Glossary of internet slang and abbreviations used in netspeak

Internet slang and abbreviations, commonly used in online communication (netspeak) are constantly evolving and can vary based on context, platform and community. It is also called web slang, internet shorthand, netspeak or cyber language and is widely used on the Internet.

Netspeak refers to the unique vocabulary and shorthand expressions used in online communication. Emerged as a result of the rapid evolution of digital technology and the need for quick and efficient communication in the digital space. Internet slang / netspeak / webtalk is characterized by its brevity, informality and often playful or humorous tone in a concise manner through the use of acronyms, abbreviations and creative misspellings.

The glossary of internet slang is  just one click away

One of the defining features of internet slang is its dynamic nature. New terms and expressions are constantly being coined and adopted by online communities on different platforms, reflecting the ever-changing landscape of internet culture. Internet slang is highly influenced by popular culture, memes and viral trends, with new words and phrases often emerging from social media platforms, online forums and chat rooms. This constant evolution and adaptation ensure that web slang remains relevant and reflects the current interests and preferences of internet users.

Netspeak e.g. webtalk plays a crucial role in facilitating communication in online spaces where brevity and speed are often prioritized. By using shorthand expressions and abbreviations users can convey messages more quickly and efficiently especially in environments where character limits are a factor. Additionally, internet slang fosters a sense of community and belonging among online users and serves as a form of insider language that distinguishes members of a particular online group of the cyber culture.

Webtalk is informal and often cryptic nature can lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations particularly among individuals who are not familiar with conventions of online communication. Furthermore, the rapid proliferation of internet slang can sometimes result in linguistic barriers as certain terms or expressions may become outdated or fall out of use just as quickly as they emerged.

Non the less, internet slang is used everywhere in daily communications not just on social media and chats but also in business communication. Still using e-mail don’t you? Think you are not familiar with these, you’re wrong. You are using netspeak even if not aware of that.

In order to remember some and simplify navigation through commonly used abbreviations in netspeak, here is the glossary of internet slang with some 400 plus shorthands:

1 A B C D E F G H I J L K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Numbers & symbols

• @ – at
• 121 – One to one
• 2B – To be
• 2F4U – Too Fast for You
• 2moro – Tomorrow
• 2nite – Tonight
• 4 – For
• 4AO – For Adults Only
• 4ever – Forever
• 4YEO – For Your Eyes Only

A

• a/c – Account (not A/C current)
• AAMOF – As a matter of fact
• ACK – Acknowledged / Acknowledgement
• ADIH – Another day in hell
• AFAIC – As far as I’m concerned
• AFAICG – As far as I can Go
• AFAICT – As far as I can tell
• AFAIK – As far as I know
• AFAIR – As far as I remember
• AFK – Away from keyboard
• AIO – All in One
• AKA – Also Known As
• AMA – Ask me Anything
• AO – Adults only
• ASAP – As soon as possible
• ASL – Age, sex, location
• ATM – at the moment (or automated transfer machine)
• AYMM – Are you my mother?
• AYOR – At your own risk

B

• B/C  – Because
• B@U – Back at you
• B2B – Business to Business
• B2C – Business to Consumer
• B2K – Back to Keyboard
• B4 – Before
• B4N – Bye for now
• BAE – Before anyone else
• BAU – Business as Usual
• BB – Bulletin board (a forum)
• BBBG – Bye bye be good
• BBIAS – Be back in a sec
• BBL – Be Back Later
• BBN – Bye Bye Now
• BBS – Be Back Soon
• BCC – Blind Carbon Copy
• BF – Boyfriend
• BFF – Best friends forever
• BFN – Bye for now
• BG – Big grin / or background
• BL – Belly laughing
• BOT – Artificial
• BRB – Be right back
• BRO – Brother
• BS – Bull shit
• BSAAW – Big smile and a wink
• BTA – But Then Again
• BTK – Back to Keyboard
• BTT – Back to Topic
• BTW – By the Way
• BUMP – Bring up my post
• BUS – Busy, business
• BWL – Bursting with laughter
• BWTHDIK – But what the heck do I know

C

• C – See
• C&P – Copy and Paste
• C&V – Chapter & Verse. Used in newsgroups a time ago
• C|N>K – Coffee through nose into keyboard (even older archaism from Unix)
• CC – Carbon Copy
• Cell – cell phone
• CID – Crying in disgrace
• CRBT – Crying really big tears
• CS – Career suicide (not related with Counter Strike)
• CSL – Can’t stop laughing
• CTN – Can’t talk now
• CU – See You
• CUL – Can see you later
• CWOT – Complete waste of time
• CYE – Check you Email
• CYO – See You Online
• CYS – Check Your Settings
• CYT – See you tomorrow

D

• D8 – Date
• DAE – Does anyone else?
• DBAU – Doing business as usual
• DBMIB – Don’t bother me I’m busy
• DGAF – Don’t give a f***
• DIKU – Do I Know You?
• DIY – Do It Yourself
• DL – Dead link (or download link). Depends if it is alive.
• DLTU – Doing less then usual
• DM – Direct message
• DND – Do Not Disturb
• DQMOT – Don’t quote me on this
• DWH – During work hours

