Text abbreviations, a staple in communications worldwide, are shortened versions of words or phrases that are used to save time and help limit character count when texting or sending messages.
While these abbreviations and acronyms are convenient, there are some best practices to keep in mind to avoid sending texts that are hard to understand or unprofessional in a business context.
In our article, we break down 200 texting abbreviations, how they are useful, the best practices for using them for professional texting, and examples of how to use them.
How are text abbreviations useful
From “ASAP” to “LOL,” businesses and consumers use text abbreviations constantly to save time and stay within the 160-character limit. But, there are other reasons learning about text slang can be beneficial. Specifically, staying on top of the ever-growing list will help you understand your peers, customers, or workplace lingo, and excel with the concise communication style of texting.
Common Conversational Text Abbreviations
The following text abbreviations and internet acronyms are commonplace on social media and text chains between peers.
ADR — All Due Respect
AKA — Also Known As
AMA — Ask Me Anything
ASAP — As Soon As Possible
BRB — Be Right Back
BBS — Be Back Soon
BTS — Behind The Scenes
BTW — By The Way
BYOB — Bring Your Own Beverage
DIY — Do It Yourself
DL — Down Low or Download
DND — Do Not Disturb
ETA — Estimated Time (of) Arrival
FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions
FOMO — Fear Of Missing Out
FML — F*** My Life
FTW — For The Win
FWIW — For What It’s Worth
FYI — For Your Information
G2G — Good To Go
GOAT — Greatest Of All Time
HBD — Happy Birthday
HMU — Hit Me Up
HW — Homework
ICYMI — In Case You Missed It
IDC — I Don’t Care
IDK — I Don’t Know
IK — I Know
IKR — I Know Right
ILY — I Love You
ILYSM — I Love You So Much
IMHO — In My Honest Opinion
IMO — In My Opinion
IMU — I Miss You
IOU — I Owe You
IRL — In Real Life
ISO — In Search Of
JK — Just Kidding
K — OK
LOL — Laugh Out Loud
LMAO — Laughing My A** Off
LMK — Let Me Know
LYLAS — Love You Like A Sister
MFW — My Face When
N/A — Not Applicable
NBD — No Big Deal
NGL — Not Gunna Lie
NP — No Problem
NVM — Nevermind
NSFW — Not Safe For Work
OC — Original Character
OFC — Of Course
OG — Original Gangster
OH — Overheard
OMG — Oh My God (Gosh)
OMW — On My Way
OOTD — Outfit Of The Day
OT — Off Topic
PDA — Public Display (of) Affection or Personal Digital Assistant
POV — Point Of View
PSA — Public Service Announcement
RIP — Rest In Peace
RN — Right Now
ROFL — Rolling On (the) Floor Laughing
ROFLOL — Rolling On Floor Laughing Out Loud
RSVP — Répondez S'il Vous Plaît (Respond Please)
SFW — Safe For Work
SMH — Shake My Head
SUS — Suspicious
TFW — That Feeling When
TBA — To Be Announced
TBD — To Be Determined (Decided)
TBH — To Be Honest
TGIF — Thank God It’s Friday
TL;DR — To Long; Didn’t Read
TMI — Too Much Information
TTYL — Talk To You Later
TTYS — Talk To You Soon
TY — Thank You
TYSM — Thank You So Much
VIP — Very Important Person
W/E — Whatever
W/O — Without
WTF — What The F***
WTH — What The H***
WYD — What (are) You Doing
YOLO — You Only Live Once
YSK — You Should Know
YW — You’re Welcome
Common General Business Text Abbreviations
The following text abbreviations are commonly used in business settings as shortened words or phrases.
