Twitter Lingo Demystified!
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!
Make A Comment: ( 41 so far )
41 Responses to “Twitter Lingo Demystified!”
Elizabeth Potts Weinstein
September 11th, 2008
Nice list. Very helpful. Thx!
Kelly
September 12th, 2008
Nice list Mari. Sure ‘d love to use them all. And i love the special characeters in ur tweets.
Shri
September 12th, 2008
TY 4 this Mari, I have not been able to translate some of my incoming tweets!
Catherine
Catherine Behan’s last blog post.. Why Does My Man Think He Is Always Right?
Catherine Behan
September 12th, 2008
Excellent! And I see many of the words I use on your list.
Leesa Barnes’s last blog post.. Profit Purpose & Beyond with Sarah Robinson
Leesa Barnes
September 12th, 2008
This is great, Mari! I’ll forward to all my friends who don’t “get it.” Will also add one more: MWTIWMTOT - My Wife Thinks I’m Wasting All My Time on Twitter! lol
Lou
Lou Bortone
September 12th, 2008
Love this list.. only wish it woulda been around back in 1998 when I started IMing.. and looking like an idiot to all these pros who were half my age… lol.
Tonya Pruitt
September 12th, 2008
[...] and even those ubiquitous emoticons is poisoning the English language. Mari Smith’s Twitter Lingo Demysified includes a list of the most popular terms that many active Twitterers use in everyday tweets, to [...]
The Publicity Hound’s Blog » Twitter and text-speak are poisoning the English language
September 12th, 2008
Ahhh Mari, you’ve done it again: found a way to provide the sweet satisfaction of simple of understanding!
Lissa Boles’s last blog post.. 3 Things You Need to Know
Lissa Boles
September 13th, 2008
yr post woz very kewl. tyvm 4 sharing.
Pam Dent
September 13th, 2008
Loving the list Mari! My daughter (16) is laughing saying “Wow! you guys don’t know this!? Adults are weird.” So right now I’m ROFL.
TTYL LOL
Gina
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Gina
September 13th, 2008
@MariSmith I just luv how “yeppers” could be short for “yes” hee hee
Seriously, thx 4 da code!
@HeatherOlson
Heather Olson
September 13th, 2008
Just remember YMMV with this list. 
John Johansen’s last blog post.. jljohansen: Going to be doing some "Back to School" shopping for my wife and I this afternoon. At least, that’s what it feels like.
John Johansen
September 13th, 2008
This is a gr8 list Mari! I find that I’m starting to write emails in Twitter lingo and that could be a problem! I’m losing my ability to write proper sentences!
Blog on!
Denise aka The Blog Squad’s last blog post.. BlogWorld TweetUp on Friday
Denise aka The Blog Squad
September 15th, 2008
Twabulous!
Your tweets are a h00t! Thanks for sharing.
Donna Payne
September 16th, 2008
Is it really necessary to remember all these
Ann Covey
September 16th, 2008
thx for the tweet speak lesson! I know it will come in use! bfn
Alan Underkofler
September 17th, 2008
Very useful tutorial here! Thanks. I’ve just registered for twitter.
Kitty
September 25th, 2008
Mari, what a great list! I thought I was pretty “up” on the lingo… Apparently not.
Ros’s last blog post.. Biz Book Recommendations?
Ros
September 25th, 2008
Mari, You are a great example of under commit and over perform! I love how you always provide your audience and readers with soooooo much content! Thanks for educating us all and being a great pioneer in the New Media world!
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Angie A. Swartz
September 26th, 2008
[...] Update 9/29/08: Twitter Search and Twellow. Also, thanks to Mari Smith… Twitter Lingo Demystified. [...]
Let Twitter make your heart go pitter patter | How to Be a Woman
September 29th, 2008
Excellent, thanks! I can see I’ve got a lot of practicing to do.
*Ahem* wazzap?
Heather
September 29th, 2008
nice job. some of these even i did not know.
