Text Message Acronyms

From LoveToKnow Teens

Text message acronyms have become the norm when texting. People have created so many text message symbols that it can be difficult to remember and know them all. Keep reading to brush up on some of the most common and not so common symbols.

Decipher that text message!

Decipher Text Message Acronyms

If you've ever received a text message with a symbol that you were not familiar with, you know how frustrating it can be to not understand what the sender meant to say. You might not want to ask and risk ridicule for not being up on text message lingo, but you cannot ignore something that could possibly be important. One of the best things to try is to learn as many symbols as you can and refer to this article and other text message acronym web sites the next time you receive a text message you can't decipher. The following are some popular text message symbols:

**Text Message Acronyms**
ATTN	Attention	LMAO	Laughing my butt off
AYST	Are you still there?	MOS	Mom over shoulder
AYT	Are you there?	MUSM	Miss you so much
AITR	Adult in the room	MYOB	Mind your own business
BFN	Bye for now	MSG	Message
BFF	Best friends forever	N/M	Nothing much
BTW	By the way	NUFF	Enough said
CD9	Parents are around	NVM	Nevermind
CICYHW	Can I copy your homework	OMG	Oh my gosh
CU	See you	POS	Parent over shoulder
CUL8R	See you later	PA	Parent alert
CUNS	See you in school	PBB	Parent behind back
CYA	See ya	PIR	Parent in room
DIY	Do it yourself	PLZ or PLS	Please
EM	Excuse me	PPL	People
EOD	End of the day	ROFL	Rolling on the floor laughing
ETA	Estimated time of arrival	RU there?	Are you there?
FUBAR	Fouled up beyond all recognition	SOS	Someone over shoulder
FYI	For your information	TC	Take care
G2G	Got to go	TMI	Too much information
GL	Good luck	TIA	Thanks in advance
GN	Good night	TISL	This is so lame
GTK	Good to know	TY	Thank you
HOAS	Hold on a second	W/E	Whatever
IAT	I am tired	YW	You're welcome
IBRB	I'll be right back	ZZZ	Sleeping

Sites for Text Message Symbols

If you are looking for more symbols to you use in your text messages, search the Internet. Many sites have a long list that you can use. Try to stump your friends with some of the ones from these sites.

The Netlingo List of Acronyms and Text Message Shorthand

This site states that it has the largest list of text message shorthand available on the web.

Webopedia Text Message Abbreviations

The nice thing about this site is how organized it is with sections for each letter an acronym starts with.

Swalk

This is another great site for text message shortcuts. The site also has smilies you can include in your messages to express emotions.

Techdictionary.com

If you haven't found the acronym you are looking for using the sites above, try this site!

Why Use Text Symbols

Many people use acronyms because they can't type on their phones as quickly as they would like, so using text message shortcuts is a great way to type messages fast.
Most carriers won't allow you to send more than 160 characters in each text message and these symbols allow you to write more within that limit.
Another use for these shortcuts is to send a message that only the receiver will understand. For example, the symbol C9 means that parents are around but many parents don't know that.