Texting abbreviations and slang in 2026: meanings and examples

Texting abbreviations are shortened words and phrases that save typing and set a tone: lol means “laugh out loud”, idk “I don’t know”, tbh “to be honest”, wyd “what (are) you doing”, lmk “let me know” and ngl “not gonna lie”. Slang that has spread through texting in the last few years includes rizz (charm), no cap (truthfully), mid (so-so), delulu (delusional, often cheerfully) and bet (agreed). The tables below give the meaning of each, an example, and a note on how it tends to come across.

How we checked. We checked every meaning on 20 October 2026 against Merriam-Webster, the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries and, for the abbreviations neither of those lists, Wiktionary. Long-established abbreviations such as lol, brb, idk and omw are in those dictionaries, so we link only the newer, disputed or surprising terms to the entry we used. The tone notes are our reading, not dictionary definitions. We left out abbreviations and slang that are sexual or crude, and we don’t give usage percentages: we couldn’t find reliable, current data on how often people use each one.

Everyday abbreviations: plans, status and replies

Abbreviation	Meaning	Example	Tone note
brb	be right back	“brb, someone’s at the door”	Neutral
omw	on my way	“omw, 10 min”	Handy, as long as you really are
ttyl	talk to you later	“gotta run, ttyl”	A friendly sign-off
gtg	got to go	“gtg, meeting starting”	Abrupt on its own; add a few words (“gtg, call you tonight”)
lmk	let me know	“lmk if Friday works”	Neutral and useful for plans
hmu	hit me up (get in touch)	“hmu when you land”	Casual
wyd	what (are) you doing	“wyd later?”	Late at night it can read as low effort
rn	right now	“can’t talk rn, driving”	Neutral
bc	because	“late bc of the train”	Neutral
nvm	never mind	“nvm, found it”	Fine for logistics; after a personal question it can read as hurt
asap	as soon as possible	“need the keys asap”	Can sound demanding with friends
afk	away from (the) keyboard	“afk for 10 min”	Mostly gaming and work chats
dm	direct message	“dm me the address”	Neutral

Reactions and laughter

Abbreviation	Meaning	Example	Tone note
lol	laugh out loud	“lol same”	Usually softens a message rather than meaning real laughter (see below)
rofl	rolling on (the) floor laughing	“rofl at that photo”	A bigger, more playful laugh
omg	oh my God	“omg congrats”	Excitement or shock
smh	shaking my head	“smh, he forgot again”	Disbelief or mild disapproval; reads as judgy if aimed at the person you’re texting
ikr	I know, right?	“ikr, it was so good”	Warm agreement
jk	just kidding	“you’re the worst. jk”	If you need it, the joke may not have landed
tfw	that feeling when	“tfw the bus leaves as you get there”	Sets up a relatable moment

Opinions and honesty

Abbreviation	Meaning	Example	Tone note
imo	in my opinion	“imo the sequel was better”	Softens a strong opinion
imho	in my humble opinion	“imho, pineapple belongs on pizza”	Often playful; can read as smug
tbh	to be honest	“tbh I’d rather stay in”	Flags honesty; often cushions a no
ngl	not gonna lie	“ngl, that’s impressive”	A small confession or a frank compliment
fr	for real	“this week has been long fr”	Agreement or emphasis
afaik	as far as I know	“afaik it starts at 8”	Neutral; signals you might be wrong
fyi	for your information	“fyi, the restaurant moved”	Can sound like a correction; “heads up” is softer
iykyk	if you know, you know	“the corner booth, iykyk”	An inside-joke marker