E

• e.g  – For example
• E123 – Easy as one, two, three
• EG – Evil Grin
• ELI5 – Explain me Like I’m 5
• EMBM – Early morning business meeting
• EMSG – Email message. Previously called electronic message
• EOBD – End of Business Day
• EOD – End of day or End of Discussion
• EOM – End of Message
• EOT – End of Transmission / Text / Thread
• ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival

F

• F2F – Face to face
• FACK – Full Acknowledgement
• FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
• FAWC – For anyone who cares
• FB – Facebook
• FBF – Flashback Friday
• FFS – For f*** sake
• FIMH – Forever in my heart
• FKA – Formerly known as
• FML – F.ck my life
• FOAF – Friend of a friend
• FOFL – Falling on floor laughing
• FOMCL – Falling off my chair
• FOMO – Fear of Missing Out
• FR – From
• FTL – For the loss ( or Faster Then Light)
• FTW – For the win
• FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt
• FWIW – For what it’s worth
• FYEO – For Your Eyes Only
• FYI – For your information

G

• G – Grin
• G2G – Got to go
• GA – Go Ahead
• GAGF – Go and get F***ed
• GAHOY – Get a hold of yourself
• GD – Good day
• GE – Good evening
• GF – Girlfriend
• GFN – Gone for now
• GFY – Go F*ck Yourself
• GG – Good Game
• GIWIST – Gee, I wish I’d said that
• GJ – Good Job, Great job
• GL – Good luck
• GM – Good morning
• GMTA – Great minds think alike
• GMV – Got My Vote
• GN – Good night
• GOAT – Greatest of All Time
• GOI – Get over it
• GOL – Giggling out loud
• GR8 – Great
• GRAS – Generally recognised as safe
• GRATZ – Congratulations
• GTG – Got to go
• GTRM – Going to read mail
• GTSY – Glad to see You

H

• H&K – Hug and kiss
• HAGD – Have a good day
• HAGN – Have a good night
• HAND – Have a nice day
• HANW – Have a nice weekend
• HBD – Happy Birthday
• HDOP – Help delete online predators
• HF – Have Fun
• HHIS – Hanging head in shame
• HIFW – How I feel when
• HMB – Hit me back
• HMU – Hit me
• HTH – Hope This Helps
• HW – Homework

I

• i.e. – That is
• IAC – In Any Case
• IANAL – I am not a lawyer
• IANARS – I’m not a rocket scientist
• IC – I see
• ICN – I see Now
• ICYDK / ICYDN / ICUDK  –  In case you didn’t know
• ICYMI – In case you missed it
• IDC – I don’t care
• IDK – I don’t know
• IEE – I’ll Explain Everything
• IFYP – I feel your pain
• IIRC – If I remember correctly
• IKR – I Know, Right?
• ILU – I Love You
• ILY – I Love You
• IM – Instant Message
• IMHO – In My Humble Opinion
• IMNSHO – In my not so humble opinion
• IMO – In My Opinion
• IMU – I miss you
• INSTA – Instagram
• IOW – In other words
• IRC – Internet Relay Chat
• IRL – In real life
• ISTR – I seem to recall (Not really sure)
• ITT – In this Thread
• IYDMMA – If you don’t mind me asking
• IYKYK – If You Know, You Know

J

• J4F – Just for fun
• JI – Jump in (just made it myself 🙂 )
• JIC – Just in case
• JK – Just kidding
• JMO – Just my opinion
• JOOC – Just of curiosity
• JSYK – Just so you know

K

• K – OK
• KIT – Keep in touch
• KOC – Kiss on cheek
• KOL – Kiss on lips
• KPC – Keeping parents clueless
• KWIM – Know what I mean?
• KYC – Know Your Customer
• KYS – Kill Yourself

L

• L8 – Late
• L8R – Later
• LD – Later Dude
• LDR – Long distance relationship
• LIEK – Misspelled synonym for Like
• LMAO – Laughing my ass off
• LMIRL – Let’s meet in real life
• LMK – Let Me Know
• LMSO – Laughing my socks off
• LOL – Laughing out loud
• LTM – Laughing to myself
• LTR – Long term relationship (not a Litter the measurement unit)
• LULAB – Love you like a brother
• LULAS – Love you like a sister
• LUWAMH – Love you with all my heart

M

• M8 – Mate
• MCM – Man crush Monday
• MFW – My face when
• MIRL – Meet in real life
• MMB – Message me back or massage my back 🙂
• MMW – Mark my words
• MOTOS – Member of the opposite side
• MRW – My reaction when
• MSG – Message
• MTF – More To Follow
• MUSM – Miss you so much
• MYOB – Mind Your Own Business

