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SMS language


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SMS language (also known as txt, txtspk, texting language or txt talk) refers to the English language slang used on mobile phone SMS, although with the increasing prevalence of predictive text input, it is now less common. It is an abbreviated form of English, derived from rebus, a writing system popular with Benjamin Franklin. It is similar to leet, but without the script kiddie content. Another example of this is AOL speak.

It evolved from the shorthand used in Internet chatrooms due to the small number of characters allowed in a text message and the small keyboards on mobile phones.

The aim of txt is to reduce the number of characters needed to put across a meaning. One casualty of this principle is that punctuation is widely disregarded.

txt devices

Single letters can be used to replace words. Examples include:

  • be becomes b
  • see becomes c
  • are becomes r
  • you becomes u
  • why becomes y

Equally, single digits can be used to replace words. Examples include:

  • ate becomes 8
  • for becomes 4
  • to, too, or two becomes 2
     

       

Individual syllables can be replaced with a single letter or digit. Examples:

  • ate becomes 8, so:
    • activate becomes activ8
    • great becomes gr8
    • mate becomes m8
    • later becomes l8r
    • plate becomes pl8
  • be becomes b
  • for or Fore becomes 4, so:
    • before becomes (combining both of the above) b4
    • therefore becomes there4

More miscellaneous adaptations of characters include:

  • ss being replaced with $
  • oo being replaced with %

Combinations of the above can be used to shorten single or multiple words. Examples:

  • your and you are both become ur

Other transcriptions of slang or dialect terms can be used if they are shorter than the original. A good example of this is the way in which because, often pronounced as cos in English, is written like so, saving four characters.

Another device used in text language is the removal of vowels from a verb, such that a set of consonants remain, which should still be recognisable as a word. So, between could become btwn.

Equally, whole words may be omitted, especially articles.

Another device used, is the replacement of an 'orr' with the abbreviation 'oz'. Hence Sorry would become Soz and Tomorrow would become Tomoz. This can be further abbreviated into 2moz.

'Sorry I forgot to phone you. I will see you tomorrow'

...would become...

soz i 4gt 2 fon u.i c u 2moz

The use of punctuation is limited. Only full-stops and exclamation marks are ever used in general. After a full stop, a space and capital letter is often omitted.

SMS TXT Abbreviations

There are a number of txt abbreviations which are commonly recognised (these are not to be confused with initialisms, which are also commonly used) and can be found in the list below, or can be found at transl8it! where the portal allows for translations made both to and from English:

afaik

atm

asap

as far as I know

at the moment

as soon as possible

bbl

bf or b/f and gf or g/f

brb

for be back later

boyfriend or girlfriend

be right back

btw

cam

cas

by the way

web camera

cracking a smile

cnt

cob

cya

can't

close of business

see you (later)

dno

dnt

fnx

don't know

don't

thanks

ftw

fya

fyi

for the win

for your action

for your information

f9

g2g or gtg

g2p or gtp

fine

got to go

got to pee

gd

gg no re

gj

good often repeated to be gdgd

good game, no rematch

good job

gna

idc

idk

 gonna or going to

i don't care

i don't know

iirc

ily or ilu

imho

if I remember correctly

I love you

in my humble opinion

imo

jic

jk

in my opinion

just in case

just kidding

k

kk

kl

okay

okay, cool

cool

lol

lmao

l8

laugh out loud

aughing my ass off

late

l8r

m8

n

later

mate

and

nm

ne

nefin

never mind

any

anything

np

nt

nw

no problem

nice try

no worries

omg

pita

pos

oh my god

pain in the ass

parents over shoulder

rofl

roflmao

rp

rolling on floor laughing

rolling on floor laughing my ass off

roleplay

slp/slpn

soz

sry

sleep/sleeping

sorry

sorry

tb

tc

thx

Text Back

Take Care

Thanks

ty

tmr or tmz or tomoz

ttml

Thank you

tomorrow

Talk to me later

ttyl or ttul

txtm8

ty

Talk to you later

textmate

thank you

tym

w/ or w

w/e

time

with

weekend or whatever

w/o

wb

wb2my

without

welcome back

write back to my

wg

whteva or woteva

wk

well good

what ever

work or week

wkd

wt or wut

wubu2

wicked

what

What you been up to?

    wuu2

    yw

    What are you up to?

    you're welcome

     

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Examples

Combining the above "techniques" can shorten whole sentences. Using website portals such as transl8it! a community of users has helped standardize this text speak by allowing users to submit translations, staking claim with their user handle, or to submit top messages and guess the lingo phrases. Using the free website service sms translations can are easily made both to and from English as sampled below:

Short messages can be made shorter still.

