You will learn what BAE, INB$, BTFO and other tons of more acronyms and abbreviations stand for, meaning, difference and how to use it. If you are going online or using an instant messaging app or text message and come across an acronym or abbreviation that seems to make sense to all people but you. In this article you will see the most popular acronyms and abbreviations that using online, Email, Chat, SMS and Text messages.
What is the Difference between Acronyms and Abbreviations?
Acronyms:
An acronym from the Latin word acro- meaning “beginning” + -onym meaning “word, name” is a name or word from the initial components of a longer phrase or name usually using the individual initial letters or from the letters of the descriptive title or name. For example, EU or NATO, but sometimes is using syllables, as in Benelux, or a mixture of the two, as in radar.
Example:
- ASAP: As soon as possible
- Radar: radio detecting and ranging
The word initialism uses the same way. But the word or phrase is pronounced letter by letter.
Example:
- UAE-United Arab Emirate
- BBC: British Broadcasting Corporation
And last but not least, there are many units and/ or symbols of reference, like kg for kilogram or min for a minute.
Abbreviations:
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by anyway and used mainly in the writing to represent the entire form. Drive from Latin word brevi³re → brevis meaning “short”. It may consist of a group lower cases of letters do count or words taken from the full version of phrase or word usually has a full stop at the end.
Examples:
- Dr. for Doctor
- Approx for approximate
- Abbr. for abbreviation
- Pro. For Professor
Why Acronyms are so popular this time?
The important reason of why acronyms are so broadly used. Now days has everything to do with the time it takes to enter out a word. It is easier and faster to type only three letters out than it is to type completely.
More public is also conversation or chatting using their Smartphone, mean of this they are on the go when sending text messages, commenting on a Reddit thread or Tweeting on Twitter, updating their Facebook statuses. All the people are busy, and nobody has time to waste typing on their own mobile phone devices – That is why the acronyms are so handy.
When You Should (and Shouldn’t) Use Acronyms
The best time to of using acronyms in casual chatting between relatives, beloved, friends, and acquaintances. If you are communicating with anyone about a professional matter – it is best to use proper grammar and spelling to be respectful.
Keeping Track of the Most Popular Acronyms and Abbreviations
New acronyms and abbreviations are rising up every day and there’s an unlimited number of them available. Some are used by almost everybody while others don’t catch on very well.
Most Popular Online Acronyms
Let’s show you a brief cheat sheet or list of some of the most used acronyms, web abbreviations, and internet slang used online. Whenever you want to clear your acronyms and phrase, consider re-marking this page, or that you need to find out when you recognized a term.
Cheat Sheet of Acronyms
Acronyms | Meaning |
?/10 | Funny stats, like “10/10 would snuggle that puppy”, or “10/10 that car is amazing” |
AFAIK | As Far As I Know |
AFAIC | As Far As I’m Concerned |
AFK | Away from Keyboard |
AFAIR | As Far As I Recall/Remember |
AAMOF | As a Matter of Fact |
ACK | Acknowledgment |
AKA | Also known as |
2F4U | Too Fast For You |
4YEO FYEO | For Your Eyes Only |
B2K BTK | Back to Keyboard |
BTW | By the Way |
BTT | Back to Topic |
B/C | Because |
CTFU | Cracking The F*** Up |
CU | See you |
C&P | Copy and Paste |
CYS | Check your Settings |
DS | Dear Son |
DIY | Do it Yourself |
DGMW | Don’t get me wrong |
EOM | End of Message |
EOBD | End of Business Day |
EOD | End of Discussion |
EOT | End of Thread / .. Text / .. Transmission |
FWIW | For What It’s Worth |
FWM | F*** With Me |
FKA | Formerly known as |
FAQ | Frequently asked Questions |
FACK | Full Acknowledge |
FTW | Fuck the World / For the Win |
FWIW | For what it’s Worth |
FYI / JFYI | (Just) For your Information |
HBIC | Head B**** In Charge |
HTH | Hope this Helps |
HT | Hat Tip |
HIFW, HIFRW | How I Feel When, How I Feel Right When |
HF | Have fun |
HRU | How Are You? |
HML | Hit My Line |
IDK | I Don’t Know |
IDGI | I Don’t Get It |
IDTS | I Don’t Think So |
IGHT | Alright |
IIRC | If I Recall Correctly, If I Remember Correctly |
IKR? | I Know, Right? |
ILY | I Love You |
IRL | In Real Life (used to talk about something that is not online) |
IMHO | In My Humble Opinion, In My Honest Opinion |
IMY | I Miss You |
IYKWIM | If You Know What I Mean |
IMO | In My Opinion |
inb4 | In Before (used to indicate superiority somehow) |
ISTG | I Swear To God |
JFC | Jesus F***ing Christ |
KMSL | Killing Myself Laughing |
KTFO | Knocked The F*** Out |
LGHT | Let God Handle That |
LML | Love My Life |
LOL | Laugh Out Loud |
LMA | Leave Me Alone |
LMK | Let Me Know |
LOML | Love Of My Life |
MFW | My Face When |
