Social media is full of funny clips and images. Sometimes English speakers even use the abbreviation when speaking instead of saying the full expression. If you are surprised, OMG! – meaning ‘ Oh my gosh/God!’ – is a way to show it. When you don’t want to make a decision on something, the abbreviation WYL is a useful way to say ‘ whatever you like’ and pass the responsibility to another person to decide. It’s better to be honest than get caught out trying to make up an answer. If you don’t know the answer to something, you can write IHDK to say ‘ I honestly don’t know’. AMA means ‘ ask me anything’ in a sort of interview where the public ask the questions rather than an interviewer.

If you are sharing something for information and don’t expect someone to do anything in response to your message, you can use FYI to show that the message is ‘ for your information’ and the reader doesn’t need to take any action.įans of the website Reddit will be familiar with this one. Share a link or some information using the abbreviation ICYMI or ‘ in case you missed it’ to show that the people you are speaking to may have seen whatever you are sharing already. Sometimes that means we end up watching the same cat video seventeen times, though. Sharing links and information is one of the most useful things we do on social media. Use the abbreviation IRL or ‘ in real life’ to talk about the world outside the internet. Your online life is sometimes completely different to what you do when you are not connected.

Clever abbreviations for words