoingofthem.Thepopularityof“YOLO”peakedaroundtheearly2010s,andtoday,you’remorelikelytoseethistextingacronymusedwithahintofsarcasm(ormorethanahint,forthatmatter)thanwithfull-flungearnestness. 7.HMU “Hitmeup”isanexpressionthatmightevenneedfurtherexplanationonceyouknowwhatthelettersstandfor.Ratherthanreferringtophysicalviolence,“hitmeup”simplymeans“contactme”or“callme.”Itdatesbacktothedaysofpagersinthe1990s,whenpeoplewouldsendphonenumberstoeachotherviaone-waymessage.Thepagerwouldlightupand/ormakenoisetoindicatethatyou’dbeen“hitup.”Thephrasewasalloverthe’90ship-hopsphere,anditstuckaroundwhentextingabbreviationsbegantodominate:“HMU”becametheprevailingwaytosayitinthelate2000s.Whilepagersareextinct,theabbreviationcertainlyisnot,andhasevolvedintotheshortened“HMU.”Whataboutanotherabbreviationyouprobablyuseallthetimewithoutrealizing:Doesthe“I”in“iPhone”standforsomething? rd.com Basictextingabbreviations 8.BC Intextingterms,thesecondandthirdlettersofthealphabetdon’trefertothetime“beforeChrist.”“BC”isshortfor“because.”Often,textingabbreviationslikethesewon’tevenbecapitalized.Youmightseesomethinglike“WantedtoseehowyouweredoingbcIhaven’theardfromyouinawhile.” 9.THX/TY/TYSM “THX”mightremind’80sand’90skidsofthatbizarrelyintense,loudmovieintro,whichshowedthelogofortheTHXLtd.audiovisualcompany.Butinatext,it’ssimplyshortfor“thanks,”withtheXrepresentingthesoundattheendoftheword.Evenmorecommonthan“THX”is“TY”or“ty,”whichmeans“thankyou.”Andfinally,you’llsee“TYSM”or“tysm”(“thankyousomuch”)quitefrequentlyaswell. 10.NP/YW Thelogicalresponseto“ty,”“YW”or“yw”means“you’rewelcome.”Inasimilarvein,“NP”or“np”means“noproblem.”“NP,”though,canrespondtoanapologyjustaswellasthanks:“I’mgoingtobeafewminuteslatetonight!”“NP.” 11.NBD You’vedefinitelyseenthisoneallovertheInternetandviatext,butwhatdoesitevenmean?Well,wondernomore:It’sshortfor“nobigdeal.”It’soneofthemostcommonlyusedtextabbreviationsandfitsjustabouteverywhere.Youcanuseitearnestly,asin“Don’tworryaboutbeingafewminuteslate,it’sNBD!”…ornotsoearnestly.Nexttimesomeonesaystheycan’tmakeittoyourparty,youcantextback“NBD”—evenifyou’resilentlyfuming.Evenifyou’reaproattextingabbreviations,doyouknowhowtousetheseiPhonehacks? 12.BTW Thisisonethatpeoplesayoutloudinreallifeinadditiontojusttextingit.“BTW”isshortfor“bytheway.”You’duseitjustlikeyou’dusetheexpressioninreallife—tointroduceanewtopicofconversation.“BTW,Isawyouwenttothebeachyesterday—itlookedamazing!!”Whenpeoplesayitoutloud,theymightsay“B-T-dubbs.”Afterall,ifyou’regoingtoabbreviate,abbreviate,right?!“W”isathree-syllableletter—aslongastheentireoriginalphrase! 13.LMK Thisonetranslatesto“letmeknow,”andisusefulinallsortsofsituationsfornudgingorputtingtheballinsomeone’scourt.Tryingtoplanagroupeventwhenonepersondoesn’tknowifthey’llbeabletomakeit?Justtellthem“LMKwhenyouknow”—andhopefullytheywillingoodtime. 14. ILY “ILY”or“ily”isshortfor“Iloveyou.”Thisis,needlesstosay,aprettycasualwaytosaythosewords,somaybeavoidsayingthemforthefirsttime(orevensecond,orthird)toyoursignificantotherinthisway.And,dependingonhergeneralfondnessforandknowledgeoftextingabbreviations,perhapsavoidtextingyourgrandma“ILY.”Youcancertainlysignoffwithalongtimesignificantother,goodfriend,orfamilymemberyoutextwithallthetimewith“ILY,”though.Asarealcasualvariation,youmightevenjustsee“LY”(or“ly”). 15.OMW Ifyou’restillblow-dryingyourhairbutweresupposedtobeatdinnertenminutesago,trytextingyoursignificantothersomethinglike“OMW,seeyousoon.”OMWmeans“onmyway”andisoftenusedwhenyou’renotevenreallyonyourway…butwillbesoon.Makesureyoureadupontheseheartemojimeaningsbeforeyoutypeoutyournextmessage. 