Learn the basics of abbreviated text messages and IMs.
IM and text messaging are no longer exclusively used by tweens and teens. All ages use the technology to communicate personally and professionally. Allowing business users to communicate in real time, even at long distances, IM can prove to be a convenient and money saving way to keep in touch with co-workers and customers in comparison with telephone conversations.
One of the benefits of IM and text is the speed at which you can get out messages. Abbreviated words make it possible to type out sentences in fewer letters. Here is a guide for those of us that are still a bit in the dark concerning abbreviated words within text and IM:
2nite- Tonight
411- Information
ACK- Acknowledgement
4ever- Forever
B4- Before
BBS- Be back soon
B/C- Because
BEG- Big evil grin
BF- Boyfriend
BFN- By for now
BRB- Be right back
BRT- Be right there
CM- Call me
CUL8R- See you later
GF- Girlfriend
GR8- Great
NP- No problem
LOL- Laugh out loud
G2G- Got to go
J/K- Just joking
K- Okay
MSG- Message
PLZ- Please
RU- Are you
THX- Thanks
TNT- Till next time
TTYL- Talk to you later
TY- Thank You
TMB- Text me back
SYS- See you soon
SWAK- Sealed with a kiss
U R- You are
UR- You’re
Some codes remain as you know them to be:
ASAP- As soon as possible
BTW- By the way
FYI- For your information
This of course is only a small sample of the more commonly used abbreviations; there are literally thousands of them. As you see, most of them make sense. They are expressed with the first letters for the words they represent, or in the case of numbers, they sound like the word they represent.
In other words…KISS (Keep it simple sweetheart;)
OO (over and out)
