Texting Slang

Texting is basically instant messaging for your phone. When texting was first invented, people didn’t usually have a full keyboard on their mobile devices. Instead, you had to type your message using the numbers on your phone, each of which is associated with one or more letters.

To save time and energy and avoid carpal tunnel of the thumbs, hundreds of different texting slang, or internet slang, words and texting abbreviations have come into play. The problem is, there are so many, if you don't know them all, you might think someone is speaking a foreign language!

Texting slang involves both symbols and special abbreviations that mean certain things. Check out an alphabetical list of some of the most popular texting slang words and phrases.

A

• ABT - About
• ABT2 - About to
• ACDNT - Accident
• ACK - Acknowledge
• ACPT - Accept
• ADD - Address
• ADDY - Address
• AEAP - As early as possible
• AF - April Fools
• AFK - Away from keyboard
• AIGHT - Alright
• AKA - Also known as
• AMAP - As much as possible
• AML - All my love
• AMOF - As a matter of fact
• ASAP - As soon as possible
• ATB - All the best
• ATEOTD - At the end of the day
• ATM - At the moment
• AYT - Alright
• AYT - Are you there?

B

• B2W - Back to work
• B4 - Before
• BDAY - Birthday
• BF - Boyfriend / best friend
• BF4L - Best friend for life
• BFF - Best friends forever
• BLNT - Better luck next time
• BM - Bite me
• BOYF - Boyfriend
• BRB - Be right back
• BTW - By the Way
• BYOB - Bring your own beer

C

• CIAO - Good-bye
• CM - Call me
• CMB - Call me back
• CMON - Come on
• CR8 - Create
• CTC - Care to chat?
• CU - See you
• CUA - See you around
• CUL - See you later
• CUL8R - See you later
• CYA - See ya
• CYAL8R - See you later

D

• DOS - Dad over shoulder
• DIY - Do it yourself
• DKDC - Don't know, don't care
• D/L - Download
• DL - Download
• DNT - Don't

E

• EMA - Email address
• EOM - End of message
• ETA - Estimated time of arrival
• EZ - Easy
• EZY - Easy

F

• FAQ - Frequently asked questions
• FBM - Fine by me
• FC - Fingers crossed
• FTW - For the win
• FW - Forward
• FWIW - For what it's worth
• FWM - Fine with me
• FYEO - For your eyes only
• FYA - For your amusement
• FYI - For your information

G

• G - Giggle
• G2CU - Good to see you
• G2G - Got to go
• G2R - Got to run
• GB - Goodbye
• GBTW - Get back to work
• GBU - God bless you
• GF - Girlfriend
• GG - Gotta Go
• GJ - Good job
• GL - Good luck
• GLHF - Good luck, have fun
• GMTA - Great minds think alike
• GN - Goodnight
• GNIGHT - Goodnight
• GNITE - Goodnight
• GR8 - Great
• GRATZ - Congratulations
• GTG - Got to go
• GUD - Good
• GUDNYT - Goodnight

H

• H8 - Hate
• HAK - Hug and kiss
• HAU - How about you?
• HAV - Have
• H&K - Hugs & kisses
• H2CUS - Hope to see you soon
• HAND - Have a nice day
• H-BDAY - Happy Birthday
• HF - Have fun
• HFAC - Holy flipping animal crackers
• HRU - How are you?
• HTH - Hope this helps
• HUB - Head up butt
• HUYA - Head up your a**
• HV - Have
• HW - Homework

I

• IB - I'm back
• IBH - I’ll be honest
• IC - I see
• IDC - I don't care
• IDK - I don’t know
• IHNI - I have no idea
• IK - I know
• IKR - I know, right
• 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 you
• IRL - In real life
• IUSS - If you say so

J

• JAC - Just a sec
• JK - Just kidding
• JLMK - Just let me know

K

• K - Okay
• KK - Okay, Okay!
• KEWL - Cool
• KIT - Keep in touch
• KUTGW - Keep up the good work

L

• L8R - Later
• LLF - Live life to the fullest
• LMAO - Laughing my a** off
• LMFAO - Laughing my f***ing a** off
• LMK - Let me know
• LOL - Laugh out loud or lots of love
• LTNS - Long time, no see
• LUVYA - Love ya

M

• MC - Merry Christmas
• MOS - Mother over shoulder
• MIRL - Meet in real life
• MKAY - Mmm, okay
• MSG - Message
• MTF - More to follow
• MUSM - Miss you so much
• MWAH - To give a kiss
• MYOB - Mind your own business

N

• N1 - Nice one
• N2M - Nothing too much
• NBD - No big deal
• NE - Any
• NE1 - Anyone
• NIMBY - Not in my back yard
• NM - Nothing much / never mind
• NOYB - None of your business
• NP - No problem
• NT - Nice try
• NVM - Never mind
• NVR - Never
• NW - No way

