150+ Text Abbreviations: What They Mean and How to Use Them

Thanks to the rise in mobile phones and social media, modern communication has become dominated by texting and short-form copy. Text abbreviations once reserved for SMS texting have become mainstream and are now used in all forms of communication, from emails to online chats.

Mastering abbreviations is the key to efficient and clear communication, but only if you know how to use them correctly and in the appropriate environments.

Take a look at some of the most common abbreviations in modern communication and some tips on using them effectively.

What Are Text Abbreviations and Their Role in Digital Communication?

Text abbreviations are shortened words or phrases commonly used in digital communication, such as SMS text messaging, emails, and social media. They are used to save the sender time and space when sending or creating messages.

These abbreviations allow you to convey your message quickly and efficiently while getting the intent across. In digital environments that limit characters, like X, acronyms like LOL (laugh out loud) or BRB (be right back) help to express yourself without taking up all your allotted characters.

While text abbreviations like SOS, ETC. have been used for generations, digital abbreviations first started in the early days of mobile phone texting. These devices had set character limits, so users needed to find a way to communicate a message around these constraints.

Here are a few types of abbreviations:

• Acronyms: These are formed by taking the initial letters of a series of words and combining them into a single term like LOL
• Initialisms: A type of abbreviation where the first letters of a series of words are pronounced individually, such as FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) or ATM (Automated Teller Machine).
• Truncations: Truncations are shortened forms of words where letters are omitted from the end, such as “info” for “information” or “ad” for “advertisement.”

When texting and mobile devices evolved, abbreviations became a way to communicate in a casual, more conversational tone and an effortless way to convey emotion without emojis or punctuation.

The prevalence of digital communication and cell phones has now made abbreviations a standard form of communication, and they will sometimes be used in verbal communication.

Comprehensive List of Common Text Abbreviations

• General Communication
• Emotional Expressions
• Business
• Professional and Social Media
• Modern and Trending
• Funny

Knowing when and where to use certain text abbreviations will help get your point across more effectively. Businesses should understand what abbreviation to use on social media versus abbreviations for emails to better connect with audiences.

Here is a list of the most common text abbreviations:

Text Abbreviations for General Communication

• LOL – Laugh Out Loud
• BRB – Be Right Back
• TTYL – Talk To You Later
• ABT – About
• AKA – Also Known As
• BRT – Be Right There
• BTW – By The Way
• BYOB – Bring Your Own Beer
• DAE – Does Anyone Else?
• FYI – For Your Information
• G2G – Got To Go
• HBD – Happy Birthday
• ISO – In Search Of
• JIC – Just In Case
• JW – Just Wondering
• MYOB – Mind Your Own Business
• NBD – No Big Deal
• OMW – On My Way
• RN – Right Now
• TBF – To Be Frank
• TBH – To Be Honest
• TGIF – Thank Goodness It’s Friday
• TMI – Too Much Information
• TY – Thank You
• W/E – Whatever
• W/O – Without
• WYD – What Are You Doing?

Text Abbreviations for Emotional Expressions

• OMG – Oh My God
• SMH – Shaking My Head
• BFF – Best Friends Forever
• PDA – Public Display of Affection
• SMH – Shaking My Head
• BAE – Before Anyone Else/Baby
• ILY – I Love you
• ILYSM – I Love You So Much
• IMU – I Miss you
• IOU – I Owe You
• LOML – Love Of My Life
• XOXO – Hugs and Kisses
• MUAH – A Kiss
• CWYL – Chat With You Later
• LDR – Long Distance Relationship
• DTR – Define the Relationship
• SWAK – Sealed With a Kiss
• TLC – Tender Loving Care
• BF – Boyfriend
• GF – Girlfriend
• MCM – Man Crush Monday
• WCW – Women Crush Wednesday
• WYCM – Will You Call Me
• WYWH – Wish You Were Here

Text Abbreviations for Business

• ACCT – account
• ACK – acknowledge
• API – Application Programming Interface
• BOGO – Buy One Get One
• TBA – To Be Announced
• TBD – To Be Determined
• ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival
• ASAP – As Soon As Possible
• AOV – Average Order Value
• EOD – End of Day
• B2B – Business to Business
• B2C – Business to Consumer
• CEO – Chief Executive Officer
• CFO – Chief Financial Officer
• COO – Chief Operating Officer
• BD – Business Development
• CRM – Customer Relationship Management
• HQ – Headquarters
• GDPR – General Data Protection Regulation
• GA – Google Analytics
• FAQ – Frequently Asked Questions
• EPS – Earnings Per Share
• EOW – End Of Week
• CX – Customer Experience
• CTA – Call to Action
• HR – Human Resources
• PR – Public Relations
• POS – Point of Sale
• POC – Point of Contact
• P2P – Peer to Peer
• OTP – One-Time Password
• OOO – Out of Office
• NP – No Problem
• NFS – Not For Sale
• NGO – Non-Governmental Organization
• NDA – Non-Disclosure Agreement
• N/A – Not Available
• MRR – Monthly Recurring Revenue
• MoM – Month Over Month
• KPI – Key Performance Indicator
• IPO -Initial Public Offering
• VPN – Virtual Private Network
• UX – User Experience
• UI – User Interface
• TOS – Terms of Service
• TIA -Thanks in Advance
• TBA – To Be Announced
• TBC – To Be Confirmed
• T&C – Terms and Conditions
• SME – Subject Matter Expert
• SMB – Small and Medium Sized Business
• SLA – Service Level Agreement
• SaaS – Software as a Service
• ROI – Return On Investment
• RFP – Request for Proposal
• RFI – Request for Information
• R&D – Research and Development
• WFH – Work From Home
• YOY – Year Over Year

