Internet is a world apart. You will find everything there, but you already know that. And I’m pretty sure you may not understand everything you read out there. There are lots of Internet slang expressions that are commonly used in social networks and in other contexts on Internet. The problem is that being always up to date of all the new terms that are used is very complicated.
For this reason, today we are going to see some of the most used Internet slang expressions and learn their meaning. Stand out the crowd and enrich your slang vocabulary thanks to this list. Let’s start…
- AFAIK, meaning as far as I know. It is often used at the beginning of a sentence.
- AFK, meaning away from keyword, used to make others understand that someone is offline at the moment.
- AMA, meaning ask me anything. This term has gained popularity among relevant users of social networks when proposing that you ask them any questions, since they are willing to answer them.
- API, an acronym for Application Programming Interface, which refers to a set of rules that indicate how different computer programs communicate. In this blog we have talked several times about the WordPress Rest API.
- B2B, acronym for business to business, which refers to those organizations that are responsible for providing solutions to other businesses.
- B2C, acronym for business to customer, which refers to organizations that provide products or services directly to end customers.
- BRB, meaning be right back. Used to indicate that you’ll come back in a moment.
- BTS, meaning behind the scenes. It is used to indicate to your audience that you are going to show them something about you or your organization that is not usually seen.
- BTW, meaning by the way. Term used at the beginning of a sentence to change the subject or introduce a new one related to the previous one.
- Clickbait is used pejoratively to identify those headlines or claims that use sensationalism to get more benefits through advertising, usually attracting visitor curiosity. We also talked about it in this blog.
- CM, community manager. The person in charge of social networks and communication of an organization or individual.
- CMS, acronym for content management system. An example is WordPress, but there are more, such as Drupal, Joomla or others.
- CPC, cost per click. It is calculated by dividing the amount you have invested in advertising among the clicks you have achieved thanks to it.
- CPM, cost per thousand, which is the cost of showing ads to 1,000 users.
- CR, conversion rate. We have talked about it a lot in the blog and it refers to the percentage of your visitors that perform an action with respect to the total.
- CRO, acronym for conversion rate optimization. We have also talked a lot about CRO on our website here. We even developed Nelio A/B Testing for that purpose.
- CTA, acronym for call to action. These are texts or buttons that encourage visitors to a website to perform a specific action.
- CTR, acronym for click-through rate, which is the percentage of visitors who clicked on a specific item with respect to the total. Very similar to the concept of conversion rate, but specific for clicks.
- DAE, meaning Does anyone else…?
- DIY, meaning do it yourself. It has become a social movement in which instead of buying finished products, you build them yourself.
- DYK, meaning Did you know…?
- ELI5, explain like I’m 5. It is used to ask someone to explain something using simple words (as if you were a 5-year-old child).
- F, which is used as a reply when something bad happens. It has gone viral especially in comments to YouTube videos. You have the full story here.
- FF, or Follow Friday is a Twitter trend that happens on Fridays and is used to recommend users that you think they deserve more recognition and followers.
- FOMO, fear of missing out. Express the desire not to be left out of what is happening and miss anything.
- FTW, for the win. It is used to express enthusiasm or joy when winning.
- FYI, an acronym of for your information, used at the beginning of a sentence to indicate that what comes next may be of interest to you or to inform you.
- GA, acronym for Google Analytics.
- GG, good game. In the world of video games this term is used to thank or encourage the adversary.
- HIFW, is usually used as hashtag and means how I feel when…
- HTH, meaning here to help or happy to help.
- ICYMI, in case you missed it. It is used to republish information that may still be interesting.
- IDC, I don’t care.
- IDK, I don’t know.
- IGER, short for instagrammer, which is an Instagram user.
- IKR?, I know, right?, which is used rhetorically to react to facts or statements whose truth cannot be rejected.
- ILY, I love you ?
- IMHO, acronym for in my humble opinion. It is often used before a sentence to indicate that, indeed, what comes next is your opinion about something.
- IRL, in real life.
- JK, just kidding.
- LMAO, acronym for laughing my ass off.
- LMK, let me know.
- LOL, laughing out loud.
- MFW, acronym for my face when. It is often used to express your reaction to something.
- MTFBWY, may the Force be with you.
- NBD, no big deal.
- N00b, to refer to a rookie.
- NSFW, not safe for work. Usually refers to adult content (you know what I mean…).
- NTS, note to self.
- NVM, never mind. To denote that something does not matter or that you can forget or ignore it.
- OMG, oh my god. The familiar “oh my God” to indicate surprise or disgust.
- ORLY, short for Oh, really?. It is used sarcastically in response to something obvious.
- PM, acronym for private message.
- ROFL, rolling on the floor laughing.
- RTFM, read the fucking manual. It is used as a sarcastic response when someone asks something obvious or that it is easy to find their solution if you read.
- SaaS, software as a service. It is a way of distributing software through a subscription which you pay for the use of the software.
- SEM, search engine marketing. Marketing technique that tries to promote web pages increasing their visibility in search engines, usually through paid advertisement.
- SEO, search engine optimization. Techniques to improve the quantity and quality of traffic that a website receives from search engines.
- SFW, safe for work. The opposite of NSFW.
- SMH, shaking my head. Used to show disapproval and surprise.
- STFU, shut the fuck up. Used very negatively as a reply.
- TBC, to be confirmed. It is used when you are still unsure of something.
- TBH, to be honest.
- TGIF, thank god it’s Friday.
- TIFU, acronym for Today I Fucked Up.
- TIL, today I learned.
- TL;DR acronym for too long; didn’t read used as a header of a very long text to summarize its content in a couple of sentences.
- TMI, too much information. In response to someone who explains too much information or data not being asked or relevant.
- TOS, terms of service. It refers to all those legal texts that you usually find and never read, but always accept ??♂️.
- UGC, user-generated content. Indicates that the content is generated by users.
- UI, term to define user interfaces.
- UX is the acronym for the concept User Experience. It refers to the user’s perception of the complexity of an application.
- WFH, work from home. To indicate that you are working from home.
- YOLO, you only live once. Phrase that invites you to enjoy life without worries, take risks and do not think about the consequences.
- ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ emoji that is used to express the gesture of shrugging the shoulders indicating that we don’t know an answer to a question, or don’t worry about something.
Did you know them all? I’m pretty confident some of them are new to you. Don’t worry about the FOMO. The truth is that the Internet world changes and evolves so fast that it is very difficult to always be up to date and understand all the slang words that are coined every day. But remember, YOLO ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
If you know any other Internet slang words that you want us to highlight here, let us know using the comment section down below.
Featured image by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.
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