Acronyms

Lots of acronyms are used in instant messaging. Here are some of the most popular ones (another good source is urbandictionary.com).

• afaik -- as far as I know
• afaict -- as far as I can tell
• afk -- away from keyboard
• atm -- at the moment
• bbiab -- be back in a bit
• bbiaf -- be back in a few (minutes)
• bbl -- be back later
• bbs -- be back soon
• b/c -- because
• bf -- boyfriend
• bfo -- blinding flash of the obvious
• brb -- be right back
• brt -- be right there
• bsod -- blue screen of death
• btw -- by the way
• ciao -- Italian for goodbye
• ctrn -- can't talk right now
• cul8r -- see you later
• cya -- see ya
• dftt -- don't feed the troll
• dhtb -- don't have the bandwidth
• f2f -- face to face
• ftl -- for the lose
• ftw -- for the win
• fubar -- f***ed up beyond all recognition
• fwiw -- for what it's worth
• fyi -- for your information
• gmta -- great minds think alike
• iam -- in a meeting
• ianal -- I am not a lawyer
• ihmb -- I hate my boss
• iirc -- if I recall correctly
• imho -- in my humble opinion
• imo -- in my opinion
• iow -- in other words
• irl -- in real life
• istm -- it seems to me
• *g* -- grin
• gf -- girlfriend
• gmta -- great minds think alike
• gtg -- got to go
• jid -- jabber identifier
• j/k -- just kidding
• k -- okay
• lmao -- laughing my ass off
• lol -- laughing out loud
• l8r -- later
• msg -- message
• n/m -- never mind
• n/p -- no problem
• nsfw -- not safe for work
• oAo -- over and out!
• oic -- oh, I see
• omg -- oh my god
• oob -- out of band
• otoh -- on the other hand
• oww -- oops, wrong window!
• otp -- on the phone
• otw -- on the way
• pebkac -- problem exists between keyboard and chair
• pita -- pain in the ass
• pov -- point of view
• pw -- password
• rotfl -- rolling on the floor laughing
• rsn -- real soon now
• rtfm -- read the friendly manual
• slap -- sounds like a plan
• tbh -- to be honest
• thx -- thanks
• tia -- thanks in advance
• tla -- three-letter arconym
• tldr -- too long, didn't read
• ttfn -- ta ta for now
• ttyl -- talk to you later
• wb -- welcome back
• wfm -- works for me
• wtf -- what the f***?!
• wtg -- way to go!
• xfer -- transfer
• ymmv -- your mileage may vary
• yw -- you're welcome