The Online Acronyms and Slang List

*Updated for 2018

Every generation has their slang. The advent of the text message gave us all sorts of acronyms that were easy to type – CUL8R (see you later) or TTYS (talk to you soon). But the 140 character texting and (original) Twitter limit is a whole new ballgame. And now everyone types in acronyms.

Here are definitions for the acronyms and trending slang used online and in texts. Have a favourite you don’t see? Add it in the comments. How many did you know?

143 – I Love You.

182 – I Hate You.

4E or 4EAE – Forever or Forever And Ever.

420 – Marijuana

8 – Oral Sex

99 – Parent no longer watching.

ADR – Address

AF – As F*&k. The most it can be.Ex Tired AF, or amazing AF.

AFAIK – As Far As I Know.

AMA – Ask Me Anything.

ASL – Age, Sex, Location

Bae – Before Anyone Else. Used for boyfriend/girlfriend

Boots – Ugly or unattractive.

BRB – Be Right Back.

Bruh – Expression or referral to someone, like people use ‘dude’ or ‘bro’.

CCW – Comments, Criticism Welcome.

CD9 – Code 9. Kids use it to alert that parents are nearby.

Cheddar – Money.

Clapback – A come back.

CX – Correction.

CYA – Cover Your A**.

DD/DS/DW/DH – Darling Daughter/Son/Wife/Husband. Sometimes Dedicated Wife/Husband.

Dime – A ten out of ten.

DM – Direct Message. Tweet sent between two people that follow each other.

Dope – Cool or awesome.

ELI5 – Explain Like I’m 5.

Extra – Over the top.

F2F – Face to Face. Can refer to online video or talking to someone in the flesh.

#FF – Follow Friday. Used on Twitter on Fridays to suggest people that your followers should follow.

Fire, or Straight Fire – Hot and trendy.

FML – F*** My Life. Used when something bad just happened

FOAF – Friend of a friend.

FTW – For The Win. When someone does something great or makes a comment that trumps the others.

FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, and Disinformation.

FWB – Friends With Benefits.

FYEO – For Your Eyes Only.

Ghost – Suddenly stop texting or messaging someone.

GOAT – Greatest Of All Time.

GNOC – Get Naked On Cam.

Gucci – Good or great.

Hundo P – One hundred percent certain.

Hunty –  Combination of honey and C*nt. Can be used affectionately or in lieu of the ‘c’ word.

IDEK – I Don’t Even Know.

IIRC – If I Recall Correctly.

IKR – I Know, Right?

ILY – I Love You.

IMHO – In My Humble Opinion. Like saying ‘just my 2 cents’.

IRL – In Real Life. This is used sometimes to describe a celebrity as a person rather than their character. It is also used to discuss what you do off the computer.

IWSN – I Want Sex Now

Kiki – Get together or chit chat.

KFY or K4Y – Kiss For You.

KPC – Keeping Parents Clueless.

Lit – Awesome.

LMK – Let Me Know.

LMIRL – Let’s Meet In Real Life.

LOL – Laugh Out Loud. This is not ‘lots of love’ which some parents use by mistake.

LMAO – Laugh My Ass Off. Really funny.

MoF – Male Or Female?

MOOS – Members of Opposite Sex

MOSS – Mom Over Shoulder.

MT – Modified Tweet. When you use a version of someone else’s tweet.

MTF – More To Follow. Continued in a second message or later on.

NAGI – Not A Good Idea.

NALOPKT – Not A Lot Of People Know That.

NGL – Not Gonna Lie

NIFOC – Nude In Front Of Computer.

NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard. When you only care about an issue if it affects you directly.

NMU – Not Much, You?

NSFW – Not Safe For Work. Usually on the top of a page with explicit content.

NTS – Note To Self. Making a point to remember, usually as a joke.

OH – Overheard.

OOTD – Outfit Of The Day.

OTP – One try pairing. Couples you believe belong together.

P911 – Parent alert.

PAP – Post A Picture.

PAW – Parents Are Watching.

Peeps – People, your group of friends.

PIR – Parent in room.

POS – Parent Over Shoulder.

PM – Private Message. Sent offline.

PWN – Owned. It means humiliated. It has a history in online gaming where someone did a typo on ‘Own’ and it stuck.

Read – Roast someone or criticize them.

RBTL – Read Between The Lines.

ROTFLMAO – Rolling On the Floor Laughing My Ass Off. Really really funny.

RT – Retweet. If you type this in to Twitter then you are quoting a previous Tweet (or portion of a tweet).

RUH – Are You Horny?

RU18 – Are you 18?

Salty – Bitter, in attitude.

Shady – Up to something.

Ship – Like relationship. A verb used to describe when you want two people to be together.

SMH – Shake My Head. Unbelievably dumb or wrong.

Snack, or Snak – Some you find attractive.

SO – Significant Other.

Stan – Very or noun meaning to fan over someone or being their fan.

STBY – Sucks To Be You.

STFU – Shut The F*ck Up.

Stole – Very muscular or fit.

Sus – Suspect or something is not right.

SYS – See You Soon.

The T – the truth.

TBH – To Be Honest.

TBR – To Be Rude.

TDTM – Talk Dirty To Me.

Thirsty – Horny.

THOT – That Ho Over There.

TIA – Thanks In Advance.

TIL – Today I Learned.

TL;DR – Too Long; Didn’t Read. A short summary of a long post.

TMB – Tweet Me Back.

TMI – Too Much Information. When people overshare.

Trill – True and real.

TT – Trending Topic. Often defined by a hashtag that is being used a lot. Or big news.

TTYL – Talk To You Later.

Turnt – Having fun or drunk.

TYT – Take Your Time.

Woke – Aware, in the know, especially on social or world issues.

WYCM – Will You Call Me?

WYRN – What’s Your Real Name?

WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get.

VC – Video Chat. As it sounds, this is an online chat with video.

Yet – Yes. I agree.

YKYAT – You Know You’re Addicted To…

YOLO – You Only Live Once. Teen expression that was very big in 2012 but had mostly dying off.

YOYO – You Are On Your Own

ZTWITT – Tweeting extremely quickly.