If you’re perplexed by texting abbreviations, acronyms & initialisms, you’re not alone. In fact I got the idea for this article after receiving an email with the subject “Ready For Some IRL?” Huh? What the heck is IRL? I looked it up. It means “in real life.” Who knew? Certainly not me. So I set about researching texting abbreviations, acronyms & initialisms. They’re especially handy in this digital age, when we often need to communicate quickly via a tiny screen.
Here’s what I learned about acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms:
The Difference Between Abbreviations, Acronyms & Initialisms
Abbreviations are shortened forms of words. Examples include etc. (etcetera), and Nov. (November).
Acronyms are a type of abbreviation which is pronounced as a word. Examples include RSVP, PIN (personal identification number), NIMBY (not in my backyard) and ZIP (zone improvement plan).
Initialisms are a type of abbreviation consisting of the first letter or letters of a string of words. They aren’t pronounced as words. Examples include FBI, CIA and PR (public relations). One of my favorites is PIR (parent in room). I wonder if KIR (kid in room) will ever make the list :-).
A List of Abbreviations You May Want to Know
Note: To keep the length of this list reasonable I concentrated on commonly used abbreviations. And I skipped the most common ones, such as CD and FYI. Also, I didn’t include abbreviations particular to online gaming, business, medical, sexual and selected other contexts. I reluctantly included some which include the “f word.” Unfortunately, it appears to be an accepted part of the English language these days. And I made the choice not to include examples based on bad English, such as WAYA (where are you at?). If interested, here’s a more comprehensive list of acronyms, abbreviations and initialisms and a list of texting acronyms every parent should know.
The List
(Scroll down for a printable PDF)
?4U I have a question for you
@TEOTD At the end of the day
2B To be
AAMOF As a matter of fact
ADN Any day now
AFAIK As far as I know
AITR Adult in the room
AKA Also known as
AMOF As a matter of fact
AOC Available on cell
ASAP As soon as possible
ATM At the moment
AYT Are you there?
BBL Be back later
BBS Be back soon
BC Because
BF Best friend
BF Boyfriend
BFAW Best friend at work
BFF Best friends forever
BOL Best of luck
BRB Be right back
BTDT Been there, done that
BTW By the way
BYOB Bring your own booze
CID Consider it done
CM Call me
CMB Call me back
CTN Can’t talk now
CUL8R See you later
DD Dear (or Darling) daughter
DH Dear (or Darling) husband
DIY Do it yourself
DL Download
DS Dear (or Darling) son
DW Dear (or Darling) wife
EOD End of day
ESP Email Service Provider
ETA Estimated time (of) arrival
EZ Easy
FAQ Frequently asked questions
FB Facebook
FBM Fine by me
FIL Father in law
FOMO Fear of missing out
FU F__ you
FWB Friend with benefits
FWIW For what it’s worth
FYEO For your eyes only
FYI For your information
G2CU Good to see you
G2G Got to go
GB Goodbye
GBU God bless you
GD Good
GF Girlfriend
GFI Go for it
GG Gotta Go
GJ Good job
GL Good luck
GN Good night
GOL Giggling out loud
GR8 Great
GRL Girl
GTR Got to run
HF Have fun
HMU Hit me up
HRU How are you?
HTH Hope this helps
ICYMI In case you missed it.
IDBI I don’t believe it
IDC I don’t care
IDK I don’t know
IDTS I don’t think so
IG Instagram
IK I know
ILU I love you
ILY I love you
IM Instant message
IMHO In my humble opinion
IMO In my opinion
IMS I am sorry
IMU I miss u (you)
IOW In other words
IRL In real life
ISP Internet Service Provider
JFF Just for fun
JJ Just joking
JK Just kidding
JMO Just my opinion
JTLYK Just to let you know
KIT Keep in touch
KOW Knock on wood
L2G (I would) love to go
L2G (Would you) like to go?
L8R Later
LD Long distance
LFD Left for day
LI LinkedIn
LMIRL Lets meet in real life
LMK Let me know
LOL Laugh out loud
LOL Little old lady (archaic)
LOL Lots of love
LTD Living the dream
LTK Like to know
M2 Me too
MAGA Make America great again
MB Mamma’s boy
ME2 Me too
MIL Mother-in-law
MIRL Meet in real life
MSG Message
MTF More to follow
MU Miss you
N/A Not applicable or not available
N1 Nice one
NBD No big deal
NFS Not for sale
NIMBY Not in my back yard
NLT No later than
NM Never mind
NP No problem
NSISR Not sure if spelled right
NVM Nevermind
NVR Never
NW No way
OBV Obviously
OFC Of course
OJ Only joking
OL Old lady
OM Old man
OMG Oh my god (or oh my gosh)
OML Oh my lord
OMW On my way
ONL Online
OP On phone
OTL Out to lunch
OTP On the phone
PC Politically correct
PCM Please call me
PDA Public display (of) affection
PIN Personal Identification Number
PIR Parent in room
PLMK Please let me know
PLS Please
PLZ Please
PM Private message
POV Point of view
PP Profile picture
PTB Please text back
QQ Quick question
RL Real life
RN Right now
ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
RU Are you?
RUMOF Are you male or female?
RUOK Are you okay?
RUT Are you there?
RW Real world
SG Sounds good
SIL Sister-in-law
SIMYC Sorry I missed your call
SIT Stay in touch
SLAP Sounds like a plan
SM Social media
SMH Shaking my head
SO Significant other
SOL Sooner or later
SOS Help!
STFU: Shut the f____up
SUL See you later
SYL See you later
SYS See you soon
TBA To Be Announced
TBC To be continued/confirmed
TBD To be determined
TBH To be honest
TBL Text back later
TC Take care
TFS Thanks for sharing
TFTI Thanks for the invitation
TG Thank goodness
THX Thanks
TIA Thanks in advance
TMB Text me back
TMI Too much information
TOS Terms of service
TSNF That’s so not fair
TSTB The sooner the better
TTYL Talk to you later
TTYS Talk to you soon
TU Thank you
TX Thanks
TY Thank you
TYT Take your time
UFN Until further notice
UL Upload
UOK (Are) you ok?
UR You are
URA* You are a star
URL Uniform resource locator
URW You are welcome
VAT Value added tax
VC Voice chat
VGC Very good condition
VIN Vehicle Identification Number
VM Voice mail
VN Very nice
WC Welcome
WDYK What do you know?
WDYM What do you mean?
WDYT What do you think?
WFH Work from home
WOM Word of Mouth
WTF What the f____?
WTG Way to go
WU What’s up?
WUP What’s up?
WWYC Write when you can
WYCM Will you call me?
WYD What (are) you doing?
WYGAM When you get a minute
WYHAM When you have a minute
Y? Why?
YGTR You got that right
YIU Yes, I understand
YL Young lady
YNK You never know
YOLO You only live once
YP Yes, please
YT YouTube
YW You’re welcome
ZZZZ Sleeping (or bored)
Here’s a PDF in Case You Want to Save the List
If I Missed Something, PLMK
If you have a comment about this article or would like to suggest an abbreviation for inclusion, please let me know in the comments section at the end of the article.
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This is fantastic. My brother writes me in these and I never know what he’s saying, but I surely am irritated ( add ISAI). I’m going to make an absurd sentence with these. Only one I use is BTW. That comes in handy.
TFS! That’s “thanks for sharing” so you don’t have to look it up 🤣.