EMAIL & TEXT ABBREVIATIONS AND SHORTHAND
I am one of the very few people left in the U.K. who does not own a mobile phone and, therefore, I have no experience of text messaging. I can only assume the shorthand devised for emails has made the transition to texting. Many of these are more widely used by young people and teenagers; there are some that, if seen being used by your children, should put up a red flag so these I have marked in red! The following are some of the abbreviations used in emails and text messages. | |
Shorthand | Meaning |
| 121 | One to one (private chat invitation) |
| 2MTH | Too much to handle |
2U2 | To You, Too |
| 411 | All the information |
| 420 | Let’s get high/marijuana use |
AAMOF | As A Matter Of Fact |
| ADIH | Another day in hell |
| ADIP | Another day in paradise |
AFAIK | As Far As I Know |
AFAIC | As Far As I’m Concerned |
AFAICT | As Far As I Can Tell |
AFK | Away From Keyboard |
ASAP | As Soon As Possible |
BAK | Back At Keyboard |
| BBIAS | Be back in a second |
| BBIF | Be back in a few |
BBL | Be Back Later |
| BFN | Bye for now |
| BHL8 | Be home late |
BITMT | But In The Meantime |
| BOOMS | Bored out of my mind. |
BOT | Back On Topic |
BRB | Be Right Back |
BTW | By the way |
C4N | Ciao For Now |
| CD9 | Code 9 which means ‘parents are around’ |
CRS | Can’t Remember “Stuff” |
CU | See You |
CUL(8R) | See You Later |
CWOT | Complete Waste Of Time |
CYA | See Ya |
DITYID | Did I Tell You I’m Distressed? |
DIY | Do It Yourself |
EOD | End Of Discussion |
| ETA | Estimated time of arrival |
EZ | Easy |
F2F | Face To Face |
FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions |
FBOW | For Better Or Worse |
FOAF | Friend Of A Friend |
FOCL | Falling Off Chair Laughing |
FWIW | For What It’s Worth |
FYA | For Your Amusement |
FYI | For Your Information |
/ga | Go Ahead |
GAL | Get A Life |
GBTW | Get Back To Work |
GFC | Going For Coffee |
GFETE | Grinning From Ear To Ear |
GMTA | Great Minds Think Alike |
GR&D | Grinning, Running & Ducking |
GTG | Got To Go |
GTGTTBR | Got To Go To The Bathroom |
| GTR | Got to run |
GTRM | Going To Read Mail |
HAND | Have A Nice Day |
| HHIS | Head hanging in shame |
HHOK | Ha Ha Only Kidding |
HTH | Hope This Helps |
IAC | In Any Case |
IAE | In Any Event |
IC | I See |
IDGI | I Don’t Get It |
| ILBL8 | I’ll be late |
IMCO | In My Considered Opinion |
IMHO | In My Humble Opinion |
IMNSHO | In My Not So Humble Opinion |
IMO | In My Opinion |
IMPE | In My Previous/Personal Experience |
| IMSB | I’m so bored |
IMVHO | In My Very Humble Opinion |
IOTTMCO | Intuitively Obvious To The Most Casual Observer |
IOW | In Other Words |
IRL | In Real Life |
ISP | Internet Service Provider |
IYKWIM | If You Know What I Mean |
JIC | Just In Case |
J/K | Just kidding |
KK | Okay, okay (I understand what you are saying) |
KISS | Keep It Simple Stupid |
| KPC | Keeping parents clueless |
L8TR | Later |
LD | Later Dude |
| LDR | Long distance relationship |
| LGH | Let’s get high |
| LH6 | Let’s have sex |
| LHOS | Let’s have online sex |
| LIK | Liquor |
LOL | Laughing Out Loud |
| LTHTT | Laughing too hard to type |
LTNS | Long Time No See |
| LYLAB | Love you like a brother |
| LYLAS | Love you like a sister |
MorF | Male or Female, or person who asks that question |
MTCW | My Two Cents Worth |
| NP | No problem or Nosy parents |
NRN | No Reply Necessary |
| OMG | Oh my God! |
ONNA | Oh No, Not Again! |
OTOH | On The Other Hand |
OTTOMH | Off The Top Of My Head |
OIC | Oh I See |
OTF | On The Floor |
OLL | Online Love |
| P911 | Parents coming into room (alert) |
| PAW or 9 | Parents are watching |
PCMCIA | People Can’t Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms |
| PIR | Parents in room |
PLS | Please |
| POV | Point of View or Parent over shoulder (if used by teenagers) |
| PSOS | Parents standing over shoulder |
PU | That Stinks! |
REHI | Hello Again (re-Hi!) |
ROFL | Rolling On Floor Laughing |
ROTF | Rolling On The Floor |
ROTFL | Rolling On The Floor Laughing |
RSN | Real Soon Now |
RTDox | Read The Documentation/Directions |
RTFM | Read The Frickin’ Manual |
RUOK | Are You OK? |
SNAFU | Situation Normal; All Fouled Up |
SO | Significant Other |
SOL | Smiling Out Loud (or You’re Out of Luck) |
TANSTAAFL | There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch |
TAFN | That’s All For Now |
TEOTWAWKI | The End Of The World As We Know It |
THX | Thanks |
TIA | Thanks In Advance |
TLK2UL8R | Talk to you later |
TMK | To My Knowledge |
TOS | Terms Of Service |
TPTB | The Powers That Be |
TSWC | Tell Someone Who Cares |
TTBOMK | To The Best Of My Knowledge |
TTFN | Ta-Ta For Now |
TTYL(8R) | Talk To You Later |
| TTYS | Talk to your soon |
TWIMC | To Whom It May Concern |
Txs | Thanks |
| UOK | Are you OK? |
URL | Web Page Address |
w/b | Welcome Back |
w/o | Without |
WRT | With Regard To |
WTG | Way To Go |
WU? | What’s Up? |
WWW | World Wide Web |
WYSIWYG | What You See Is What You Get |
Y2K | Year 2000 |
YGIAGAM | Your Guess Is As Good As Mine |
YGWYPF | You Get What You Pay For |
YMMV | Your Mileage May Vary |
ZZZ | Sleeping |
It is very difficult for any parent to keep tabs on text activity of their children. This guide on text message monitoring is the ultimate how-to for everything from parental knowledge to technical support. | |
