Internet Slang: 81 Terms To Know About

Internet slang spreads like wildfire and sometimes seems to come out of nowhere. Some are short-lived, some are used in niche communities, but some go so far as to be included in dictionaries.

Whether you spend time online as a casual user or a marketer enacting a social media strategy, you want to know what different slang and abbreviations mean.

In this post, we’ll discuss how internet slang originates and spreads, define 81 slang words you might come across, and outline what it takes for slang to be added to our dictionaries.

Table of Contents

Is the internet to Blame?
How Slang Spreads on the Internet
Internet Slang Around the World
Internet Slang Words
How New Words Make It Into the Dictionary

Is the Internet to Blame?

As we spend less time listening to the radio or watching TV and more time online, the latter has the most influence on our day-to-day dialogue.

The fast pace of the internet also means we adopt words much faster than ever before. “Language itself changes slowly, but the internet has sped up the process of those changes so you notice them more quickly,” David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at the University of Bangor, told BBC News. You can imagine how much longer it took new words to spread through word-of-mouth than it does today with the internet.

How Slang Spreads on the Internet

Linguistics and anthropologists have studied how slang spreads for decades, but it was only possible to measure with precision once public social media networks emerged.

Platforms help linguists accurately and easily search and record language exchanges. For example, Jacob Eisenstein and his colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology examined 30 million tweets from the U.S. to pinpoint the origin of popular slang words and their spread. The image below is the resulting map that shows how terms migrated and their direction of influence.

Slang now moves around within weeks and months instead of years, says Julia Coleman, author of The Life of Slang. “It’s not necessarily that language is changing more quickly, but technologies have developed and they allow the transmission of slang terms to pass from one group to another much more quickly.”

Internet Slang Around the World

The internet impacts the development of language all across the world.

In Ukraine, Svitlana Pyrkalo says the force-quit process of pressing control+alt+delete is known as Дуля (dulya). A dulya is a Ukranian gesture using two fingers and a thumb, used in the same situations in which we‘d give “the finger.” “And you need three fingers to press the buttons,” says Pyrkalo. “So it’s like telling somebody, a computer in this case, to get lost.”

Other countries have their own versions of “LOL.” In France, “mdr” stands for “mort de rire,” meaning dying of laughter. The Swedish write “asg” as an abbreviation of Asgarv, meaning intense laughter. The number 5 in Thailand signifies the letter “h,” so 555 is “hahaha.”

It’s important to note that a lot of popular internet slang comes from African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), a form of English spoken by Black Americans. Often, Black people have conversations online, other people use the words, and they become part of everyday internet speak.

With all of this in mind, let’s review some of the most popular internet slang words, many of which are acronyms and others full words and phrases.

Internet Slang Words

General Internet Slang

1. Acct

Acct is short for account.

2. BC

BC stands for because.

3. Bet

Bet has multiple meanings, one being a simple “yes” or a response of agreement, but it can also mean “It’s on” as a response to something you don’t believe is true.

For example, someone says, “I can do this better than you,” and someone responds, “Alright, bet.”

4. BRB

BRB stands for be right back.

5. BTW

BTW stands for by the way.

6. Down

Down means “yes,” or a response demonstrating that you’re up for or interested in something.

For example, “Who wants to go to the movies?” “Down.”

7. Flex

Flex means showing off. Occasionally people say, “Weird flex but ok,” to react to someone showing off or bragging about something in poor taste.

8. FOMO

FOMO stands for fear of missing out, and i’ts used when someone is worried about not being invited somewhere or isn’t part of an experience.

It’s also used as an active verb, like “Everyone’s at the concert, and I’m having FOMO.”

9. FYI

FYI stands for your information.

10. Goat

Goat means greatest of all time. People also say goated to mean the same thing. For example, “Messi is the goat,” or “Messi is goated.”

11. GTG or G2G

GTG and G2G stand for got to go.

12. Highkey

Highkey describes something glaringly obvious and true that doesn’t need to be hidden. It’s the opposite of lowkey.

For example, “That was highkey the best meal I’ve ever had,” or “I highkey need tickets to the show.”

13. IKR

IKR stands for I know, right?

14. IMHO

IMHO stands for in my honest opinion or in my humble opinion.

15. IRL

IRL stands for in real life.

16. Iykyk

Iykyk stands for “If you know, you know,” and it’s a descriptor for an inside joke or something niche that applies to a specific group of people.

17. JK

JK stands for just kidding.

18. JOMO

JOMO stands for joy of missing out, and it’s used when someone is unbothered by not being invited somewhere/missing an experience or is happy because they weren’t interested to begin with. The opposite of FOMO.

19. K

K means okay, but is also used when someone is frustrated and is putting an end to a conversation.

20. L

L means loss or loser, and it’s usually said when someone has failed at something or a situation hasn’t gone their way, like “I took an L last night.”

If people don’t agree with something they see online, they might comment “L” to convey their point.

21. LMK

LMK stands for let me know.

22. LOL

LOL stands for laugh out loud.

23. Lowkey

Lowkey has multiple meanings.

