Some Popular Shorthand Texting Terms

Quick! Tell Us What KUTGW Means?

Taking time to learn the jargon may seem like a WOMBAT (“Waste of money, brains and time”).

As text-messaging shorthand becomes increasingly widespread in emails, text messages and Tweets, people like Ms. Washburn are scrambling to decode it. In many offices, a working knowledge of text-speak is becoming de rigueur. And at home, parents need to know the lingo in order to keep up with—and sometimes police—their children.

One reason for the surge in texting abbreviations—more than 2,000 and counting, according to NetLingo—is the boom in social-media sites like Twitter, where messages are limited to 140 characters. Text messages, too, are limited in length, so users have developed an alphabet soup of shorthand abbreviations to save time, and their thumbs.

Say What?

A sampling of some popular shorthand texting terms.

• UG2BK . . . . . . . You got to be kidding
• GBTW. . . . . . . . Get back to work
• NMP . . . . . . . . . Not my problem
• PIR . . . . . . . . . . Parent in room
• GFTD. . . . . . . . . Gone for the day
• FYEO. . . . . . . . . For your eyes only
• BI5 . . . . . . . . . . Back in five minutes
• DEGT . . . . . . . . Don’t even go there
• BIL . . . . . Boss is listening
• PAW. . . . Parents are watching
• 99 . . . . . . Parents are no longer watching
• PCM . . . . Please call me
• IMS. . . . . I am sorry
• TOY. . . . . Thinking of you
• KUTGW. . Keep up the good work
• CID . . . . . Consider it done
• FWIW. . . For what it’s worth
• HAND . . . Have a nice day
• IAT . . . . . I am tired
• NRN . . . . No response necessary
• 4COL. . . . For crying out loud
• WRUD. . . What are you doing
• LMIRL. . . Let’s meet in real life
• ^5 . . . . . . High five

keywords: SMS short cuts , SMS short forms  , twitter short forms