What Are the Most Common Abbreviations Used in Texting?
LOL, LMAO, BRB, IMHO and OMG are among the most common abbreviations used in texting. BTW, FWIW, ILY, THX and JK are other common texting abbreviations. Often, single numerals and letters are used to abbreviate certain words.
LOL is the abbreviation of “laughing out loud,” while LMAO is an abbreviation of “laughing my ass off.” Both abbreviations are usually used to respond to a funny text. OMG is the abbreviation for “oh my God,” an exclamation usually texted when surprised or shocked. BRB abbreviates “be right back,” used to pause a text conversation. IMHO is the abbreviation for “in my humble opinion;” occasionally the “H” is excluded from the abbreviation.
FWIW abbreviates “for what it’s worth” and usually prefaces a personal opinion. BTW is the abbreviation for “by the way,” used when sending a message tangentially related to the conversation. ILY abbreviates “I love you.” JK is the abbreviation for “just kidding,” which is used to highlight a joke or sarcastic remark made in a text. THX is an abbreviation of “thanks” or “thank you;” this is one of the few texting abbreviations that is not an acronym.
The numbers 2 and 4 are often used to abbreviate the words “to” and “for” respectively. Similarly, the letter B represents “be,” the letter R represents “are” and the letter U represents “you.”
