40 Confusing Acronyms That Only Gen Z Understands
When you see a young person use abbreviations that are nothing like the traditional “RSVP” and “ASAP,” do you cringe, or does it give you FOMO? With many people wanting to send and receive information quickly, new acronyms seem to appear by the minute.
The problem? For many Americans, they’re too hard to keep up with.
Language education website Anna Spanish analyzed data from Google to determine the acronyms that Americans are most confused about. They analyzed over 150 acronyms that covered the categories of dating, gaming, business, technology, and general communication. After analyzing the searches for the 150 standalone acronyms, Anna Spanish combined them with terms like “X meaning,” “what does X mean,” “what does X stand for,” and “X definition.”
How many of these “youngin 40” acronyms can you define?
1: FWB
Not only do youngsters love making up new acronyms, but friends with benefits (FWB) is also more common than it was in the past. FWB is the most confusing acronym for Americans, with a total search volume of 577,190.
2: NSFW
If you’re guilty of sending a text or email to someone that you wouldn’t want their boss to see, it’s polite to give them a heads-up with NSFW. That means “Not safe for work,” for those of us who aren’t in the know.
3: DTF
A risqué acronym made the top three, with DTF meaning “Down to…” We’ll leave the “F” to your imagination.
4: SMH
If you tell someone something that disappoints them, they might respond with SMH (Shaking my head). We might as well create a new acronym while we’re at it: SYH. If you’re like us, you’re probably “shaking your head” as you read through this.
5: OTP
Yes, some people might use OTP as an acronym referring to the musician and album of the same name. But in most cases, it’s a gaming abbreviation for “one true pairing.” For those who aren’t in the gaming world, according to Fanlore, “OTP is a fan’s favorite pairing in a given fandom.”
6: POV
Bookworms are likely familiar with POV when talking about a character’s “point of view.” Some people also use POV in everyday texting conversations.
7: IMO
If you haven’t seen IMO before, prepare for your reticular activating system to pick up on this acronym moving forward. IMO stands for “In my opinion,” and is commonly seen in online discussions.
8: TL;DR
TL;DR seems harmless until you spell it out: Too long; didn’t read. Ouch. That’s a tough one to swallow, especially if you poured your heart into writing a long text message or email.
9: FOMO
FOMO is a popular acronym in the cryptocurrency and investing world, for it means “fear of missing out.” The problem? FOMO tends to strike financially uneducated folks to buy when those who are investor savvy are getting ready to sell.
10: HMU
Want to sound cool among your friends or a new love interest? Using HMU (Hit me up) should do the trick.
11: ISTG
No, ISTG isn’t a roundabout acronym for Instagram. Instead, it means “I swear to God.”
12: LMAO
LMAO is less vulgar than DTF but still too colorful for our PG-friendly content to spell it out here. It stands for “laughing my…off.” We trust you can guess what the “A” stands for.
13: TBH
No one likes a liar. So, if you want to be clear about the truth that’s about to leave your fingertips as you type, try using TBH (to be honest).
14: LMK
If someone invites you to a party or event, they might end their invite with LMK (Let me know).
15: AWOL
No one wants to experience AWOL in their workplace, but that’s a situation that many employees face. Absence without leave means an employee won’t receive pay for the day(s) they’re not at work.
16: ETA
Most Americans can get through life easily enough without knowing the definition of many of these words. In our opinion, ETA isn’t among them. Whether you’re visiting friends or relatives, someone might text you ETA, wanting to know your “Estimated time of arrival.”
17: DM
From work environments to social media, DM is a common abbreviation. It stands for “direct message.” So, be sure not to write someone publicly when they’ve specifically requested you to DM them.
18: IYKYK
People familiar with the acronyms on this list might roll their eyes and think, IYKYK (If you know, you know).
19: IIRC
It’s natural for memories to morph with time. So, when talking about something from the past in a text message, you may want to add IIRC (If I remember correctly).
20: OP
When you’re reading comments people leave online, it’s common to come across the acronym “OP.” That means someone is referring to the “original post.”
21: TTYL
TTYL has been around longer than several of the acronyms on this list. However, according to Anna Spanish’s study, many Americans look up its definition. TTYL stands for “talk to you later.”
22: IRL
People enveloped in the gaming world might need to use IRL more than others, defining when they’re talking about something “in real life.”
23: PDA
If someone tells you to keep your PDA to a minimum, you might be doting on your partner in public too much. That’s right; PDA stands for “Public display of affection.”
24: ONG
Americans who don’t affiliate themselves with a religious group might be out of the loop when they read ONG (On God).
25: BAE
If you haven’t heard of BAE, you’re far from alone. It stands for “Before anyone else,” which, if we may go so far as to say, is an acronym that many of us may never need to use.
26: TBD
TBD is a relatively classic acronym, especially when compared to BAE. But many Americans still need to look it up to learn that it means “To be determined.”
27: AFK
With the rise in remote work, AFK has been an increasingly more common acronym people use on the job. It means “Away from keyboard.”
28: NGL
You can use NGL interchangeably with TBH. It means “Not gonna lie.” Yes, you must read it as “gonna” instead of “going to” in order to have the full NGL effect.
29: LOL
We’re going to go out on a limb and assume that many people searching for “LOL” understand that it means laughing (after all, many of us follow it up with a laughing emoji). However, not everyone may know that LOL stands for “Laughing out loud.”
30: YOLO
If you’re the type of person who frequently throws caution to the wind, YOLO might be your motto. “You only live once,” as far as any of us know, after all.
31: BTW
BTW, how many acronyms on this list have you heard of so far? We’ll help you out with this one; BTW means “By the way.”
32: TMI
Hold up! Not everyone needs to hear about that great number two you took in the toilet. That’s TMI (too much information), thank you very much.
33: TFW
Want to show someone you can relate to them? Using TFW (that feeling when) should do the trick.
34: FYP
If you’re not on TikTok, FYP will understandably throw you for a loop. It stands for “For You Page,” which is a TikTok-specific page with recommended content.
35: FTW
When you’re feeling good about something that happened, you might use the phrase “For the win.” However, it’s in style to abbreviate the saying by writing, “FTW.”
36: TBT
TBT, which is often accompanied by the hashtag version (#TBT), stands for “Throwback Thursday.” It’s an internet trend where people post photos and memories on social media about special moments that happened in the past.
37: WFH
WFH is a newer acronym that stands for “Work from home.” Even though the number of people working remotely has declined since the pandemic, WFH is about three to four times more common than it was in 2019.
38: FYI
FYI, FYI is the third to last acronym on this list. So, what does FYI stand for? It means, “For your information.”
39: ICYMI
ICYMI, ICYMI is the second to last acronym on this list. ICYMI stands for “In case you missed it,” of course.
40: NBD
Sure, you can write no biggie in a text and sound fairly cool. But texting NBD (No big deal) is both faster and cooler among the text message savvy.
The Why Behind Acronyms
A spokesperson for Anna Spanish commented on the study’s findings. “American English is always changing, and it happens more often than you might think. You don’t have to go back centuries to see it. In just the last ten years, hundreds of changes have popped up. Some of them are because of new gadgets and tech stuff. Others happen because people start using words differently.”
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