In the world of messengers and chat rooms, the use of Internet abbreviations is as natural as seeing another selfie maker at the street. Somehow these catchy shorthand words have grown into the whole new language used by millennials and Gen Zers.
Some people call it Internet slang since many abbreviations are mostly used in informal conversations of specific groups in social media networks. However, the typical slang of British English, American English, Australian English, and others are typically localized whereas Internet abbreviations are universal and used by any person who catches the gist of a chat.
The likelihood you can come up with ten common texting abbreviations is almost as high as the fact that you text or tweet your friends each day. But, you probably also see internet abbreviations and acronyms all the time that you don’t understand. That’s why we wrote this article with over 100 of the most popular internet abbreviations of 2021: so you can use it as a reference, test yourself, and master the hip lingo of the internet.
WHAT ARE THE MOST POPULAR INTERNET ABBREVIATIONS OF 2021?
Here is a selection of the most popular and widely used internet abbreviations in 2021:
LOL: Laughing out loud
ASAP: As soon as possible
FYI: For your information
G2G: Got to go
FB: Facebook
MSG: Message
TTYL: Talk to you later
IMO: In my opinion
WHAT MAKES PEOPLE ABBREVIATE?
Limits. As simple as it is, people have started abbreviating words due to the limited number of characters permitted in a single message or tweet. Until 2017, one tweet could include no more than 140 characters and 20 characters for a username. This number doubled to 280 characters, yet the tradition to abbreviate is still a trend these days. People want to save their efforts and time for typing especially when it’s made on the go.
Besides, one of the reasons to use shorthand in texting is the accelerated life pace which makes us say or do more in less space and time.
The shorthand communication can be compared to a specific secret language code between users in different online chats, social media, instant messaging services like Skype, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, etc. This abbreviation code is also a perfect way to protect one-to-one conversation from someone’s intrusion.
One of the assumptions is that the greater part of abbreviations appeared because teens needed to hide their private chats from parents’ eyes. And there are specific examples that confirm it:
PAW (Parents are watching)
PITR (Parent in the room)
PBB (Parent behind back)
POMS (Parent over my shoulder)
KPC (Keeping parents clueless)
PAH (Parent at home).
TEXTING ABBREVIATIONS LIST: 100+ OF THE MOST POPULAR INTERNET ABBREVIATIONS
Basically, millennials were those who created and popularized the use of internet chat abbreviations. Shortened common words, word combinations, and even sentences have become a part of tweeting and instant messaging. Have you wondered what does NTH mean in texting messaging and why can’t people simply say “Nice to have!”
Of course, you can join a chat and write instead of TTYL or OMG their full variants like Talk to you later / Oh my God. Twitter won’t crash, and others in a chat won’t come with curses. However, eventually, you will write their shorthand variants to keep up with others.
EXPRESSING EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS
HIFW – How I feel when
TFW – That feeling when. TFW internet slang often goes in a caption to an image.
MFW – My face when
MRW – My reaction when
IFYP – I feel your pain
LOL – Laughing out loud
TNTL – Trying not to laugh
JK – Just kidding
IDC – I don’t care
ILY – I love you
IMU – I miss you
ADIH – Another day in hell
IDC – I don’t care
ZZZ – Sleeping, bored, tired
WYWH – Wish you were here
TIME – Tears in my eyes
BAE – Before anyone else
You can use it referring to a person who you care for the most. E.g. Me and my BAE have just watched another episode of Game of Thrones!
SSDD – Same stuff, different day
QQ – Crying
The origin of QQ abbreviation is really surprising. According to Urban Dictionary, at first, QQ meant to quit the game Warcraft II by pressing the hotkey Alt+QQ. Hence, when a player started whining, others offered him to QQ. Soon, it was associated with crying eyes and used in texting and tweeting as well.
FIMH – Forever in my heart
BSAAW – Big smile and a wink
BWL – Bursting with laughter
LMAO – Laughing my a** off
BFF: Best friends forever
CSL – Can’t stop laughing
EXPRESSING OPINION AND REACTION
IMO\IMHO – In my opinion\In my humble opinion
OMDB – Over my dead body
NTH – Nice to have. what does nth mean in texting messaging
POV – Point of View
TBH – To be honest
FTW – For the win
WTF – What the f***
This and the following examples belong to internet slang abbreviations describing something of the best or low (FTL) quality. If you say something is FTW, then it can be splendid, amazing, perfect, etc.