Questions back, thanks and affection

Abbreviation	Meaning	Example	Tone note
wbu	what about you	“pretty good, wbu?”	Add a detail before it so they have something to reply to
hbu	how about you	“tired but fine, hbu?”	Same as wbu
k	okay	“k”	Often reads as cold or annoyed on its own
kk	okay	“kk, see you there”	Friendlier than a single k
ofc	of course	“ofc I’ll come”	Warm
ty	thank you	“ty!”	Fine for small things; spell it out for a real favor
tysm	thank you so much	“tysm for the lift”	Warmer than ty
np	no problem	“np, anytime”	Friendly
ily	I love you	“ily, drive safe”	For people you’d say it to out loud
xoxo	hugs and kisses	“see you soon xoxo”	Affectionate; skip it at work
bff	best friend (forever)	“my bff is visiting”	Warm

Online and social media

Abbreviation	Meaning	Example	Tone note
irl	in real life	“we should meet irl”	Neutral
fomo	fear of missing out	“these photos are giving me fomo”	Light-hearted
icymi	in case you missed it	“icymi, dinner moved to 8”	A polite way to repeat something
tl;dr	too long; didn’t read (also: the short version)	“tl;dr: we’re going Saturday”	Fine for summaries; dismissive as a reply to someone’s long message
pov	point of view	“pov: you forgot the tickets”	In captions it sets up a scene from someone’s perspective

Slang you’ll see in 2026

Slang	Meaning	Example	Note
rizz	romantic appeal or charm	“he has zero rizz and somehow it works”	Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2023
no cap	truthfully, for real	“best tacos in town, no cap”	From African American English, per Merriam-Webster
cap	to lie (“that’s cap” means that’s a lie)	“that’s cap”	Same origin
bet	agreed, for sure (sometimes sarcastic)	“7 at the station?” “bet”	From African American English slang of the 1980s
lowkey	somewhat, quietly	“lowkey nervous about tomorrow”	Merriam-Webster spells it low-key
highkey	totally, truly	“highkey obsessed with this song”	The opposite of lowkey
mid	so-so, mediocre	“the movie was mid”	A put-down; careful with someone’s taste
sus	suspicious	“that link looks sus”	Neutral to playful
slay	to do something impressively well	“you slayed that presentation”	A compliment
delulu	delusional, often in a cheerful, self-confident way	“delulu enough to think I’ll finish this today”	Emerged among K-pop fans online in the early 2010s, per Merriam-Webster
fam	close friend (or family)	“thanks, fam”	Friendly
bae	sweetheart	“dinner with bae”	Affectionate
the tea	gossip, inside information	“ok, spill the tea”	Playful
receipts	proof	“I have receipts”	Often means screenshots
salty	bitter, resentful	“still salty about that game”	Teasing
extra	over the top	“a cake for the dog’s birthday is extra”	Teasing or a compliment, depending on tone
shook	shocked, surprised	“I’m shook”	Playful
stan	to be a devoted fan of	“I stan this bakery”	Playful
bussin	extremely good; delicious	“this ramen is bussin”	Often about food
vibe	to get along; a feeling	“we just vibed”	Warm
say less	an enthusiastic yes	“free pizza?” “say less”	Means “you don’t need to convince me”
periodt	end of discussion	“she’s the best, periodt”	Emphasis
touch grass	go do something offline	“you need to touch grass”	A put-down for spending too long online
6-7	a nonsensical expression	“6-7”	Used especially by children and young teens
skibidi	a nonsense word used as a meme	“that’s so skibidi”	The lack of meaning is the joke

Dating words

Term	Meaning	Note
ghosting	ending a relationship by suddenly stopping all contact without explanation	Leaves the other person guessing
breadcrumbing	showing interest now and then to keep power over someone	A claim about intent, which texts can’t prove
love bombing	showering someone with excessive attention and affection early on, often insincerely	Merriam-Webster spells the verb lovebomb
the ick	a sudden feeling of disgust towards someone, often someone you were attracted to	Often hard to explain
red flag	a sign that something is wrong
green flag	a positive sign
beige flag	a quirk that’s neither a turn-on nor a turn-off
soft launch	hinting on social media that you’re seeing someone without showing who	A hard launch is the public reveal
left on read	someone read your message and didn’t reply	Read receipts make it visible
double text	sending another message before they’ve replied to the first
situationship	a romantic relationship nobody has defined or committed to	Our guide to situationship texting covers how to ask where it’s going
talking stage	the getting-to-know-you texting before you start dating	Not in Merriam-Webster or Oxford Learner’s yet; see the talking stage

Why “k” reads cold and “lol” softens

Text strips out tone of voice, so small choices carry it instead.