O

• OB - Oh baby / oh brother
• OI - Operator indisposed
• OIC - Oh, I see
• OJ - Only joking
• OM - Oh, my
• OMDB - Over my dead body
• OMG - Oh my god
• OMW - On my way
• ONL - Online
• OTB - Off to bed
• OTL - Out to lunch
• OTOH - On the other hand
• OVA - Over

P

• P2P - Peer to peer
• PEEPS - People
• PIC - Picture
• PL8 - Plate
• PLMK - Please let me know
• PLS - Please
• PLZ - Please
• PM - Private Message
• POS - Parent over shoulder
• POV - Point of view
• PPL - People
• PROLLY - Probably
• PRT - Party
• PZ - Peace

Q

• QIK - Quick
• QL - Quit laughing
• QT - Cutie
• QTPI - Cutie pie

R

• RIP - Rest in peace
• RLY - Really
• RME - Rolling my eyes
• RN - Right now
• ROFL - Rolling on the floor laughing
• ROFLOL - Rolling on floor, laughing out loud
• RU - Are you?
• RUOK - Are you okay?
• RX - Regards

S

• SBT - Sorry 'bout that
• SC - Stay cool
• SIT - Stay in touch
• SK8 - Skate
• SK8NG - Skating
• SK8R - Skater
• SK8RBOI - Skater Boy
• SMH - Shaking my head
• SO - Significant other
• SOAB - Son of a b****
• SOL - Sooner or later
• SOS - Meaning help
• SRSLY - Seriously
• SRY - Sorry
• SS - So sorry
• STFU - Shut the f*** up
• STR8 - Straight
• SUL - See you later
• SUP - What's up?
• SUX - Sucks or it sucks
• SYL - See you later
• SYS - See you soon

T

• TBC - To be continued
• TBD - To be determined
• TBL - Text back later
• TC - Take care
• TGIF - Thank God it's Friday
• THX - Thanks
• THNX - Thanks
• TMB - Text me back
• TMI - Too much information
• TMTH - Too much to handle
• TOJ - Tears of joy
• TTFN - Ta ta for now
• TTLY - Totally
• TTUL - Talk to you later
• TU - Thank you
• TTYL - Talk to you later
• TTYS - Talk to you soon
• TY - Thank you

U

• UFB - Un-f***ing believable
• UFN - Until further notice
• UL - Upload
• U-L - You will
• UOK - You ok?
• UR - Your / You're
• URW - You’re welcome
• UW - You're welcome

V

• VBS - Very big smile
• VIP - Very important person
• VM - Voicemail
• VN - Very nice
• VRY - Very

W

• W@ - What?
• W/ - With
• W8 - Wait
• WAH - Working at home
• WAM - Wait a minute
• WAYF - Where are you from?
• W/B - Write back
• WB - Welcome back
• WBU - What about you?
• WC - Who cares
• W/E - Whatever
• W/END - Weekend
• WE - Whatever
• WIU - Wrap it up
• WK - Week
• WKD - Weekend
• W/O - Without
• WRK - Work
• WRU@ - Where are you at?
• WTF - What the f***
• WTG - Way to go
• WTH - What the heck? or What the h***?
• WTM - Who's the man?
• WU - What's up?
• WUF - Where you from?
• WUP - What's up?
• WYA - Where you at?
• WYD - What ya doin’?

X

• X - Kiss
• XME - Excuse Me
• XOXOXO - Hugs & Kisses
• XLNT - Excellent

Y

• Y? - Why?
• Y2K - You're too kind
• YARLY - Ya, really?
• YBS - You'll be sorry
• YGG - You go girl
• YHU - You
• YNK - You never know
• YOLO - You only live once
• YR - Your / Yeah right
• YT - You there?
• YW - You're welcome

Z

• ZUP - What's up?
• ZZZZ - Bored or asleep

Texting slang goes beyond abbreviations and acronyms to include symbols and images too. It’s important to know that some images have secret meanings beyond their appearance.

Emojis have taken texting slang to a whole new level. An image of a simple object doesn’t always mean what you first think it might.

• avocado = basic or doing whatever’s trendy at the moment
• frog = ugly
• goat = the G.O.A.T, greatest of all time
• octopus = cuddles
• peach (the fruit) = a butt or the word “but”
• snake = backstabber

If you don’t have the use of emojis or don’t want to use them, you can use common keyboard keys to create emotive symbols.

• :) - Smiley face / happy
• =) - Happy
• :-) - Happy
• :( - Sad
• =( - Sad
• :' ) - Happy Tears
• :-* - Kiss
• :-D - Laughing

Learning how to write and read texting slang comes in handy for people of all ages across a variety of devices. Now that you’ve got a basic understanding of text language, you can make sure you’re texting what you think you’re texting.