Twitter Lingo Demystified!

Posted on September 11th, 2008.

Many of my tweeps (Twitter people) have asked me lately about various acronyms, odd lingo and twords (Twitter words).

I’ve compiled below a shortlist of the most popular terms many active Twitterers, including myself, use in everyday tweets.

First, what is a tweet? If you’re new to Twitter, I appreciate even the word “tweet” may sound odd! It’s your 140-character “instant message” or “mini/micro-blog post” that you send out into the world… particularly to your followers (fellow Twitter members who “subscribe” to your tweets).

For a crash course on getting set up on Twitter and using it effectively for business networking, presence-building, branding and connecting with your marketplace, see these two related posts:

• Twitter Buzz! Quick Tips for Business Peeps and
• How To Increase Interaction With Your Facebook and Twitter Network.

You may also enjoy my friend @CoachDeb’s hot NEW publication The Twitter Handbook!

Twords (Twitter words)

I encourage you to familiarize yourself with many of these Twitter terms so (a) you can understand tweets sent to you! and (b) when you need more characters to say what you want to say, you can always shorten with a few abbreviations!

1 = one, won

2 = to, too, two

4 = for, four

4ward = forward

4U = for you

ab or abt = about

B = be

b4 = before

b/c = because

BFN = bye for now

bgd = background

BR = best regards

BTW = by the way

chk = check

cld = could

clk = click

da = the

deets = details

DM = direct message

EM/eml = email

EMA = email address

fab = fabulous

fav/fave = favorite

F2F = face to face (as in meeting someone in person)

FYI = for your information

fwd = forward

GR8 = great

IC = I see

IM = instant message

itz = it is

IRL = in real life

JK or j/k = just kidding

JSYK = just so you know

IMHO = in my humble opinion

K = okay

kewl = cool

L8 = late

L8er = later

lmk = let me know

LOL = laughing out loud

LMAO = laughing my ass off

mil = million

Njoy = enjoy

OH = overheard

OMG = oh my god/gosh

peeps = people

pple = people

props = proper respect (see 4th definition here)

plz = please

R = are

ROFL = rolling on the floor laughing

RT / Retweet = when you repeat a tweet from someone else

RU? = are you?

shld = should

thx/tx = thanks

TIA = thanks in advance

tweeps / tweeple = peeps / people (on Twitter)

TY = thanks (my hubby’s name is Ty, so I prefer thx for thanks, hehee!)

ttyl = talk to you later

ttys = talk to you soon

TYT = take your time

TYVM = thank you very much

Tweetup = an in-person meet up of Twitter members

U = you

u’ve = you have

ur = your

V2V = voice to voice (as in chatting on the phone)

w or w/ = with

w/e = weekend

wazzup?/whaddup? = what’s up?

wld = would

wth = what the heck

wtf = what the f*** (hopefully you don’t see/use this one much!)

woz = was

w00t! = an expression of joy/excitement!

yep/yeppers = yes (lol, okay I know yeppers isn’t *short* for yes!)

yr = your

YW = you’re welcome

YVW = you’re very welcome

 For more ideas, see these resources:

• Chat, E-Mail, Web, and chat room slang and acronyms.
• Chat and SMS Text Acronyms
• Twitter Glossary (see huge list of Twitter words under “T”!)
• Twitter in Plain English - by Lee LeFever of CommonCraft.
• Twitter Tweet Sheet - for all mobile device users, this is a fabulous cheat sheet of Twitter commands.
• Find fab peps to follow and add your own Twitter ID too on the Twitter thread at my Facebook Fan Page!

Got more twords and acronyms to add? What did I miss?! Add yours in the comments below and/or ask me to find the meaning of any acronyms!

Technorati Tags: Mari Smith, microblogging, Social Networking, tweets, Twitter

Make a Comment

Make A Comment: ( 27 so far )

27 Responses to “Twitter Lingo Demystified!”

Comments RSS Feed

Where's The Comment Form?