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. | |
