Social Media Abbreviations are a whole language now.
This might wind up being a test, to either make you feel old – or young if you nail it. Below are the most popular abbreviations people use online.
Millennials and Gen-Zers of the world have taken technology and run with it, which is understandable considering they are the ones who grew up with it literally at their fingertips. They are natives to the worlds of technology, whereas the generations before them are all immigrants to the world of technology.
Do you wonder why so many things are abbreviated now? Believe it or not, people didn’t start abbreviating just to look cool. It actually started because of social media character limits.
Twitter is especially known for this because the platform used to only allow up to 140 characters in a single tweet, leaving lost tweeters to figure out how to make their messages short, sweet and to the point.
As Twitter was mostly being used by millennials and Gen-Zers in the beginning, they started to create their own language, with abbreviations. Twitter now allows up to 280 characters in a tweet, but the abbreviations aren’t going away any time soon, because they have become their own language.
Sometimes it’s difficult to keep up with all the latest slang, but I’m here to help!
So, here are some of the most popular internet abbreviations that are commonly used online, and definitely in text messages, so you don’t have to keep scratching your head in confusion every time you get a text from your kids.
If you’re paying attention even a little, you probably know a lot of these. Like LOL – “laugh out loud,” (no Aunt Mildred, it’s not “lots of love,” but thank you!) and FYI means “for your information”
Great start! But how many of these other ones do you know? Here’s a ranking – we’ll start out easy, then get a little harder.
-Carla Rea
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kklz963
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kklz963/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kklz963/
DM
Direct Message. As the kids say, “it goes down in the DM.” Sometimes, we share memes, recipes and pictures through direct messages.
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JK
Just Kidding. It’s a pretty common one that can totally change the tone of your text.
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BRB
Be Right Back. Sometimes, we just want to “brb” in real life.
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TBH
To Be Honest. I don’t know when’s the last time I used this. But, I enjoy sprinkling this in my texting vocabulary every now and then.
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IRL
In Real Life. This is when you need to give someone a dose of a reality check. You can use it in the context of “in real life, this wouldn’t be a big deal.”
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NSFW
Not Safe for Work. This one seems to be used during the golden age of texting abbreviations, which can be said to be around 2007 – 2010. This is when we were truly communicating through shorthanded abbreviations and keyboard emojis.
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TTYL
Talk To You Later. This is another great one that you can still use either in a sarcastic manner or a real-life meaning.
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NBD
No Big Deal. This can make a situation calmer and can change the tone of your text to convey different messages.
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IMO and IMHO
In My Opinion and In My Humble Opinion. Another one that I use sparingly. “IMO, I think the Chipotle on Rainbow is better.”
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FTW
For The Win
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SMH
Shaking My Head. You can say this one when disapproving of someone’s actions!
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IDK
I Don’t Know. Sometimes, this is the perfect response.
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IDC
I Don’t Care. Enough said.
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MSG
Short for the word “Message.”
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OMW
On My Way
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G2G
Got To Go. You can use this if someone makes a funny or crude joke. “GTG from this convo!”
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TFW
That Feeling When . . . you learn great texting lingo.
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MFW
“My Face When.”
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ILY
I Love You. A very common one that many of us know.
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IMU
I Miss You (Yes, a ‘U’ even though the word “you” starts with a ‘Y’.)
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ICYMI
In Case You Missed It!
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SRSLY
Short for the word “seriously”
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TLDR
Too Long Didn’t Read
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BAE
It actually stands for Before Anyone Else. (Bae is also just short for “baby” or “babe.”)
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SOML
Story Of My Life
Social Media Abbreviation Via Getty Images
