Chat has its own shorthand. You can be halfway through a WhatsApp group conversation and realise you have understood every word without noticing that half of it arrived as initials. That is fine until someone drops "peak" into a message about a job interview, or a colleague signs off with "EOD" and you are not sure whether to reply tonight. Here is what the common shorthand actually means, where UK usage differs, and when it is better to type the whole word.
The short list that covers most messages
Most chats run on a small set of initials. Learn these and you will follow the majority of what lands in your notifications.
- BRB — be right back
- BTW — by the way
- IDK — I don't know
- IMO / IMHO — in my opinion / in my humble opinion
- NGL — not going to lie, usually before a mild confession
- TBH — to be honest
- FYI — for your information
- IIRC — if I recall correctly
- TIL — today I learned
- TL;DR — too long; didn't read, often placed above a summary
- DM — direct message
- OP — original poster, the person who started the thread
- IRL — in real life
- POV — point of view
- AFK — away from keyboard
- GG — good game
- NSFW — not safe for work
- TMI — too much information
If you only memorise ten of those, pick the ones that appear in your own chats. There is no prize for using "IIRC" in a message to your aunt.
Where UK and US usage part ways
Some initials are shared across the Atlantic but carry a second meaning here. ATM is the clearest example: in most British chats it means "at the moment", but plenty of people also read it as the cash machine on the high street. If the sentence could go either way, write it out.
The same trap applies to ordinary slang. A "fag" is a cigarette in the UK and something quite different in the US, which is why British posters occasionally cause alarm in international forums without meaning to. "Pants" means underwear here, not trousers. "Mad" can mean excellent as well as unhinged, depending entirely on tone. "Bum" is your backside, or to scrounge a cigarette, not a person sleeping rough.
Little words that do a lot of work
British chat leans on short acknowledgements: sorted, nice one, cheers, ta, fair enough. A single "x" at the end of a message is normal between friends, family and often colleagues, and means nothing more than warmth. Two or three mean the same thing, just louder. Do not read a romantic subtext into it, and do not add one to a message to your bank.
Then there is lol. In British hands it is frequently a softener rather than a laugh — a way of taking the edge off a complaint. "Trains are a joke lol" is not amusement. It is resignation.
Homegrown slang you will bump into
Regional slang moves quickly and travels badly, so treat this as recognition rather than vocabulary to borrow. In London and the South East you will see bare (lots of), peak (unlucky or rubbish), peng (attractive), gassed (pleased with yourself), hench (muscular), allow it (leave it), safe (thanks, or agreed), and the greeting wagwan. CBA — can't be bothered — is understood nationwide and probably the most useful of the lot.
Elsewhere the map changes. In Scotland you will meet wee and aye. In the North East, canny means good or careful depending on placement, and strangers may call you pet. In the East Midlands, duck is a term of endearment. In Yorkshire and Lancashire, nowt and owt mean nothing and anything. None of this is acronym-heavy, but it is the slang that actually appears in British group chats.
When to avoid shorthand altogether
Acronyms save two seconds and can cost a great deal more. Keep the full words in these situations:
- Anything written down for work. Emails, proposals, handover notes and messages to senior colleagues should read as though a stranger might see them, because one day one will.
- Serious conversations. Condolences, apologies, illness, money and relationship trouble deserve complete sentences. "Sorry to hear that lol" is a genuine friendship-ending message.
- Complaints and disputes. If you may need the exchange later, clarity matters more than speed.
- Mixed-age and international groups. Shorthand excludes people quietly. If half the group is guessing, you have not been efficient, you have been unclear.
If a message concerns money, health or legal matters, use plain language, keep a copy, and speak to a qualified professional rather than relying on advice from a group chat.
Reading the warning signs
Some phrases are worth slowing down for in public chats. A stranger who quickly asks you to move to a private message, requests photos, or asks for personal details is not simply being friendly. Messages that create urgency, dangle an offer, or ask you to keep the conversation secret from other people follow well-worn patterns.
You do not need to be an expert to respond well. Stay in the public room while you decide, decline anything that feels rushed, and use the platform's report and block tools rather than arguing. Sharing less is almost always the better choice, and nobody owes a stranger an explanation for ending a chat.
How to pick it up without faking it
- Watch before you type. Read a group for a week and you will absorb the tone faster than any list can teach you.
- Ask once, directly. "What does that mean?" is a perfectly good message. Most people are pleased to explain.
- Mirror, don't invent. Use what you see around you rather than slang from a different region or generation.
- Write it out when unsure. A clear sentence never reads as old-fashioned.
A quick etiquette checklist
Before you hit send, run three checks. Would the recipient understand every abbreviation without pausing? Would you be comfortable if the message were screenshotted and shown to someone else? And does the tone match the subject — warm for good news, plain for bad?
Shorthand is a tool, not a personality. Use it where it speeds things up and drop it where it muddies the point, and you will come across as someone who is easy to talk to rather than someone performing fluency. The best chatters are rarely the ones with the biggest vocabulary of initials. They are the ones who are understood.
Photo: StockSnap / Pixabay
