Meaning of the most used abbreviations in chats

Among the young and the very young are all the rage English abbreviations of commonly used words: the use of these abbreviations is very high and, if we don’t keep up with the times, we risk finding ourselves with incomprehensible messages or messages whose meaning we misunderstand, even running the risk of being referred to as a “boomer” (a word that indicates a person now obsolete in the ways of saying and doing).

In order not to miss anything of the messages exchanged, we will show you, in the following guide, the meaning of the most used abbreviations, focusing on those in common use among young Italians. Next time we get our hands on a young chat we’ll know exactly what they’re saying!

READ ALSO -> Meaning of the 100 most used emojis

The most used abbreviations in chat

In the following list we have collected all the abbreviations most used by young people in WhatsApp chats or in any other messaging app. Most of the abbreviations are of English origin (since the phenomenon was born in the United States) and, for each abbreviation mentioned in the guide, we will take care to indicate (if necessary) both the meaning in English and the translation into Italian.

• xke / xké -> Why.
• tdb -> I love you so much.
• tat -> I love you so much.
• k / kk -> Ok oppure OK OK.
• tl;dr -> Too long; didn’t read -> (text) too long, I didn’t read it.
• thx -> Thanks -> Grazie.
• tvtb (the variant tvttb and similar) -> I love you so much.
• tvukdb -> I love you so much.
• xoxo -> Kisses and hugs -> Baci e abbracci.
• tbh -> To be honest -> A essere sincero.
• scnr -> Sorry, could not resist -> Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
• rly? -> Really? -> Davvero?
• ROFL -> Rolling over the floor laughing -> I’m rolling over the floor laughing.
• plz -> Please -> Per favore.
• omg -> Oh my god! -> O mio Dio!
• omg -> Oh my f***ing god -> Oh my good God!
• nsfw -> Not safe for work -> Not safe for work, adult content.
• n8 -> N-eight -> Buonanotte.
• n1 -> Nice one -> Ben fatto.
• seed / n00b -> Newbie -> Newbie (also called noob in gamers).
• lol -> laughing out loud -> I die laughing.
• irl -> In real life -> In real life.
• imho / imo -> In my humble opinion / In my opinion -> A mio modesto parere, secondo me.
• idk -> I don’t know -> Non so, non saprei.
• Hth -> Hope that helps -> Hope that helps.
• Hf -> Have fun -> Have fun.
• gratz -> Congratulations -> Congratulations.
• gg -> Good game -> Excellent game (in the gamer field).
• gl -> Good luck -> Good luck.
• gj -> Good job -> Well done, great job.
• gn -> Good night -> Buona notte.
• g2g -> Go to go -> Unfortunately I have to go.
• gig -> Giggle -> Ridacchiare.
• fyi -> For your information -> Per tua informazione.
• FAQ -> Frequently asked questions -> Answers to frequently asked questions.
• f2f -> Face to Face -> In person, face to face.
• eod -> End of Discussion -> Fine della discussione.
• no -> Easy -> Facile.
• dafuq / dafuq? / wtf? -> various expressions of surprise -> What the heck, what the hell!
• cya -> See Ya, See You Again -> A più tardi.
• cbcr -> Grow well that I review.
• btw -> By the way -> A proposito.
• brb -> Be right back -> Torno subito.
• bbl -> Be back later -> I’ll be back later.
• bg -> Big grin -> Grande sorriso.
• asap -> As soon as possible -> As soon as possible.
• afaik -> As far as I know -> Per quanto ne so.
• aka -> Also known as -> Anche noto come.
• 2L8 -> Too late -> Too late.
• 2g4u -> To good for you -> È troppo per te.
• to do -> In my experience -> According to my experience.
• b4 –> Before -> Prima.
• rsvp –> Please reply -> Ti prego rispondi.
• lmk –> Let me know -> Fammi sapere.
• dob –> Date of birth -> Data di nascita.
• and –> Estimated time of arrival -> Estimated time of arrival or end.
• fomo – Fear of missing out -> fear of being cut off.
• DIY – Do it yourself -> Fai da te.
• fwiw -> For what it’s worth -> Per quel che vale.
• see -> Hit me up -> Contattami.
• icy -> In case you missed it -> In case you missed it.
• tbh -> To be honest -> Onestamente.
• tbf -> To be fair -> A dirla tutta.
• wfh -> Working from home -> Lavoro da casa.
• bae -> Before Anyone Else -> before anyone else (parents, siblings).

These abbreviations can be found in any type of chat: in phone messaging apps, in PC chats and even in the chats integrated into video games.

Conclusions

Understand the most used abbreviations in chats, using them at the right time and understanding their meaning will allow you to converse with young people and with the very young without any fear and without being singled out as old and out of fashion. Obviously this is only a small collection of abbreviations used every day, but we are sure we have shown you those present in most of the “young” chats.

To learn more, we can read our ai guides different ways to make the Heart on WhatsApp and about how see and write Emoji on Windows PC and Mac.