ACCT — Account
ACK — Acknowledge
AFK — Away From Computer
API — Application Program Interface
B2C — Business To Consumer
B2B — Business To Business
BCC — Blind Carbon Copy
BD — Business Development
CC — Carbon Copy
COB — Close Of Business
COGS — Cost Of Goods Sold
CSAT — Customer Satisfaction Score
CX — Customer Experience
DSC — Dedicated Short Code
DWH — During Work Hours
EPS — Earnings Per Share
F2F — Face To Face
FW — Forward
FTE — Full-Time Employee
FTP — File Transfer Protocol
GA — Google Analytics
EOB — End Of Business
EOD — End Of Day
EOM — End Of Month
EOT — End Of Thread
EOW — End Of Week
HR — Human Resources
HQ — Headquarters
IAM — In A Meeting
IKYP — I’ll Keep You Posted
IPO — Initial Public Offering
ISP — Internet Service Provider
JV — Joint Venture
KPI — Key Performance Indicator
LOI — Letter Of Intent
LVM — Left Voice Mail
OOO — Out Of Office
M&A — Mergers & Acquisitions
MGMT — Management
MMS — Multimedia Messaging Service
MoM — Month Over Month
MRR — Monthly Recurring Revenue
MSG — Message
MTD — Month To Date
NDA — Non-Disclosure Agreement
NGO — Non-Governmental Organization
NFS — Not For Sale
NPS — Net Promoter Score
NRN — No Reply Necessary
OS — Operating System
PIN — Personal Identification Number
PIP — Performance Improvement Plan
P2P — Peer To Peer
PC — Personal Computer
PTO — Paid Time Off
PTE — Part-Time Employee
POC — Point Of Contact; Proof Of Concept
QA — Quality Assurance
RFI — Request For Information
ROI — Return On Investment
RX — Prescription Drug
SaaS — Software As A Service
SFX — Sound Effects
SLA — Service Level Agreement
SMB — Small and Midsized Businesses
SME — Subject Matter Expert
SMS — Short Messaging Service
SPAC — Special Purpose Acquisition Company
UX — User Experience
T&C — Terms & Conditions
TIA — Thanks In Advance
TLA — Three-Letter Acronym
WFH — Work From Home
VPN — Virtual Private Network
YoY — Year Over Year
YTD — Year To Date
10DLC — 10-Digit Long Code
Common Marketing Text Abbreviations
The following text acronyms are used commonly by marketing teams in the U.S.
AOV — Average Order Value
BOGO — Buy One Get One
CLV — Customer Lifetime Value
CMS — Content Management System
CPA — Cost Per Acquisition
CPC — Cost Per Click
CPV — Cost Per View
CR — Conversion Rate
CRM — Customer Relationship Management
CRO — Conversion Rate Optimization
CTA — Call To Action
CTR — Click Through Rate
ICP — Ideal Customer Profile
LTV — Lifetime Value
PPC — Pay Per Click
SEM — Search Engine Marketing
SEO — Search Engine Optimization
SERP — Search Engine Results Page
SOV — Share Of Voice
WOM — Word Of Mouth
Standard social media abbreviations
Here’s a list of common abbreviations used in online communication, including social media.
DM — Direct Message
FB — Facebook
FF — Follow Friday (Twitter)
FYP — For You Page (TikTok)
HT — Hat Tip (Twitter)
IG — Instagram
IM — Instant Message
LI — LinkedIn
NOA — Not Online Anymore
MT — Modified Tweet
OP — Original Poster or Original Post
PM — Personal Message or Private Message
RT — Retweet
SM — Social Media
TW — Twitter
UGC — User Generated Content
YRO — Your Rights Online
YT — YouTube
Relational Text Abbreviations
Here are a few text abbreviations used to describe interpersonal relationships. They are used commonly in social networks and between friends.
BAE — Before Anyone Else
BF — Boyfriend
BFF — Best Friend Forever
FWB — Friends With Benefits
GF — Girlfriend
LOML — Love Of My Life
MCM — Man Crush Monday
SO — Significant Other
WCW — Woman Crush Wednesday
Text abbreviation best practices
There are several best practices to keep in mind when using text shortcuts like abbreviations. Below we break down a few of them.
1. Don’t overuse abbreviations
Using too many abbreviations in a single message can hinder readability. Instead, stick to using one or two acronyms per text to ensure you don’t confuse your audience.
Take the following examples, the first message looks like alphabet soup with five different texting acronyms. You risk losing your audience by using so many abbreviations. Instead, consider using the second message for enhanced readability.
🚫 TGIF! FYI our Summer Sale for our VIP SMS subscribers is this weekend only! Present this coupon for 25% off in stores. BTW our store hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily
✅ TGIF! Our Summer Sale is this weekend only! Get 25% off in stores by presenting this exclusive coupon. BTW our store hours are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
If you’re trying to abbreviate to stay within a certain character limit, instead consider sending a short link to a website that contains more information or an MMS with a photo that has more information.
2. Keep it simple
Text abbreviations are only useful when your message recipient knows what they mean. As a result, when it comes to using texting acronyms, keep it simple by sticking to the classic abbreviations or spelling out what you mean if you are afraid the acronym isn’t widely used.