FTL – For the loss
YNK – You never know
SMH – Shaking my head
Describing the reaction to something stupid, aggressive, hostile, unfair, etc.
SRSLY – Seriously
YGTR – You got that right
GMTA – Great minds think alike
AYMM – Are you my mother?
CWOT – Complete waste of time
DISCLAIMERS
IANAL – I am not a lawyer
Next time you share any law-related advice in a public chat, put IANAL or its analogue TINLA (This is not legal advice) so that you are not accused of unlicensed consultation. In the U.S. and other countries, even a small recommendation on how to deal with your assets or running a divorce case can be regarded as unauthorized law practice.
AFAIK – As far as I know
AFAIR – As far as I remember
AFAIC – As far as I’m concerned
ASL – Age, sex, location
AAMOF – As a matter of fact
FWIW – For what it’s worth
YMMV – Your mileage may vary
IIRC – If I remember correctly
DM – Direct message
AFAICT – As far as I can tell
TL;DR – Too long; didn’t read
You can reply with this abbreviation not only to emphasise how long the post is but also to explain that you’ve been too lazy to read and just ignored it. Which is why TL;DR also means Too lazy; didn’t read. Later, it gave birth to ToS; DR (Terms of service; didn’t read). As you may know, many people skip studying this part of a website because of the complex law terms and long sentences.
ATTRACTING ATTENTION
IRL – In real life
TIL – Today I learned
SOML – Story of my life. What does SOML mean in texting? Most likely a person compares another person’s story with own situation.
EMBM – Early morning business meeting
J4F – Just for fun
JSYK – Just so you know
FAWC – For anyone who cares
RLRT – Real life retweet
OH – Overheard
WUZUP – What’s up?
CS – Career suicide
DWH – During work hours
WARNING AND RECOMMENDATION
NSFW – Not safe for work
If you see this kind of abbreviation posted near a specific link, then do not click it. Most likely, NSFW acronym will lead to some sexual, nude, brutal or violent content banned to view at your working place.
NSFL – Not safe for life
It refers to even more offensive and shocking content which can possibly cause mental harm.
SFW – Safe for work
GRAS – Generally recognised as safe
NBD – Not big deal
OC – Original content
4AO – For adults only
OP – Original poster
This refers to someone who was the first to publish a post.
PPL – People
ICYMI – In case you missed it
JIC – Just in case
NAGI – Not a good idea
GOI – Get over it
RBTL – Read between the lines
AYOR – At your own risk
DIY – Do it yourself
E123 – Easy as one, two, three
GAHOY – Get a hold of yourself
ASKING FOR A FAVOR OR ADVICE
TMB – Tweet me back
WTPA – Where the party at?
DAE – Does anyone else?
PRT – Please retweet
PTB – Please text back
TIA – Thanks in advance
BUMP – Bring up my post
NOTIFICATIONS, WISHES, GREETINGS, CLOSINGS
OMW – On my way
GRATZ – Congratulations
GL – Good luck
IDK – I don’t know
TTYL – Talk to you later
BRB – Be right back
W8 – Wait
NFS – Not for sale
B4N – Bye for now
B@U – Back at you
BBBG – Bye bye be good
BBIAS – Be back in a sec
RUOK – Are you OK?
CYT – See you tomorrow
DBMIB – Don’t bother me I’m busy
DM – Direct message
GFN – Gone for now
AFK – Away from keyboard
Ready to use these abbreviations for texting?
You can always find the larger list of internet abbreviations and other shortened words on the web. However, even with these examples, you’ll be ready enough to start a conversation in a public chat. Before you begin using any texting abbreviations from our list look through the chat history. If you find that only reaction acronyms appear in the chat flow (lol, omg, or such graphical symbols as ) and – etc.), then it’s better not to overuse other unknown examples. Most importantly, do not operate with acronyms or abbreviations having a formal chat with your CEO in a corporate chat room.