“lol” is often not about laughing. In a 2013 TED talk, linguist John McWhorter pointed to texts where someone writes lol while describing a pile of work, with nobody amused, and argued that lol works as “a marker of empathy” that eases the conversation along (TED). That’s why “lol I’m so late” lands more gently than “I’m so late”.

A lone “k” can feel like a door closing. We couldn’t find a good study on “k” itself, but it’s the shortest possible reply, and it can suggest the sender couldn’t be bothered to type more. If you mean “okay, great”, write that, or “kk”, or “sounds good”.

Full stops and short replies. Casual texts often leave off the final full stop, so a one-word reply that ends in one can read as curt. Our texting etiquette guide covers the study behind this and other tone habits.

Answer “wbu” with something to grab. “Good, wbu?” hands the work back. “Good, finally tried that climbing gym. wbu?” gives them something to reply to. If that sounds like you, here’s how to stop being a dry texter. If you’re on the receiving end of a lot of one-word answers, see how to respond to dry texts.

Generational differences

People of different ages often read the same text differently. We couldn’t find reliable data that measures this, so these are patterns, not statistics:

• Older abbreviations shift meaning. Some date from typing at a computer: the Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries notes that brb is for when you step away from your computer for a moment. McWhorter’s talk notes that older texts used lol for actual laughter, while in more recent texts it often works as a softener.
• Punctuation and capitals. Some texters write full sentences with capitals and full stops by habit; others write in lowercase with no punctuation, and read the formal version as serious or annoyed. Neither is wrong. Matching the other person’s style is the easy fix.
• Slang has roots. Merriam-Webster traces no cap, cap and bet to African American English, and delulu to K-pop fandom online. Knowing where a word comes from helps you use it naturally rather than as a joke about the people who coined it.
• Some young people’s slang is meant to be meaningless. Merriam-Webster describes 6-7 and skibidi as nonsensical expressions. If you’re a parent trying to decode them, there’s often nothing to decode.

When you’re texting across generations, the safest move is to spell out anything important, and to ask when you don’t know a word.

When to skip the abbreviations

• Apologies, condolences and serious news. Shortcuts here can read as careless. Write the full words.
• Work, and people you don’t know well. Stick to a few universally understood ones (fyi, asap) or none.
• People texting in a second language. Abbreviations and slang are harder to look up and often get mangled by translation tools.
• Anything where being misread matters. If a joke depends on “jk”, rewrite it.

Where Tera Chat fits

Your texting style is part of how you sound to people: the lol, the lowercase, the emoji, how long your messages run. If you’re replying across several apps on a Mac (Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later), Tera Chat brings iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram and Tinder into one inbox, and its AI drafts replies in your own style, slang included. You can tag contacts (family, colleague, VIP and so on) and set a tone for each tag, so a draft to your manager doesn’t come out full of ngl. You pick a suggestion, edit it and send it yourself. Drafting needs AI: your own ChatGPT account through Codex, a Claude or Grok API key, or a Tera Chat AI plan (Tinder and Instagram drafts need ChatGPT through Codex or a plan). Our guide to AI that replies to texts in your style explains how this works and what it can’t do.

The short version

• Abbreviations shorten everyday phrases; check the tables above when one is new to you.
• Many now carry tone: lol softens, a lone k can sound cold, and a reply ending in a full stop can read as curt.
• Current slang includes rizz, no cap, bet, mid, delulu, lowkey and highkey.
• Spell things out for apologies, condolences, work, and anyone who might misread you.
• Abbreviations are the small stuff. For the habits that keep friendships going, see our guide on how to keep in touch with friends.