Professional and Social Media

• FYI – For Your Information
• ETA – Estimated Time of Arrival
• ICYMI – In Case You Missed It
• AFAIK – As Far As I Know
• IDK – I Don’t Know
• IKR – I Know Right
• K – Ok
• POV – Point Of View
• DM – Direct Message
• TTYL – Talk To You Later
• GN – Good Night
• BBL – Be Back Later
• NSFW – Not Safe For Work
• QOTD – Quote Of The Day
• OP – Original Poster
• PM – Private Message
• YT – YouTube
• SC – Snapchat
• FB – Facebook
• IG – Instagram
• TTYS – Talk To You Soon
• WDYT – What Do You Think

Modern and Trending Abbreviations

• FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out
• YOLO – You Only Live Once
• TMI – Too Much Information
• DIY – Do It Yourself
• FTFY – Fixed That For You
• FWIW – For What It’s Worth
• GG – Good Game
• HMU – Hit Me Up
• IMHO – In My Honest Opinion
• IRL – In Real Life
• H8 – Hate
• IDC – I Don’t Care
• FAV – Favorite
• FTW – For The Win
• IYKWIM – If You Know What I Mean
• IYKYK – If You Know You Know
• LMK – Let Me Know
• NGL – Not Gonna Lie
• SUS – Suspicious
• TL;DR – Too Long Didn’t Read
• WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get

Funny Text Abbreviations

• ROFL – rolling on the floor laughing
• YOLO – You Only Live Once
• BION – Believe It Or Not
• J/K – Just Kidding
• LMBO – Laughing My Butt Off
• ILYSMBIDKHTTYBOM – I Love You So Much But I Don’t Know How To Tell You Because Of My Shyness
• BTWITIAILWY – By The Way I Think I Am In Love With You

Text Abbreviation List Along with Meaning & Usage Examples

Abbreviation	Meaning	Usage Examples
BRB	Be Right Back	I’ll be back in 10 minutes, BRB.
BYOB	Bring Your Own Beer	The party starts at 7, and it's BYOB, so don't forget your drinks!
DAE	Does Anyone Else?	DAE find it weird when people talk during movies, or is it just me?
FTFY	Fixed That For You	Here, let me FTFY
FYI	For Your Information	FYI, the meeting has been rescheduled to 3 PM tomorrow.
G2G	Got To Go	Sorry, I’m running late—G2G, talk to you later!
IMO	In My Opinion	IMO, I didn't see anything wrong
IOU	I Owe You	Thanks for covering my lunch today, IOU big time!
LMK	Let Me Know	Just LMK if you can make it to the meeting
LOL	Laugh Out Loud	That joke was hilarious, LOL!
LOML	Love Of My Life	You're the LOML, and I feel so lucky to have you in my life.
MUAH	A Kiss	Goodnight, sweetie! MUAH!
OMG	Oh My God	OMG, I can’t believe it!
OMW	On My Way	Don't worry I'm OMW
OP	Original Poster	OP said she didn't have that experience
POV	Point of View	From my POV, I didn't see her
SMH	Shaking My Head	You really said that? SMH
SUS	Suspicious	That man is looking SUS
TBD	To Be Determined	The meeting on Monday is TBD
XOXO	Hugs and Kisses	Sending you lots of love and XOXO from across the miles!
YOLO	You Only Live Once	I know I have work, but YOLO

How to Use Text Abbreviations Effectively

The first step to using abbreviations effectively is understanding when and where to use them. Abbreviations like LOL or OMG add a light and informal tone and isn’t appropriate when sending business emails or mass texts to your audience.

Overusing abbreviations in business settings looks unprofessional and may lead to misunderstanding if everyone doesn’t already know what the abbreviation means.

Context is the biggest factor when deciding when and where to use the short form or the full version. For example, texting a colleague about a project deadline allows for common abbreviations like FYI or ETA.

Too many abbreviations will lead to confusion or ambiguous messaging, so using them sparingly in professional environments is essential. The balance of using them is another key factor to effective short form communication. The goal is to maintain clarity while streamlining communication and encouraging connection.

Avoiding Common Pitfalls

Abbreviations in digital communication have become so common that there are pitfalls certain usage habits can fall into.

One of the biggest pitfalls that can hinder communication is overuse of abbreviations. including multiple abbreviations in one sentence or paragraph can lead to confusion if not everyone understands their meaning.

Abbreviations are easier to type and take less time, making messages difficult to understand. It’s like deciphering a code that forces the brain to translate rather than absorb the information.

Another common pitfall is not understanding the audience you are speaking to when using abbreviations. A target audience on TikTok is going to have a bigger capacity to understand abbreviations than an audience on LinkedIn.

Using Text Abbreviations Perfectly

Abbreviations have become a way of life in digital communication, but mastering them requires balancing understanding the context, audience, and goals. You should be comfortable enough to know when a specific abbreviation is more appropriate for social media or a business group chat.

What’s your favorite text abbreviation to use? Let us know your favorite below, and use our resources to learn more about the right ways to add abbreviations to your digital communication.

• Previous Article
• Next Article