| Slang | Variations | Recency* | Modern use | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /s | New | Yes | Sarcasm (suffix) | |
| 3cool5u | 3cool5me | New | Yes | "Too cool for you"; from "2cool4u" |
| 420 | Very old | Yes | "Marijuana" | |
| afaik | Old | Yes | "As far as I know" | |
| afk | Very old | Yes | "Away from keyboard" | |
| asl | a/s/l | Very old | Yes | "Age/sex/location?"; sexual context |
| atm | Very old | Yes | "At the moment" | |
| atw | Very old | Rare | "All the way"; expresses approval | |
| ayy | ayy lmao | New | Yes | "Yeah"; often accompanies humor/thanks |
| bae | New | Yes | Informal/sarcastic form of "baby" | |
| bb | Old/New | Yes | "Baby" / "Be back" | |
| bbiab | Old | Rare | "Be back in a bit" | |
| bbl | Very old | Yes | "Be back later" | |
| bbs | Old | Yes | "Be back soon" | |
| bc | b/c, cuz | Very old | Yes | "Because" |
| bf | Very old | Yes | "Boyfriend" | |
| bff | Old | Yes | "Best friend forever" | |
| bork | borked | Old | Yes | "Break" / "Broken" |
| brb | Very old | Yes | "Be right back" | |
| btw | Very old | Yes | "By the way" | |
| cba | Old | Yes | "Can't be arsed" | |
| convo | Old | Yes | "Conversation" | |
| cp | Very old | Yes | "Child porn" (internet taboo) | |
| cya | Old | Yes | "See ya [later]" | |
| cya | cu | Very old | Yes | "See you [later]" |
| dank | New | Yes | Similar to "cool" | |
| dc | d/c, dc'd | Very old | Yes | "Disconnect(ed)" / "Don't care" |
| dem feels | New | Yes | Reaction to emotional text | |
| fml | Old | Yes | "Fuck my life" (jokingly) | |
| ftfy | New | Yes | "Fixed that for you" (sarcastic) | |
| ftl | Very old | Yes | "For the lose"; expresses dislike | |
| ftw | Very old | Yes | "For the win"; expresses approval | |
| fyi | Very old | Yes | "For your information" | |
| g2g | gtg | Very old | Yes | "Got to go" |
| g4u | Old | Yes | "Good for you"; often sarcastic | |
| gf | Very old | Yes | "Girlfriend" | |
| gg | Very old | Yes | "Good game"; occasionally "got to go" | |
| goml | New | Yes | "Get on my level" | |
| gr8 | Old | No | "Great" | |
| gratz | congratz | Very old | Yes | "Congratulations" |
| gtfo | Very old | Yes | "Get the fuck out" | |
| guiz | Old | Yes | "Guys"; meant to sound stupid | |
| hbu | New | Yes | "How 'bout you?" | |
| hru | Old | Yes | "How are you?" | |
| idc | Very old | Yes | "I don't care" | |
| idgaf | Old | Yes | "I don't give a fuck" | |
| idk | idfk, idek | Very old | Yes | "I don't (fucking/even) know" |
| iirc | Old | Yes | "If I recall correctly" | |
| ik | Old | Yes | "I know" | |
| ikr | inorite | Old | Yes | "I know, right?" |
| ily | ilu | New | Yes | "I love you" |
| inb4 | Old | Yes | "In before"; prefixes a prediction | |
| irl | Very old | Yes | "In real life" | |
| jfc | Old | Yes | "Jesus fucking Christ" | |
| jk | Very old | Yes | "Just kidding" | |
| John Cena | New | Yes | Similar use to "Chuk Norris" | |
| JOHN CENA | Old | Yes | Comonly used spam phrase | |
| js | Old | Yes | "Just sayin'" | |
| k | kk | Very old | Yes | "Okay" |
| kappa | keepo | New | Yes | Sarcasm |
| kek | kekekek | Old | Yes | Translates to "lol"; laughter |
| kms | New | Yes | "Kill myself" (jokingly) | |
| kthx | kthxbai | Old | Yes | "'kay-thanks(-bye)"; implies firmness |
| l8r | Old | No | "Later" | |
| leet | l33t, 1337 | Very old | Yes | Slang for "elite" |
| lmao | lmfao | Very old | Yes | "Laughing my (fucking) ass off" |
| lol | lulz, lel | Very old | Yes | "Laugh out loud" |
| lrl | New | Rare | "Laughing really loudly" | |
| lrn2 | Old | Yes | "Learn to ..."; e.g. "lrn2read" | |
| m8 | m9 | Old | Yes | "Mate" |
| mfw | New | Yes | "My feeling when" | |
| mrw | New | Yes | "My reaction when" | |
| nerf | Old | Yes | "Weaken"; e.g. "ak47 is op, plz nerf" | |
| ngl | New | Yes | "Not gonna lie" | |
| nm | Very old | Rare | "Not much"; occasionally "never mind" | |
| nmu | Old | Rare | "Not much, you?" | |
| noob | nub | Old | Rare | Slang for "newbie" |
| nu | Old | Yes | Cute "no" | |
| nvm | Very old | Yes | "Never mind" | |