You don’t want to confuse your audience by using abbreviations that are unknown or give them the chore of deciphering a hard-to-understand acronym.
Additionally, another key when it comes to simplicity is don’t makeup acronyms.
3. Understand your audience
Your use of text abbreviations should differ based on your key audience. Knowing your audience will help you decide which abbreviations to use and which ones to avoid. For example, your strategy would likely differ if you’re communicating with young people or older folks.
Say you’re sending a text to your 75-year-old grandpa to let him know you’re heading over to his house. You’d likely want to type “on my way” versus “OMW.”
Further, if you’re a marketing leader giving a presentation to a group of peers, you could definitely use acronyms like CTA, PPC, or SEO, without the message being lost in translation. But, say you’re giving a career day presentation to a group of soon-to-be high school graduates, you would likely want to hold off on the acronyms.
When it comes to SMS marketing, remember to use acronyms your target audience understands. If you have a customer base that spans several age groups, segment them and tailor messages to each group so your messaging is appropriate.
4. Keep message content in mind
Also, keep the message content in mind before using an abbreviation. For example, the use of common casual text acronyms like LOL, TTYL, FWIW, and IRL are often considered to be more informal. As a result, make sure you are keeping the message content and desired tone in mind before hitting send.
For example, if you’re in customer service and working to resolve a customer issue, you would likely want to avoid using casual acronyms like LOL, FWIW, TTYL, or IRL, as it could appear as if you aren’t taking the issue seriously.
5. Proofread
Before you hit send on your next text message, make sure you proofread and double-check your acronyms are used correctly. Nothing screams unprofessional or out of touch like misspelling or misusing an acronym.
Keep in mind one of the most common mistakes people use while using acronyms: redundant acronyms. This occurs when a texter uses a phrase containing an acronym plus a word or phrase such that when it is expanded the phrase contains a redundancy.
For example:
🚫 VIP Person, Very Important Person Person
🚫PIN Number, Personal Identification Number Number
Instead, you’d want to use:
✅ VIP, Very Important Person
✅ PIN, Personal Identification Number
One of the best ways to ensure you’re using the acronym appropriately is to understand what it stands for and to read it in its spelled-out form while proofreading.
Examples of how to use text abbreviations
Here are five examples of how to use abbreviations in business texts. Business texting, including mass texting, is growing in popularity to reach customers. SMS allows you to reach mobile phone users with ease. But, to stay compliant make sure you get a text list of customers who’ve opted in first.
1. Promotional SMS Message
ICYMI, we have 6 new menu items for the month of September! Show this message at any of our locations and get 15% off your dine-in meal.
2. Appointment reminders
Hi John! Your plumbing repair is scheduled for tomorrow at 12 p.m. Reply “C” to confirm. Otherwise, LMK if you need to reschedule.
3. Customer service
Thanks for contacting our customer service line. Our hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. We will respond ASAP tomorrow.
4. Event promotion
Hi Tim! The Netflix Is A Joke Fest is returning next year. The full lineup is TBA. Stay tuned for more information or subscribe to our monthly newsletter with this link {link}.
5. Account management
Hi {{contact.name}}! I saw you’re interested in seeing YoY performance of our work with you. Let’s get a meeting on the books for next week!
Conversational text abbreviation examples
In addition to business texts, there are many ways you can use text abbreviations in conversations in a more casual setting. Here are just a few:
1. Let a coworker know you’re stepping out for a minute
I’m running to grab a coffee - BRB!
2. Let someone know you’re on your way
Hey Sarah! I’m OMW to the movie theater. My ETA is 6:10!
3. React to a message
Friend 1: That date was a nightmare! He was rude to the waiter AND left no tip on his half of the bill.
Friend 2: SMH!
Friend 1: Luckily I slipped an extra $10 on the table after I saw that!
4. Express an opinion
A lot of people say Tom Brady is the best QB of all time. But, I think Aaron Rodgers is the GOAT.
5. Sell a personal item
Yes, my Marin Alpine Trail mountain bike is still for sale. I saw your DM about being interested. Please text back to find a time to come see it.
The bottom line
Text abbreviations are shortened forms of full words or full phrases. They help you get your message across in fewer words to save time. However, keep our best practices in mind when you’re choosing which abbreviations to use to ensure your text recipients understand you.
To learn more about Textline and how SMS campaigns can take your marketing campaigns to new heights, read our explainer.