16.NVM Twowords,threeletters:“NVM”isshortfor“nevermind.”You’duseitmuchinthesamewayyouusethephraseinreallife:“Whatwasthatrestaurantwewenttolastweek???”*fiveminuteslater*“NVM,Ifoundit!” 17.IRL Thisisagreatonebecauseit’softenarelationshipbuilder.Itmeans“inreallife”(asopposedtoonlineoroverthephone),andisgreatforsayingthingslike“WouldlovetoseeyousoonIRL!”We’reprobablysendingalotoftextslikethislatelyasthingsstarttoopenuppost-lockdown!Justbesureyou’renotcommittingoneoftheseannoyingtexthabitswhenyoureplywiththis. 18.ETA Whohastimetotextout“estimatedtimeofarrival”?!Infact,you’llcertainlyhearthisabbreviationspokenoutloudquiteabit,too.You’rejustaslikelytohear“Lookingforwardtoseeingyoutonight,what’syourETA?”outloudasyouaretoseeitinatext. 19.TMI Thisisanotheronethat’squitepopularbeyondjusttherealmoftexting.When’sthelasttimeyouheardsomeonesayallthreewords,“toomuchinformation”?Ifyourfriendofafriendshareseverylastdetailoftheirboutoffoodpoisoningonthesocials,thesimplethree-letterresponse“TMI!”saysitall.Anotherwayyou’llseethis,includinginperson,iswhensomeoneprefacesastorywith“ThismightbeTMI,but…”togivelistenersaheads-upandperhapsmakethemexpectsomethingworsethanwhatthey’reactuallygoingtosay. rd.com Socialmediaabbreviations 20.GOAT Thistextingacronymdoesn’thaveanythingtodowithfour-leggedhornedmammals.“GOAT,”almostalwaysprecededby“the,”means“greatestofalltime.”Anacronymthat’sbeenalloversocialmedia,“GOAT”canbeusedtopraiseafriend(“DidyouseeMichelle’sfitnessroutine?She’stheGOAT!”)orasuperstarinaparticularfield(“SawtheGOAThimself,JohnWilliams,conductanorchestralastnight!”).BTW,whilemostofthesearetexting abbreviations orinitialisms,“GOAT”isatextingacronym—what’sthedifferencebetweenabbreviationvs.acronymvs.initialism? 21.TFW Ifyouseesomeonepostingafunnyimageofacatloungingwithsunglassescaptionedsomethinglike“TFWyou’reoffofworkforalongweekend,”knowthatit’soneofthefunnytextabbreviationsthatpeopleareusingthesedays.Ittranslatesto“thatfeel/feelingwhen,”andit’smostcommonlyusedinassociationwithvisualimagesthatrepresenthowsomeoneisfeeling,likethesework-from-homememes.Tryusingitwithasmilingselfielike“TFWdinnercameoutevenbetterthanIimagined.” 22.DM Haveyouheardsomeonesaytheywere“slidingintosomeone’sDMs”andthought,“Slidingintotheirwhatnow?”“DM”isshortfor“directmessage.”Moredirectlyrelatedtosocialmediathantotexting,DMsrefertotheprivatemessagingoptiononappslikeTwitterandInstagram.Sinceitsuggeststakingtheconversationoutofthemorepublic,visiblesphere,itoftenhasflirtatiousimplications.Itcanalsobeaverb:“DMmetolearnmoreabouttextingabbreviations.” 23.FOMO FOMOmeans“fearofmissingout.”“FOMO”iswhatyoufeelwhenyouseeyourBFFs(that’s“bestfriendsforever,”orsoyouthought,apparently)outpartying,andyouweren’tinvited(orsimplycouldn’tmakeit).While“#FOMO”canbeafacetiouscommentonapostlikethat,it’salsorecognizedasagenuinementalhealthissueinoursocialmedia-drivenage. 24.ICYMI Thisonemight’veconfusedyouonFacebookorInstagram,butit’saprettyusefultextabbreviationtohavehandyasitjustmeans“incaseyoumissedit.”It’sgreatforuploadingphotosafterthefact,likeaphotofromarelative’sweddingthatyouforgottopostthedayoforafamilyphotofromyearsago.Tryuploadingarecentphotoofalifeeventwiththehashtag“#ICYMI.”It’llalsooftenbeinthecaptionorsubjectof“old”newsstoriesoremails(read:fromadayago).LearnmoreabouthowtouseICYMI. 