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Texting dictionary

Text abbreviations and acronyms are a dialect, and are used by most children and young people to communicate with their friends. We’ve compiled a list of text language terms to help you decipher any text language you might not understand.

You can also read about sexting to find about the dangers for young people of sexual messaging.

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

A

  • abt – About
  • abt2 – About to
  • acc – Actually
  • add – Address
  • afaik – As far as I know
  • afk – Away from keyboard
  • aka – Also known as
  • asap – As soon as possible
  • asl – Age, sex, location
  • atm – At the moment

B

  • b – Bisexual / Babe
  • b4 – Before
  • bc – Because
  • bday – Birthday
  • blates – Obviously
  • bf – Boyfriend/Best friend
  • bf4l or bffl – Best friends for life
  • bff – Best friends forever
  • boyf – Boyfriend
  • brb – Be right back
  • btw – By the way

C

  • cba – Can’t be bothered
  • cmb – Call me back
  • cmon – Come on
  • ctn – Can’t talk now
  • cu – See you
  • cua – See you around
  • cul – See you later
  • cya – See ya

D

  • diss – Disrespect
  • dkdc – Don’t know, don’t care
  • dl – Download
  • dm – Direct Message, a form of private messaging
  • dnt – Don’t

E

  • ema – Email address
  • ez – Easy

F

  • f – Female
  • faq – Frequently Asked Questions
  • fb – Facebook
  • fwd – Forward
  • fyi – For your information

G

  • g – Gay
  • g2cu – Good to see you
  • g2g – Got to go
  • g2r – Got to run
  • gamer – Video game player
  • gf – Girlfriend
  • gg – Good game
  • gj – Good job
  • gl – Good luck
  • glhf – Good luck have fun
  • gnite – Good night
  • gr8 – Great
  • gratz – Congratulations
  • gtg – Got to go
  • gud – Good

H

  • h8 – Hate
  • hella – Really
  • hv – Have
  • hw – Homework

I

  • i – I love you
  • ib – I’m back
  • ic – I see
  • idc – I don’t care
  • idk – I don’t know
  • iirc – If I remember correctly
  • ik(r) – I know (right?)
  • ilu – I love you
  • ily – I love you
  • im – Instant message
  • imho – In my humble opinion
  • imo – In my opinion
  • irl – In real life

J

  • jk – Just kidding

K

  • kewl – Cool
  • kthnx – OK, thanks

L

  • l – Lesbian
  • l8 – Late
  • l8r – Later
  • lmao – Laughing my a** off
  • lol – Laugh out loud
  • lolll – Laugh out loud a lot
  • luv ya – Love you

M

  • m – Male
  • meet irl – Meet in real life
  • mkay – Mmm, okay
  • mmo – Massively multiplayer online
  • mmorpg – Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
  • msg – Message
  • mwah – To give a kiss

N

  • n/a – Not available or not applicable
  • n2m – Nothing too much
  • nbd – No big deal
  • ne – Any
  • ne1 – Anyone
  • nm – Not much / Nothing much / Never mind
  • noob – Short for ‘newbie’, refers to an inexperienced gamer or online community user
  • np – No problem
  • nthng – Nothing
  • nvr – Never
  • nw – No worries

O

  • oic – Oh, I see
  • om – Oh my
  • omg – Oh my God
  • omw – On my way
  • onl – Online
  • ot – Off topic
  • ova – Over

P

  • peak – Unfortunate
  • peeps – People
  • pic – Picture
  • pir – Parent in room
  • pk – Player kill
  • pls – Please
  • plz – Please
  • pm – Private Message
  • pmsl – Peeing myself laughing
  • pov – Point of view
  • ppl – People
  • prolly – Probably
  • pwn – Own, as in conquer or defeat
  • pwned – Owned, as in conquered or defeated

Q

  • qt – Cutie
  • qtpi – Cutie pie

R

  • r – Are or our
  • rly – Really
  • rofl – Rolling on the floor laughing
  • rpg – Role playing game
  • ru – Are you?
  • ruok – Are you okay?

S

  • sec – Second
  • skl – School
  • smh – Shaking my head
  • sms – Short Message Service
  • so – Significant other
  • sob – Son of a B*tch
  • sos – Help
  • spk – Speak
  • srs – Serious
  • srsbsns – Serious business
  • srsly – Seriously
  • sry – Sorry
  • str8 – Straight
  • sup – What’s up
  • sux – sucks or “it sucks”
  • swag – Boasting about one’s skills or style

T

  • tc – Take care
  • tgif – Thank God it’s Friday
  • thanq – Thank you
  • thx – Thanks
  • tmi – Too much information
  • trans, t*, t+ – Transsexual
  • ttfn – Ta-ta for now
  • ttyl – Talk to you later
  • tweet – Twitter post
  • txt – Text
  • ty – Thank you

U

  • u – You
  • u2 – You too
  • ul – Upload
  • ur – Your or you’re

V

  • vm – Voicemail

W

  • [email protected] – What?
  • w/ – With
  • w/e – Whatever or weekend
  • w/o – Without
  • w8 – Wait
  • wag1 – What’s up
  • wbu – What about you?
  • wk – Week
  • wrk – Work
  • wtf – What the f***
  • wtg – Way to go
  • WYSIWYG – What you see is what you get

X

Y

  • y? – Why?
  • yktv – You know the vibe
  • yolo – You only live once
  • yr – Your
  • yw – You’re welcome

Z

#

  • 2 – To
  • 24/7 – Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week

More to Explore

Learn more about how to protect your child online:

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