- Survey reveals many text acronyms and abbreviations both confuse and annoy Americans.
- Gen Zers report feeling "very confident" using internet slang and text acronyms.
- Baby boomers most likely to be irked by profane text abbreviations.
How would you respond if this text pops up on your phone?
Tomorrow, EMBM — miss AYOR!!! Could be trouble if you skip, but IANAL. LOL!!!!
If you got all of that — GRATZ! — you’re certifiably text acronym-lingual.
The rest of us, SMH, are likely reaching for Google for a digital translation: Tomorrow, early morning business meeting — miss at your own risk!!! Could be trouble if you skip, but I am not a lawyer. Laughing out loud!!
Languages, of course, are constantly changing. It’s linguistic evolution.
English-speakers from a century ago would have been clueless encountering words commonly used today such as “brainwash,” “foodie,” “binge-watch,” “photobomb” and even “motel.”
Texting language is no different. New text acronyms are constantly emerging and popping up on phones and social media in real-time. It will never change.
But that doesn’t mean everyone understands or even likes text acronyms and abbreviations — today’s shorthand.
The online language tutor app Preply recently surveyed over 1,800 U.S. residents on how well they understand frequently used text acronyms — and which text acronyms they find most annoying.
Survey respondents were segmented into generations by age (Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers) and also by gender.
A few key takeaways, according to the survey:
- EMBM (early morning business meeting), AYOR (at your own risk) and RLRT (real life retweet) were the most confusing text acronyms.
- GRATZ (congratulations), and IANAL (I am not a lawyer) were counted among the most annoying text acronyms and abbreviations.
- Reddit, X (Twitter), and TikTok were the online platforms with the most confusing acronyms.
- Millennials were the generation who understood text acronyms the most — beating out Gen Z by 1.5%.
RLRT, WTPA and FAWC: Confused yet?
Responders were shown a long list of text acronyms and abbreviations circulating today — and then asked which ones they understood.
No surprise, LOL (“laughing out loud”) and IDK (“I don’t know”) were widely recognized.
But other text acronyms were recognized by less than 10% of responders.
Fewer than 4% understood the aforementioned EMBM and AYOR.
And less than 5% of survey responders understood WTPA (where’s the party at?), KPC (keep parents clueless), NAGI (not a good idea) and GAHOY (get a hold of yourself).
A few other text acronym head-scratchers: BBBG (bye bye be good), GMTA (great minds think alike), RBTL (read between the lines), and PAW (parents are watching).
The survey revealed that millennials have the highest “text acronym-savvy,” beating out their younger Gen Z counterparts by 1.5%.
But when asked about their comfort level with internet slang and text acronyms, Gen Zers were the most likely to report feeling “very confident.”
Another LOL-worthy nugget from the Preply survey: Low confidence hasn’t kept some people from throwing acronyms into their virtual conversations. One in 9 Americans admit to using an acronym without knowing the meaning.
CWOT: Complete waste of time text acronyms
Some Americans would be fine if they never encountered another text acronym.
But there are a few specific acronyms and abbreviations that ascend the survey’s “acronym annoyance” list.
Almost 20% of respondents say they are annoyed by a common — albeit NSFW version — of LOL.
Meanwhile, GRATZ and IANAL irritate more than 17% of respondents.
Other sigh-triggering text acronyms and abbreviations include TL;DR (too long; didn’t read), AFAIK (as far as I know), ICYMI (in case you missed it), and FTW (for the win).
Curse words, of course, are often found in common text acronyms. Baby boomers are the most likely to find such acronyms irksome, the survey revealed.
Not all text acronyms trigger respondents. TIL (today I learned) and JIC (just in case) were at the top of the survey’s “least annoying phrases.”
While text acronyms and social media are synonymous, some social media platforms boast more complicated acronyms than others, according to the survey.
More than a quarter of respondents said Reddit had them Googling terms they don’t understand.
Over 20% reported X, as the social media platform with the most confusing acronyms. Given its standard 280 character limit, it’s no surprise text acronyms are common in X.
Teachers give failing slang grades to ‘bruh,’ ‘delulu’
Today’s spoken slang — the linguistic cousin of text acronyms — can also confound and annoy.
A recent survey asked school teachers across the country to share slang terms that they wish their students would trash.
The “Top-10 list — Slang that Teachers are Sick of Hearing” included “Sigma,” “Rizz,” “Drip,” “Bruh” and “Delulu.”
The Education Week survey revealed that not all teachers are slang-averse. One educator noted that slang can “enrich our language, (and) encourage creativity. It’s important to know what they mean and how they’re used.”