  • Are you going to the pub tonight? becomes ru goin pub 2nyt

Longer messages may also be considerably shortened. A typical text message might read:

hi m8 u k?-sry i 4gt 2 cal u lst nyt-y dnt we go c film 2moz
This is 60 characters long.

This would "translate" into standard English as so:

Hi mate. Are you okay? I am sorry that I forgot to call you last night. Why don't we go and see a film tomorrow?
This is 112 characters long.
 
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    More SMS abbreviations

    404 A3 AAP
    I don't know (adopted from the http error code 404) Anytime, anywhere, anyplace Always a pleasure
    AAR AAS ADD
    At any rate Alive and smiling Address
    ADN AEAP AFAIK
    Any day now As early as possible As far as I know
    AFK AISB AKA
    Away from keyboard As it should be Also known as
    AML AOTA ASAP
    All my love All of the above As soon as possible
    A/S/L or ASL AT ATM
    Age/sex/location At your terminal At the moment
    AYEC AYOR B/F
    At your earliest convenience At your own risk Boyfriend
    B4 B4N BAK
    Before Bye for now Back at keyboard
    BAU BBIAF BBIAM
    Business as usual Be back in a few Be back in a minute
    BBL BBS BC
    Be back later Be back soon Because
    BCNU BF BFN
    Be seein' you  Best friend Bye for now
    BG BGWM BLNT
    Big grin Be gentle with me Better luck next time
    BM&Y BOL BRB
    Between me and you Best of luck Be right back
    BRT BTA BTDT
    Be right there But then again Been there, done that
    BTW CMIIW CMON
    By the way Correct me if I'm wrong Come on
    COB COS CR8
    Close of business Because Create
    CRB CRBT CU
    Come right back Crying really big tears See you
    CUA CUL CUL8R
    See you around See you later See you later
    CWYL CYO CYA
    Chat with you later See you online See ya
    D/L DL DEGT
    Download Download Don't even go there
    DIKU DQMOT DTS
    Do I know you? Don't quote me on this Don't think so
    DV8 EBKAC EG
    Deviate Error between keyboard and chair Evil grin
    EMA EMFBI EOD
    E-mail address Excuse me for butting in End of day
    EOM EZY F2F
    End of message Easy Face to face
    F2T FBM FC
    Free to talk Fine by me Fingers crossed
    FICCL FISH FOMCL
    Frankly I couldn't care a less First in, still here Falling off my chair laughing
    FITB FRT FWIW
    Fill in the blank For real though For what it's worth
    FYEO FYI G
    For your eyes only For your information Grin
    G/F G2CU G2G
    Girlfriend  Good to see you Got to go
    G2R G9 GA
    Got to run  Genius Go ahead
    GAL GB GBU
    Get a life Goodbye God bless you
    GDR GFI GG
    Grinning, ducking, and running Go for it Gotta Go or Good Game
    GIAR GIGO GL
    Give it a rest Garbage in, garbage out Good luck
    GL/HF GLNG GMTA
     Good luck, have fun Good luck next game Great minds think alike
    OI GOL GR8
    Get over it Giggling out loud Great
    GR&D GT GTG
    Grinning, running and ducking Good try Got to go
    GTRM H&K H2CUS
     Going to read mail Hugs & kisses Hope to see you soon
    H8 HAGN HAGO
    Hate Have a good night  Have a good one
    HAND HF HHIS
    Have a nice day Have fun Head hanging in shame
    HOAS HRU HTH
    Hold on a second How are you? Hope this helps
    HV IAC IANAL
    Have In any case I am not a lawyer
    IB IC ICBW
    I'm back I see It could be worse
    IDK IDTS IDUNNO
    I don't know I don't think so I don't know
    IG2R IIRC ILBL8
    I got to run If I remember correctly I'll be late
    ILU ILY IM
    I love you I love you Instant message
    IMHO IMNSHO IMO
    In my humble opinion In my not so humble opinion In my opinion
    IMS INAL IOW
    I am sorry I'm not a lawyer In other words
    IRL IRMC IUSS
    In real life I rest my case If you say so
    IYKWIM IYO IYSS
    If you know what I mean In your opinion If you say so
    j00r JAC JIC
    Your Just a sec Just in case
    JJA JK JMO
     Just joking around Just kidding Just my opinion
    JP k/b KISS
    Just playing keyboard Keep it simple, stupid
    KIT KOTC KOTL
    Keep in touch Kiss on the cheek Kiss on the lips
    KNIM l33t L8R
    Know what I mean? leet "elite" Later
    LD LERK LMAO