| ofc | Very old | Yes | "Of course" | |
| omf | New | Rare | "Oh my fuck" | |
| omg | omfg | Very old | Yes | "Oh my (fucking) god" |
| omw | Old | Yes | "On my way" | |
| ooc | Old | Yes | "Out-of-context" | |
| op | Old | Yes | "Overpowered" | |
| OP | Very old | Yes | "Original post(er)" | |
| orly | Old | Yes | "Oh really?" | |
| pepe | Old | Yes | Poorly drawn frog from 4chan | |
| pleb | plebs | New | Yes | "Plebian(s)"; conformist; "noob" |
| pleb tier | New | Yes | Of "noob"/conformist quality | |
| plz | pls, pl0x | Old | Yes | Please |
| pron | pr0n, pr0nz | Very old | Yes | "Pornography" |
| pwned | pwn | Very old | Rare | "Powned"; like "owned" |
| rekt | New | Yes | "Wrecked"; like "owned" | |
| rickroll | Old | Yes | Common rank involving Rick Astley | |
| rip | New | Yes | Laughter in response to failure | |
| rms | Very old | Rare | Richard Stallman | |
| rofl | Very old | Rare | "Rolling on floor laughing" | |
| rotflol | Very old | No | "Rolling on floor laughing out loud" | |
| rtfm | Very old | Yes | "Read the fucking manual" | |
| rude | rood | New | Yes | Response to insult/taunt |
| shank | New | Yes | Stab | |
| smd | New | Yes | "Suck my dick" | |
| smh | New | Yes | "Shake my head" | |
| swag | swagger | New | Yes | Coolness (sarcastic) |
| tbh | Old | Yes | "To be honest" | |
| tf | New | Yes | "... the fuck?" / "That feeling" | |
| tfw | New | Yes | "That feeling when" | |
| thx | Old | Yes | "Thanks" | |
| TIL | New | Yes | "Today I learned" | |
| tl;dr | Old | Yes | "Too long; didn't read" | |
| tmw | New | Yes | "That moment when" | |
| tolo | New | Rare | "Tits out legs open" | |
| topkek | toplel | Old | Yes | Neologism of "kek"; laughter |
| ty | Very old | Yes | "Thank you" | |
| uwotm8 | New | Yes | "You what mate?" | |
| w00t | woot | Old | No | Exclamation of joy |
| wb | Very old | Yes | "Welcome back" | |
| wot | wat | Old | Yes | "What"; meant to sound stupid |
| wtb | Old | Yes | "[I] want to buy" | |
| wtb | Old | Yes | "Want-to-buy"; looking to buy | |
| wtf | Very old | Yes | "What the fuck" | |
| wtg | w2g | Old | Rare | "Way to go"; sarcastic |
| wts | Old | Yes | "[I] want to sell" | |
| wts | Old | Yes | "Want-to-sell"; looking to sell | |
| wuu2 | Old | Rare | "What [are] you up to?" | |
| yarly | Old | Yes | "Yeah, really" | |
| ymmv | Very old | Yes | "Your mileage may vary" | |
| yolo | yoloswag | New | Yes | "You only live once" |
| yw | Very old | Yes | "You're welcome" |
* Recency to common Internet vocabulary, not use elsewhere. Many words have origins that are much older than the Internet, such as "pwn" and "shank".
| Emoticon | Description |
|---|---|
| :) | Smile |
| :( | Frown |
| :P | Raspberry (tongue sticking out) |
| :c | Cute frown |
| :< | Cute frown |
| c: | Cute smile |
| <: | Devious smile |
| :L | Uneasy |
| :/ | Uneasy |
| :\ | Uneasy |
| ^_^ | Cartoon smile |
| ^.^ | Cartoon smile |
< | Cartoon grimace .< | Cartoon grimace > | Looking sideways; avoiding eye contact << | Looking sideways; avoiding eye contact .> | Looking sideways; avoiding eye contact <.< | Looking sideways; avoiding eye contact -.- | Angry stare ("not amused") -- | Angry stare ("not amused") o_o | Small eyes; aghast o.o | Small eyes; aghast .. | Small eyes; aghast ;; | Crying >:) | Evil grin :] | Robot smile :} | Devious smile :| | Serious face >:( | Angry >:| | Angry -.^ | Raised eyebrow -_^ | Raised eyebrow
-
| Nerdy/geeky face
B) | Cool face, with shades <3 | Heart xD | Cringe-smile
Proper emoji use non-Latin characters to create complex, detailed faces. There are a lot of combinations; I'll only list emoji that I see often.
| Emoji | Description |
|---|---|
| ¯\(ツ)/¯ | Shrug ("idk") |
| (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻) | Flip table |
| ┬──┬ ¯\_(ツ) | Restore flipped table |
| (╯°□°）╯ | Gasp, hands in the air |
| ಠ_ಠ | Skeptical/not-amused stare |
| ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) | Trollface/"Lenny" (doesn't print properly in some browsers) |