N

• N/A  – Not available or Not applicable
• N00b – Newbie (sometimes written with zeroes and sometimes not)
• NADT – Not a damn thing
• NAGI – Not a good idea
• NaN – Not a Number
• NBD – Not big deal
• NC – No Comment
• ne1 – Anyone
• NFS – Not for sale
• NIFOC – Naked in front of computer
• NM – Not much or Nevermind in another context
• NNTR – No Need to Reply
• NOYB – None of Your Business
• NP – No Problem
• NRN – No reply necessary
• NSFL – Not safe for life
• NSFW Not safe for work. If you see this kind of abbreviation posted near a specific link, don’t click it. Most likely, NSFW acronym will lead to some sexual, nude, brutal or violent content.
• NT – No text e.g. empty post
• NTH – Nice to have
• NTN – No Thanks Needed
• NVM – Never mind

O

• O – Oh
• OC – Original content
• OH – Overheard
• OIC – Oh, I see
• OMDB – Over my dead body
• OMG – Oh My God
• OMW – On my way
• OOC – Out of curiosity
• OOTD – Outfit of the Day
• OP – Original poster
• OT – Off Topic
• OTG – On The Go (same term is used on android phones for its charging port capability to plug different USB devices)
• OTOH – On the other hand
• OTP – One true pairing (or One time pass)

P

• P2P – Peer to peer / Person to person
• PAH – Parent at home
• PAW – Parents are watching
• PBB – Parent behind back
• PC – Personal computer
• PDA – Public Display of Affection (before smart phone also stood for a Personal Digital Assistant)
• PEBKAC – Problem exists between Keyboard and Chair
• PFO – Please f.ck off
• PITA – Pain in the ass
• PITR – Parent in the room
• PLS – Please
• PLZ – Please
• PM – Private message
• PO – Piss off
• POMS – Parent over my shoulder
• POS – parent over shoulder ( or Point of Sale in other context)
• POV – Point of View
• PPL – People
• PROLLY – probably
• PRT – Please retweet
• PS – Post scriptum
• PTB – Please text back
• PTO – Please turn over

Q

• QQ – Crying
• QT – Cutie

R

• RBTL – Read between the lines
• RE – Regarding
• RL – Real life
• RLRT – Real life retweet
• RN – Right Now
• ROFL – Rolling On the Floor Laughing
• ROTFL – Rolling On the Floor Laughing
• RPG – Role Playing Game
• RSVP – Please reply (from the French: Responde síl vous plait)
• RT – Retweet (on X/Twitter)
• RTFA – Read the fu*king article
• RTFM – Read the fu*king manual
• RTM – Read The Manual / Message
• RU – Are you?
• RUOK – Are you OK?

S

• SBY – Somebody
• SCNR – Sorry, could not resist
• SFLR – Sorry for late reply
• SFS – Shoutout for shoutout
• SFW – Safe for work (opposite of NSFW)
• SIS – sister
• SMH – Shaking my head
• SOML – Story of my life
• SPOC – Single Point of Contact
• SRSLY – Seriously
• SRY – Sorry
• SSDD – Same stuff, different day
• STFU – Shut the f*** up
• STH – Something
• SWAK – Sealed with a kiss
• SWL – Screaming with laughter
• SYS – See You Soon

T

• TBA – To Be Announced
• TBC – To be Confirmed / To be Continued
• TBD – To Be Declared
• TBH – To be honest
• TBT – Throwback Thursday
• TFW – That feeling when
• TGIF – Thank God it is Friday
• THX – Thanks
• TIA – Thanks in advance
• TIL – Today I learned
• TIME – Tears in my eyes
• TINLA – This is not legal advice. Use it so you’ll not be afraid of being accused of unlicensed legal consultation. Even a small recommendation on how to deal with your assets or running a divorce case can be regarded as unauthorized law practice BTW.
• TL;DR – Too long; didn’t read
• TLDR – same as previous: Too long to read
• TMB – Tweet me back
• TMI – Too Much Information
• TNTL – Trying not to laugh
• TNX – same as THX = thanks
• TQ – Thank You
• TTYL – Talk to you later
• TTYS – Talk To You Soon
• Txt – Text
• TY – Thank You
• TYT – Take Your Time
• TYVM – Thank You Very Much

U

• U – Short for You
• UR –  You are

W

• w/  – With
• W/E  – Whatever
• w/o  -Without
• W00t – Whoomp, there it is
• W8 – Wait
• WCW – Woman crush Wednesday
• WDUWTA – What do you wanna talk about?
• WFM – Works for me
• WIP – Work in progress
• WKND – Weekend
• WRT – With regard to
• WTF – What the f**k
• WTG – Way to go
• WTGP – Want to go private?
• WTH – What the Heck
• WTPA – Where the party at?
• WU – What’s up?
• WUF – Where are you from
• WUZUP – What’s up?
• WYSIWYG – What you see is what you get
• WYWH – Wish you were here

X

• XOXO – Hugs and kisses

Y

• Y – Why
• YAM – Yet Another Meeting
• YGTR – You got that right
• YMMD – You made my Day
• YMMV – Your mileage may vary
• YNK – You never know
• Ynt – Why not
• YOLO – You Only Live Once
• YW – You’re Welcome

Z

• ZZZ – Sleeping, bored, tired

This glossary of the commonly used terms and abbreviations in the internet slang end here.

Netspeak is used by everyone, from n00bs to masters, not to mention trolls and lurkers.

No matter where you are you’re using this slang too. Webtalk is part of the cyber culture.