Michael Murdock
October 4th, 2008
[...] Twitter lingo demystified. You’ve seen all the abbreviations. Here’s what they mean. Except OH - that, I found out yesterday via Twitter, means “Overheard.” From the ever-smiling Mari Smith. [...]
Five in the Morning 101008 « StickyFigure
October 10th, 2008
I heard about your blog from SixFigureMomsClub.com. This is really helpful to those struggling to understand “twitterspeak” and definitely complements my article on socialmediasavvyblog.com about “Dr. Twitter”, Warren Whitlock. Thank you for what you do. I’m now following you on Twitter and happy to have found you as a FB resource!
Dahna Chandler
October 11th, 2008
Great Resource. Many people misinterpret the reason for using Twitter let alone the acronyms.
BarnettWebsites
November 17th, 2008
[...] http://whyfacebook.com/2008/09/11/twitter-lingo-demystified/ (from Mari Smith the Facebook expert and super nice lady! twitter: @marismith ) [...]
Twitter – IM Meets Social Networking | Kent Beatty dot Com
November 25th, 2008
Great post! put this on my twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mckennasmark
susan
December 10th, 2008
[...] your Twitter Lingo as noted by @MariSmith. A must have to fit your tweets in 160 [...]
What IS this Twitter buzz? « Be Resource-Full
December 14th, 2008
[...] http://whyfacebook.com/2008/09/11/twitter-lingo-demystified/ (from Mari Smith the Facebook expert and super nice lady! twitter: @marismith ) [...]
LadyJR's Blog: Twitter Dictionary - What does it all mean?
January 21st, 2009
[...] 9/29/08: Twitter Search and Twellow. Also, thanks to Mari Smith… Twitter Lingo Demystified. Share and [...]
Let Twitter make your heart go pitter patter | Retro Heather
February 8th, 2009
What does the # sign mean?
Christine
April 5th, 2009
Follow Me On Twitter!
# is part of hash tags see http://TwitPWR.com/bSE/
Dagmar
Trading results that make you say W.O.W.
Follow me on http://twitter.com/tradingrichmom
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Dagmar
April 12th, 2009
Follow Me On Twitter!
This is pretty good. Although, I’ve never seen “w/e” used to mean “weekend.” “Weekend” has always been “wknd” and “w/e” = “whatever” in every context I’ve ever seen it.
Ashley
April 16th, 2009
GREAT list (Was going to say “twist” but that wouldn’t work, would it?) How about TMI = too much information, w/o=without, CYLCB = check ya later chicky baby (Now, I’m being silly!) But in all seriousness, thank you for putting this together. A very helpful resource. Definitely will RT!
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Donna White
May 9th, 2009
Follow Me On Twitter!
missed one.
idk = i don’t know
Matt
May 14th, 2009
[...] http://whyfacebook.com/2008/09/11/twitter-lingo-demystified/ (from Mari Smith the Facebook expert and super nice lady! twitter: @marismith ) [...]
This will really be helpful specially while interacting with the newbies. I’ll refer all my friends to go through the collection. Thanks.
Love Blog
July 3rd, 2009
Thanks for the list Mari
Bijay Rungta (@rungss)
August 2nd, 2009
Follow Me On Twitter!
[...] http://whyfacebook.com/2008/09/11/twitter-lingo-demystified/ (from Mari Smith the Facebook expert and super nice lady! twitter: @marismith ) [...]
My Twittonary – Every Twitter Term and Tool I Can Find | Seed The Web
September 15th, 2009
[...] well I did some more research on this and found a very interesting blog posted by Mari Smith, title Twitter Lingo Demystified! In further explaining this whole Twitter jargon, Smith explains [...]
Twitter, Tweet, Tweets! « The World of Media
January 21st, 2010
Great twitter dictionary Mari! I’m going to send this to my new twitter friends who have no idea what I’m talking about 1/2 th e time.
~ ElizabethPW
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