You are texting your friends wrapped up in a blanket sitting next to the fireplace and suddenly they text “ttyl” and now you’re fretting over it because you don’t know what it means. Now, you don’t want to ask your friends because you think it will make you look “uncool.” So, you decide to look it up on the internet, and as always the internet has your back. But sometimes looking up something takes some time and maybe even stressful. But, lucky for you, I’m going to give you tips, tricks, and meanings to commonly used text abbreviations and some that you probably never even heard of. You can show off the new words you learned to your friends. We are going to start with the most common…

1. OMG

A lot of people, maybe even everyone, must have heard the saying: “Omg!” Or the actual meaning: “Oh my gosh!” When you hear it you probably think: “What’s happening? Maybe I should go check it out or maybe stay put. But what if it’s something that’s important? But what if it’s not and they are just saying it for attention?” I know it can be confusing. I think it is misused a lot but let’s not get into that. The word omg is a word of surprise or fear. You would say it if you were surprised or scared. Basically it’s not something you should say all the time.

1.  LOL

Lol stands for laughing out loud. It’s usually used for something funny. When you use this in text it can either mean: (1) there is something funny that was texted or said, or (2) you are actually laughing about something that was texted or said. It sounds a little improper to actually say it aloud, but I think it’s fine to say it to your friends. Just don’t let the grammar police catch you! 😉 

1. BTW

Btw means: By the way. It’s usually used as a faster way to type “by the way.” You would use it to add something to what you were saying especially when you just thought of it. Here’s an example: “Btw I saw a cute puppy walking with its owner yesterday.” This is very useful especially if you type a lot.

1. TTYL

TTYL stands for: talk to you later. This is a WAY easier and faster way to say goodbye or to do something and come back to your friend. This is better used for text than talk. I mean it’s kind of awkward to just say “TTYL!” And just run off. So, to save you from the awkwardness of the whole thing, just use it in text. Please. 

1. R, U, Y etc

That isn’t a word, it’s more like easy shortcuts to writing. Like if you were going to write: “you” instead write: “U” if you were going to write: “are” instead write: “R” if you were going to write: “why?” Instead write: “Y?” And so on. You probably should use it when you don’t have much time to write something properly. DISCLAIMER: Please don’t write like this if you’re writing to a teacher or an important person. You didn’t hear this from me but it’s not a great idea.

 

Tips and Tricks

A trick I always use is to try to guess what the letters resemble. Like for example: ttyl you guys already know what it means but if you see a word and you don’t know what it means, just make an educated guess. Sometimes you can be right! For me it feels like a guessing game. It’s really fun!

There are hundreds more text abbreviations and I wish I could write it all at once but I don’t want to make this too long to read. If you think I should make another post about this, comment about it and I will consider it. But I’m going to show you one more text abbreviation that you’ve hopefully never heard before. If you have, please tell me so I can find harder ones.

 

1. ROFL

I’m going to give you time to guess…. And it means; Rolling On the Floor Laughing. I know! Crazy right? It doesn’t even have a “t” in the abbreviation for the word “the.” Hee Hee! I’m guessing you didn’t guess this one! You would usually use it if something is REALLY funny or you’re actually rolling on the ground laughing out loud.

 

I had a LOT of fun writing this and I hope you loved reading it too! Until next time!

                    “Making someone smile can change their life.”

                                                                                                           – Chinwe I.