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Textspeak / Chatronyms

A living glossary of common shorthand — quick to scan, easy to expand. From classic IRC to modern DMs.


Tip: press Ctrl-F and type an acronym to jump.

How to read this

nym is the shorthand; the right column expands it and sometimes adds notes. Variants are grouped or mentioned inline.

Classic net shorthand

nymexpansion / note
<3i like that comment
heart / like
aamofas a matter of fact
afkaway from keyboard
asapas soon as possible
atmat the moment
brbbe right back
sometimes “bathroom break”
btwby the way
fwiwfor what it’s worth
fyifor your information
gtggot to go
also g2g
ici see
iircif i recall correctly
imhoin my humble opinion
imoin my opinion
irlin real life
jkjust kidding
lmaolaughing my a** off
lollaughing out loud
npno problem
omgoh my gosh
alt: god
pplpeople
rtfmread the *fine* manual
polite version
tathanks
british usage
tmitoo much information
ttyltalk to you later
tythank you
also thx, tnx
wfmworks for me
wysiwygwhat you see is what you get
ymmvyour mileage may vary

Net culture & in-jokes

nymexpansion / note
aybabtuall your base are belong to us
classic meme
cq...seeking contact / calling all stations
ham radio
fbfine business
ham shorthand
ftwfor the win
gmtagreat minds think alike
hdjhe’s dead, jim
irretrievably broken
ihai hate acronyms
ironically an acronym
pal2peace and long life
🖖 vulcan reply to LLAP
roflrolling on floor laughing
smmassudo make me a sandwich
xkcd / UNIX joke
wsofway short of f***s (to give)
censor style
ygbkmyou gotta be kidding me

Modern chat & gaming

nymexpansion / note
bffbest friends forever
brtbe right there
logistics
dmdirect message
also PM
etaedited to add / estimated time of arrival
famclose friends / folks
slang
frfor real
glhfgood luck, have fun
gaming
hmuhit me up
idki don’t know
ikri know, right?
agreement
irl / afkreal life / away from keyboard
paired status
istgi swear to god
lfglooking for group
gaming
nglnot gonna lie
preface to opinion
nrnno reply necessary
email/chat etiquette
nvmnevermind
oofsympathy / wince
reaction
opsecoperations security
don’t overshare
otpone true pairing
fandom
povpoint of view
meme label
rnright now
smhshaking my head
disapproval
sussuspicious
Among Us → mainstream
tldrtoo long; didn’t read
wyswhat you said
agreement