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Twitter Lingo Demystified!

image 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).

image 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:

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

twitterific 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

twitter 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!

imageyep/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:

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!

Mari Smith

Often referred to as “the Queen of Facebook,” Mari Smith is widely known as the Premier Facebook Marketing Expert and a top Social Media Thought Leader. Forbes describes Mari as, “… the preeminent Facebook expert. Even Facebook asks for her help.” IBM named Mari as one of seven women that are shaping digital marketing. Mari is an in-demand keynote speaker, corporate social media strategist, dynamic live webcast host, and popular brand ambassador. She is coauthor of Facebook Marketing: An Hour A Day, and author of The New Relationship Marketing.

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24 Comments

  1. susan on December 10, 2008 at 6:49 pm

    Great post! put this on my twitter: http://www.twitter.com/mckennasmark



  2. BarnettWebsites on November 17, 2008 at 6:06 pm

    Great Resource. Many people misinterpret the reason for using Twitter let alone the acronyms.



  3. Dahna Chandler on October 11, 2008 at 8:59 pm

    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!



  4. Michael Murdock on October 4, 2008 at 6:05 pm

    nice job. some of these even i did not know. 🙂



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