    Later, Long distance leaving easy reach of keyboard Laughing my a** off
    LOL LTM LTNS
    Laughing out loud Laugh to myself Long time no see
    LYLAS LYK M8
    Love you like a sis like Mate
    MFI MorF MSG
    Mad for it Male or female? Message
    MTF MTFBWU MUSM
    More to follow May the force be with you Miss you so much
    MYOB n00b N1
    Mind your own business Newbie Nice one
    NBD No big deal
    NE Any
    NE1 Anyone
    NFM None for me / Not for me
    NIMBY Not in my back yard
    NLT No later than
    NM Nothing much / Never mind
    NMH Not much here
    NO1 No one
    NOYB None of your business
    NP No problem
    NRN No response/reply necessary
    NVM Never mind
    NW No way
    NW) No way out
    OIC Oh, I see
    OMG Oh my God
    OMW On my way
    OO Over and out
    OOH Out of here
    OOTD One of these days
    OP On phone
    OTB Off to bed
    OTL Out to lunch
    OTOH On the other hand
    OTT Over the top
    OTTOMH Off the top of my head
    OTW Off to work
    OVA Over
    PCM Please call me
    PDQ Pretty darn quick
    PLMK Please let me know
    PLS Please
    PLZ Please
    PM Private Message
    PMFI Pardon me for interrupting
    PMFJI Pardon me for jumping in
    POAHF Put on a happy face
    POS Parent over shoulder
    PPL People
    PROLLY Probably
    PRT Party
    PRW People/parents are watching
    PTL Praise the Lord
    PTMM Please tell me more
    PXT Please explain that
    PU That stinks!
    Q Queue
    QIK Quick
    QT Cutie
    RL Real life
    RME Rolling my eyes
    ROFL Rolling on floor laughing
    ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
    ROTFLUTS Rolling on the floor laughing unable to speak
    RSN Real soon now
    RTM Read the manual
    RUOK Are you okay?
    SAL Such a laugh
    SBTSBC Same Bat-Time, Same Bat-Channel
    SC Stay cool
    SETE Smiling Ear-to-Ear
    S ICNR Sorry, I could not resist
    SIG2R Sorry, I got to run
    SIS Snickering in silence
    SIT Stay in touch
    SLAP Sounds like a plan
    SMHID Scratching my head in disbelief
    SNAFU Situation normal all fouled up
    SO Significant other
    SOL Sooner or later
    SOMY Sick of me yet?
    SOTMG Short of time, must go
    SOZ Sorry
    SPK Speak
    SPST Same place, same time
    SRY Sorry
    SS So sorry
    SSDD Same stuff, different day
    SSINF So stupid it's not funny
    STR8 Straight
    STW Search the Web
    SUITM See you in the morning
    SUL See you later
    SUP What's up?
    SYL See you later
    T+ Think positive
    TA Thanks a lot
    TAFN That's all for now
    TAM Tomorrow a.m.
    TBD To be determined
    TBH To be honest
    TC Take care
    TGIF Thank God it's Friday
    THX Thanks
    THNX Thanks
    THNQ Thank-you
    TIA Thanks in advance
    TIAD Tomorrow is another day
    TLK2UL8R Talk to you later
    TMB Text me back
    TMI Too much information
    TMOT Trust me on this
    TMWFI Take my word for it
    TNSTAAFL There's no such thing as a free lunch
    TPM Tomorrow p.m.
    TPTB The powers that be
    TSTB The sooner, the better
    TTFN Ta ta for now
    TTTT These things take time
    TTYL Talk to you later
    TTYS Talk to you soon
    TU Thank you
    TY Thank you
    TYT Take your time
    TYVM Thank you very much
    UGTBK You've got to be kidding
    UKTR You know that's right
    UL Upload
    UR Your / You're
    UV Unpleasant visual
    UW You're welcome
    WAM Wait a minute
    WAN2TLK Want to talk
    WAYF Where are you from?
    W/B Write back
    WB Welcome back
    W/E Whatever
    WIIFM What's in it for me?
    WK Week
    WKD Weekend
    WOMBAT Waste of money, brains and time
    WRK Work
    WRUD What are you doing?
    WTG Way to go
    WTH What the heck?
    WU? What's up?
    WUBU2? What have you been up to?
    WUCIWUG What you see is what you get
    WUF? Where are you from?
    WUWH Wish you were here
    WWJD What would Jesus do?
    WWYC Write when you can
    WYLEI When you least expect it
    WYSIWYG What you see is what you get
    X Kiss
    XLNT Excellent
    YA Your
    YBS You'll be sorry
    YGBKM You've got to be kidding me
    YKWYCD You know what you can do
    YMMV Your mileage may vary
    YR Your
    YW You're welcome
    ZZZZ bored/sleeping