MHM | Mhmm (Yes) |
MMW | Mark my Words |
MRW | My Reaction When; Me Right When |
MT | Modified Tweet, Mistell, Missed Tell |
MWF | Married White Female/Monday, Wednesday, Friday |
NBD | No Big Deal |
noob n00b | Newbie |
N/A | Not Available / Applicable |
NGL | Not Gonna Lie |
NRN | No Reply Necessary |
NSFB | Not Safe For Breakfast or Bedtime (disturbing content) |
NaN | Not a Number |
NMU | Not Much, You? |
NOYB | None of your Business |
NNTR | No need to Reply |
OFN | On Foe Nem |
OTOH | On the other Hand |
OT | Off-Topic |
OOMF | One Of My Followers/Friends |
OMG | Oh My God, Oh My Goodness, Oh My Gosh |
OP | Original Poster (original person who posted the story) |
OMD | Oh My Damn |
OTW | On The Way |
POV | Point of View |
PTFO | Passed The F*** Out |
PEBKAC | Problem exists between Keyboard and Chair |
RGR | Roger |
RUH | Are You Horny |
RSVP | Repondez s’il vous plait (French: Please reply) |
RN | Right Now |
RTFM | Read the fine Manual |
RT | Retweet |
ROTFL | Rolling on the Floor Laughing |
Shawty | An Attractive Woman |
SMDH | Shaking My Damn Head |
SCNR | Sorry, could not Resist |
SMH | Shaking My Head |
SOML | Story of My Life |
SFLR | Sorry, for late Reply |
SPOC | Single Point of Contact |
TBA | To be Announced |
TWSS | That’s What She Said |
TBH | To Be Honest |
TBC | To be Continued / To be Confirmed |
TFTI | Thanks For The Invite |
TIA | Thanks in Advance |
TBT | Truth Be Told |
TFW | That Feel When |
TTFN | Ta-Ta For Now |
TGIF | Thanks God, its Friday |
THNX | Thanks |
TMR | Tomorrow |
THX TNX | Thanks |
TIL | Today I Learned |
TL;DR | Too Long; Didn’t Read |
TYVM | Thank You Very Much |
TYT | Take your Time |
TMW | Tomorrow |
TQ | Thank You |
TTYL | Talk to you Later |
TMYK | The More You Know |
TMI | Too Much Information |
TTYTT | To Tell You The Truth |
WTV | Whatever |
WFH | Working From Home |
WYM | What Do You Mean |
WTH | What The Hell/Heck |
WUD | What You Doing |
YOLO | You Only Live Once |
WYSIWYG | What You See Is What You Get |
YWA | You’re Welcome |
YH | Yeah |
YMMV | Your Mileage May Vary (usually in reference to a personal anecdote that won’t be universally applicable) |
Most Popular Online Abbreviations and Text Messaging (Short Message Service)
I will share with you the most common and famous abbreviations for text messaging or the internet on your Smartphone. You can get easily all the text shortcuts, acronyms, and abbreviations used by more experienced users. The below list will help you out and including a compilation of fifty most popular and common abbreviations used in the social media platforms, text messages IMS, etc. Where users can use only short letters or a few type letters to chat an idea or thought.
Cheat Sheet SMS Abbreviations and Text Messaging
2moro | Tomorrow |
2nte | Tonight |
AEAP | As Early as Possible |
ASAP | As Soon as Possible |
ALAP | As Late as Possible |
ASL | Age / Sex / Location? |
B4YKI | Before You Know it |
B3 | Blah, Blah, Blah |
BM&Y | Between Me and You |
BRB | Be right Back |
BRT | Be right There |
BFF | Best Friends, Forever |
BTAM | Be that as it May |
CTN | Cannot talk now |
C-P | Sleepy |
CWOT | Complete Waste of Time |
CUS | See You Soon |
CYT | See You Tomorrow |
EM? | Excuse Me? |
EOD | End of Day |
E123 | Easy as 1, 2, 3 |
FC | Fingers Crossed |
FOAF | Friend of a Friend |
F2F | Face to Face |
GR8 | Great |
HAK | Hugs and Kisses |
IDK | I Don’t Know |
IDC | I Don’t Care |
ILU / ILY | I Love You |
IRL | In Real Life |
IMU | I Miss You |
J/K | Just Kidding |
JTLYK | Just to Let You Know |
JC | Just Checking |
KMN | Kill Me Now |
KFY | Kiss for You |
KPC | Keeping Parents Clueless |
L8R | Later |
MoF | Male or Female |
MYOB | Mind Your Own Business |
MTFBWY | May the Force be with You |
NC | No Comment |
NAZ | Name, Address, ZIP |
N-A-Y-L | In a While |
NP | No Problem |
NTIM | Not that it Matters |
NM | Never Mind / Nothing Much |
NSFW | Not Safe for Work |
NIMBY | Not in my Backyard |
NVM | Never Mind |
OIC | Oh, I See |
OATUS | On a totally Unrelated Subject |
OTL | Out to Lunch |
OMW | On My Way |
OTP | On the Phone |
PAL | Parents are Listening |
P911 | Parent Alert |
PIR | Parent in Room |
PAW | Parents are Watching |
PROP(S) | Proper Respect / Proper Recognition |
POS | Parent over Shoulder |
QT | Cutie |
RU | Are You |
RN | Right Now |
SITD | Still in the Dark |
SEP | Someone else’s Problem |
SMIM | Send Me an Instant Message |
SLAP | Sounds like a Plan |
SO | Significant Other |
TMI | Too Much Information |
UR | Your / You are |
WB | Welcome Back |
W8 | Wait |
WYWH | Wish You Were Here |
WYCM | Will You Call Me? |
XOXOXOX | Hugs, Kisses, … |
Important Note:
Keep in mind one thing if using the above acronyms are written in All CAPS, it is not compulsory to use the lowercase or capital letters, and most users tend to mix upper it depending on your own taste. If you use caps for the acronyms themselves is normally not considered poor netiquette, however writing whole sentences or words in ALL CAPS is usually read as shouting, and thus easily considered offensive.