Have you ever wondered what all those text message abbreviations mean? You're not alone. Many adults, not to mention a few teens that don't have a cell phone, are left in the dark with all of those abbreviations. Browse through the lists of the most popular examples, as well as a few less common ones, to help you understand what you may be missing.
Common Text Message Abbreviations
SMS, or short message services, is another abbreviation for text messaging. When it comes to these abbreviations, the messages certainly are short. You may have seen the following abbreviations in emails from friends and colleagues, and they are used when sending text messages as well. Some of them, such as FYI, have become common slang in the English language.
List of Popular Abbreviations
Whether you're chatting online or sending cell phone text messages, here are some easy ones to use next time you're talking with a friend:
- AKA - Also Known As
- ASAP - As Soon As Possible
- BFF - Best Friend Forever
- BRB - Be Right Back
- BTW - By The Way
- FAQ - Frequently Asked Question
- FYI - For Your Information
- GTG - Got To Go
- IDK - I Don't know
- LOL - Laughing Out Loud
- MIL - Mother In Law
- ROTFL - Rolling On The Floor Laughing
- SPAM - Stupid Person's AdvertiseMent
- SWALK - Sealed With A Loving Kiss
- SWAK - Sealed With A Kiss
- TTFN - Ta-Ta For Now
- TTYL - Talk To You Later
Less Common Text Abbreviations
The world of text messaging is constantly evolving. It seems like if someone can think of a way to condense a thought to six letters or less, it automatically becomes part of the text message lexicon. The following abbreviations are even becoming more common in the business world:
- AAMOI - As A Matter Of Interest
- AFAIUI - As Far As I Understand It
- AIUI - As I Understand It
- BTDT - Been There Done That
- CFD - Call For Discussion
- FWIW - For What It's Worth
- GTBOS - Glad To Be Of Service
- IAFAIK - As Far As I Know
- INAL - I Am Not A Lawyer (But...)
- IMHO - In My Humble Opinion
- IMO - In My Opinion
- IYSWIM - If You See What I Mean
- NSA - No Strings Attached
- OTOH - On The Other Hand
- PMFJI - Pardon Me For Jumping In
- PMJI - Pardon My Jumping In
- RFC - Request For Comments
- SOHF - Sense Of Humor Failure
- TIA - Thanks In Advance
- TPTB - The Powers That Be
- WRT - With Respect To
- WB - Welcome back
- WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get
Online Abbreviation Libraries
People that text message want to be up on the latest abbreviations to increase the speed of their messaging. If you want to learn more abbreviations to add to your non-verbal arsenal, try the following SMS Internet dictionary sites:
- TechDictionary.com offers a great collection of text messaging terms for true techies.
- Text Me Free includes text messaging terms as well as what all those little smilies and other symbols mean.
- AIM Dictionary presents a comprehensive SMS dictionary for text messaging.
- Lingo 2 Word is a neat translating site and dictionary of text message abbreviations.
- Web Wasp provides lots of unusual SMS abbreviations, including European slang.
Apply What You Have Learned
The mext time you are text messaging, try using a few new SMS abbreviations to spice up your conversation. You may even come up with a new abbreviation to share with others in cyberspace!