References

  • Rai, Himanshu (October 30, 2005). "Thumbs Up!". New Straits Times, p. F14.

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Challenge

Write a short poem or story in text language

the best being published here

(use comment box to send your txt in)

dde, sriously, ppl shud knw hw 2 use sms by nw, i mean, hu3va dsnt is rly....weird?

(OK but can't understand the last bit at all!)

(.)(.) w@t do3z tHiS me3@n ????

(here's looking at you kid !)

haha dis syte is lyke well k i mean luk at all sad ppl who cant use txt lnguage init

(not bad can anyone do better)

Comments Questions Answers

xixixi = Idle talk, gossip

meh=whatever

:<

xx - - just be mates

xxx - likes u more than mates

btw= by the way
atm= at the moment
cbb= can't be bothered

hey who knows wat cutie is in txt language ...
it is qt

3> = LOVE (or the other way = <3)

TIAMO = I love you in Italian

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
LCK  OR LCJK ??

BBZ = Baby

njoy = enjoy

what dus lym mean...?

Love You Much  - Love You More - Love You Millions ?

GOW = God of War ?

Yh = yes

:)))

Soz  = Sorry or see you later

what does :P mean?

Acc - Actually

;=]

LUVOO = love you

wubu2 = what you been up 2?

what does lad or ladd mean?

what does FAM mean?

(\_/)
(O.o)
(")(")
= bunny

KIT- keep in touch

lul- love u lots

btw- by the way

bby ?

"Before the Battle of Yavin", a system of measuring Dates in Star Wars.? or Baby?

:*  means that ur giving that person a kiss!

<3 means heart
ttyl talk to you later - so does t2ul8r

</3= Broken Heart
\=! is cool with a cap
%O>= confused

iciamyy4u ?

= I see I am too wise for you

what does :D x mean?

big sloppy kiss?

BRB MEANZ BE RIGHT BCK

hmph ?

easy or pointless ?

ITE means alright

rgr ?

"Roger" as used in radio transmissions ?

fomcl for fallin off my chair laughin

cbltr- call back later

cbtday - callback today

<3mwah<3

OCC ?

Might mean Occasionally

XOXO - Hugs And Kisses

lol also means lots of love

AIIRW2DT = As If I Really Wanted To Do That

BTL = below the line

lol is laugh out loud

LYM can anyone tell me what this means?

Love you much

Can you tell me what this means please ? LYMROS

i<3u=i love you

ijs ?

Dutch for Ice Cream ?

GQM ?

Goal Question Metric

wuu2 for wot you up to

what does TQ26RS mean?

what does YH mean?

Yh is IM messaging slang which means "yes"

what does MHM mean?

Could be 'members helping members'

what does nasr mean?

what does :* mean ?

 means that ur giving that person a kiss!

ne1 no what "0x" mean? mtia

what does do numbers alone mean?  For example, I have been playing a game online and at random someone will type "1" or "2" or "3".  Arrgh!  I'm too old, but don't want to look as stupid as I apparently am ;-)

what does this mean ...    \=!

is cool with a cap

4gi = forget it

heart= <3

what does yayly mean gettin on in years now and don't wanna look sad in front of my niece lol...................

</3

gdd

hya=hey

what does :)( )   mean?

lol doesn't mean lots of love it is laugh out loud! durr lol

what's the point of using "text language". When you can't even use it in exams in school!. its a waste of time, you may as well practice REAL spelling and ace your exams then be an expert on this stupid "text language". no wonder kids are thick these days! they're starting to speak like it too! one girl i know keeps saying lol and oh em gee!!!. what is the world coming to!?!?!

I am a great-grandmother and have decided it is high time I learnt some of the texting language.   How is it that if youngsters can master it why is it that as a nation we are so poor at foreign languages?

T2UL- Talk to you later
LOL- Lots of love
TCCIC- Take care cuz I care

what does IWSWDFW stand for as i am really stuck?

What does BUBIB stand for?

what does %0> stand for ?

confused

i think it is very cool that there are so many txt words... it saves time..!!!  lol  i'm just lazy!!

this is a very useful site 4 me

LTQM = Laughing quietly to myself

nub --> noob --> newbie

"G"

il jus dont no y there is so many ways u can short txt wat happens if u have lernin probs ?

HAKAS - Have A Kick As* Summer

99 - Nite Nite

Can anyone explain to me how 143 becomes I love you. Or should I just accept it without proof! Just being curious (JBC) ?

143 = I love you - 1= 1 letter (i) - 4= 4 letters (love) - 3= 3 letters (you) - Make sense?

1337 means leet or elite wassup yall evry bdy needs 2 tlk 2 ppl ttfn dont tdtm

have received a txt message 831 can you tell me what it means in English language ?

831 means 8 letters, 3 words, 1 mean.....basically I love you

y-why

10x: thanks

 

could u tell me what this means please - mwah ?

Apparently it is an online kiss in a flirty way ;-)

mwah means kisses

brb

have received a text message :-) X. Can you tell me what this means in English language ?

:-) X, is a happy face and a kiss. and mwah is like a kiss as well.

BRT- Be Right There

143--i love you

ttyl


 


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