25.FTW FTWmeans“forthewin,”andisaslangy,upbeatwayofcelebratingsomethingviasocialmediacommentary.Itdoesn’tneedtoliterallyrefertowinning—itcanjustcelebrateatriumphantmoment.ImagineyourselftakingyourfirstSCUBAlessonandpostingaphotoofasuccessfuldivewiththecaption,“DivinglessonsFTW!”Youcanalsouseitforsubtleroccasions—ifyourfriendshutsdownatrollishcommenter,declare,“[yourfriend’sname]FTW!” 26.TLDR “TLDR”means“toolong,didn’tread,”andisacommonresponsetolong-winded,ramblingopinionpieces.Nexttimeyourco-workeruploadsasix-paragraphstatusabouttheconditionofherdailyreports,trycommenting“TLDR,butIhopeyougetitalldone!”Writersalsooftentrytogetaheadof“TLDR,”too.Inmoreformal,journalisticwriting,orinalengthy,originalsocialmediapost,youmaysee“TLDR,”oftenformattedas“TL;DR,”followedbyaquicksummarysothattheinevitablespeedyscrollerscanstillgetthegist. rd.com Opinionatedtextingabbreviations 27.FWIW ConsiderFWIWoneofthemostsnarky-but-still-politetextabbreviationsoutthere,becauseit’sagreatopener,translatingto“forwhatit’sworth.”It’sakinderwayofpreamblingastrongopinionandcanbeusedinsituationslike,“FWIW,Ineverlikedyourboyfriendanyway.”Here’smoreabouthowtouseFWIW. 28.TBH ThisisthetwinsisterofFWIW,yetanotherwaytopolitely(ornotsopolitely!)prefaceastrongorpossiblyoffensiveopinion.Itmeans“tobehonest.”Tryusingitwhenyouraunttextsthefamilygroupchataskingwhowantstoeattunacasseroleatherhousetonight.“TBH,tunacasseroleisnotmyfave.”Still,wecan’tguaranteethattextabbreviationswillsoftentheblow.Knowthetimestextingisbetterthancalling. 29.SMH “SMH”means“shakingmyhead,”whichiswhatwe’realldoingatleasthalfthetimewescrollthroughourFacebooknewsfeedsandseecrazypoliticalrantsfromlong-lostrelatives.FWIW(eh?),it’s…notoftenusedkindlyandcarriesanairofcondescension.Ifyou’regoingtouseSMH,keepyouraudienceinmind.Nexttimeyouseeyourcousinuploadamuffin-bakingvideothatruinsGrandma’srecipe,youcandefinitelycomment“You’renotsupposedtoputthatmuchbakingpowderinthebowl—SMH”ifyourcuzisthetypetotakeitinstride. 30.IIRC IIRCstandsfor“ifIrecallcorrectly”andisthesocialmediaequivalentofyoubringingreceipts.It’salittleargumentative,butusefulwhenyouneedtosaythingslike,“IIRC,youpromisedmesomuchmore.Here’sascreenshottoproveit.”Thesearethe10grouptextingetiquetteruleseveryoneshouldfollow. 31.IMO/IMHO Anotheronethatcancausetherecipienttobracethemselves,“IMO”means“inmyopinion.”Thestrength/controversyofthatopinioncanvaryvastly,though.Youcancertainlyusethisoneinnocuouslyinpopculturedebates:“IMO,Thanos’splanwasbetterinInfinityWar thaninEndgame.”“IMHO”isavariationmeaning“inmyhumbleopinion.”Withtheadditionofalmost-always-sarcastichumility,“IMHO”isusuallyalittleedgier,asitwere.Nowthatyouknowthesetextabbreviations,makesuretobrushuponpropertextingetiquette too. negoworks/GettyImagesWhatDoesRSVPMeanonanInvite? MicroStockHub/GettyImagesWhatDoAMandPMStandFor? TatianaAyazo/Rd.comWhatDoes"Ms."StandFor? PopularVideosⓘ OriginallyPublished:July02,2021 MeghanJones MeghanJonesisawordnerdwhohasbeenwritingforRD.comsince2017.Youcanfindherbylineonpiecesaboutgrammar,funfacts,themeaningsofvarioushead-scratchingwordsandphrases,andmore.MeghangraduatedfromMaristCollegewithaBachelorofArtsinEnglishin2017;hercreativenonfictionpiece“Anticipation”waspublishedintheSpring2017issueofAnglesliterarymagazine. BryceGruber AsHomeEditor,BryceGruberisanexpertingiftideas,shopping,ande-commerceatReader'sDigest.You'velikelyseenherworkacrossavarietyofwomen'slifestyleandparentingoutletsandonTVshows.ShelivesandworksinNewYork'sHudsonValleywithherfivesmallchildren. NowTrending TheCountdowntoHocusPocus2IsOn—Here’sEverythingWeKnow WhatDoesICYMIMean? WhatDoesWi-FiStandFor? Searchterms WearenolongersupportingIE(InternetExplorer)aswestrivetoprovidesiteexperiencesforbrowsersthatsupportnewwebstandardsandsecuritypractices. Werecommendouruserstoupdatethebrowser. 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