When someone is slightly or moderately bothered by something, but it isn’t a big deal: “I’m lowkey sad I missed the show, but there’s always next time.”
When something should be kept secret, discreet, and not shared outside of the conversation: “Lowkey, I might quit.”
To describe a mellow or low-stakes situation: “It was a lowkey party with my closest friends.”

24. Mid

Mid means average or below average. It’s usually a dig at someone or something, like, “That movie was mid.”

25. NBD

NBD stands for no big deal.

26. OOTD

OOTD stands for outfit of the day.

27. Photobomb

Photobomb means entering someone’s picture or video uninvited, usually on purpose.

28. Prolly

Prolly is slang for probably.

29. Salty

Salty means upset or bothered.

30. TFW

TFW stands for that feeling when.

31. TBH

TBH stands for to be honest.

32. TL;DR

People use it before giving a summary when telling a story or sharing information. People also comment TL;DR to say they won’t read something because it’s too long.

33. TGIF

TGIF stands for thank god it’s Friday.

34. TMI

TMI stands for too much information.

35. Troll

A troll is someone who purposely sparks controversy on the internet. Someone might say, “Ignore that comment; he’s just a troll.”

36. W

W stands for win, and it’s used when someone has won something, or something good has happened, like “How was your game last night?” “It was great we got the W!”

The opposite of L.

Social Media Internet Slang

1. AMA

AMA stands for asking me anything. It originated on Reddit, where someone well-known has an AMA session where forum audiences can submit questions for them to answer.

2. Anon

Anon is short for anonymous.

3. ASMR

ASMR stands for autonomous sensory meridian response, and it’s any video or audio content that provides a relaxing and satisfying feeling to viewers.

4. Bot

A bot is an account that shares spammy and unwanted content or a person who shares unwanted content or is bad at something.

5. Bump

Someone says “Bump” to push a comment or post back to the forefront of a thread or comment section.

6. Caught in 4K

Caught in 4K means to catch someone red-handed.

7. DM

DM stands for direct message.

8. Doomscrolling

Doomscrolling describes spending endless time scrolling through your social media feeds, usually through grim news stories.

It can also mean getting stuck scrolling through content for a significant amount of time.

9. FB

FB stands for Facebook.

10. Handle

A handle is a username on any social media.

11. Hashtag

Hashtag (#) is a way that people find content on social media. Sometimes people say hashtag out loud in an ironic manner, like “Hashtag yummy” while eating.

12. Icon

An icon is a picture on social media, usually a profile picture.

13. IG

IG stands for Instagram.

15. Lurker

A lurker is active on social media or specific channels but never comments or participates in the conversation.

16. N00b

N00b is slang for newbie, and it’s a descriptor for someone who is a beginner or new to something. People call themselves a n00b, and saying it to someone else means they’re ignorant or bad at something.

It’s also spelled noob or newb.

17. OP

OP stands for original poster, and it’s the person who started a conversation on social media or was the first to share something.

18. QRT

QRT stands for quote retweet, and it’s when someone reshares a Tweet to their profile and adds their commentary above it.

19. Ratio/Ratioed

Ratio and ratioed are used as a dig when someone doesn’t agree with what someone has said. They might comment “Ratio” with full confidence that they’ll get more likes than the original post because more people agree with them.

20. RT

RT stands for retweet, and it’s when you reshare someone else’s Tweet to your timeline.

21. @me

@me is typically used when someone sees something someone has said, assumes it’s about them, and tells the original poster to tag them directly.

22. Shook

Shook means to be extremely shocked by something or an experience you’ve had.

23. Spam

Spam is content shared on social media that is annoying and unwelcome.

24. Stan/stanning

Stan means fiercely supporting someone or something

25. TBT

TBT stands for throwback Thursday.

26. Tea

Tea is gossip. When people share it, it’s called “Spilling the tea,” or people may say, “What’s the tea?”

27. TW

TW stands for Twitter.

28. Vibe

Vibe has multiple meanings. It can describe chilling (relaxing), or how a situation might feel.

Someone might say, “What’s the vibe?” or “This gives me a good vibe,” or “I’m vibing right now.”

29. Vibe check

Vibe check is a question people ask to see how someone is feeling or how a current situation is going.

Business Internet Slang

1. ASAP

ASAP stands for as soon as possible.

2. YT

YT stands for YouTube.

3. B2B

B2B stands for business to business.

4. B2C

B2C stands for business to consumer.

5. CTA

CTA stands for call to action.

6. DNB

DNB stands for do not book, meant to specify a timeframe when you aren’t available for meetings.

7. EOD

EOD stands for end of day.

8. EOW

EOW stands for end of week.

9. FAQ

FAQ stands for frequently asked questions.

10. MOM

MOM stands for month over month.

11. OOO

OOO stands for out of office.

12. TBA

TBA stands for to be announced.

13. WFH

WFH stands for work from home.

14. WOM

WOM stands for word of mouth.

15. YOY

YOY stands for year over year.

16. Zoombomb/Zoombombing

Zoomboming is a disruption to a Zoom meeting by someone who hasn’t been invited to the meeting.

How New Words Make It Into the Dictionary

Once new words have grown and become part of the general lexicon, how do acronyms like “LOL” make it to the dictionary? Longevity.

To make it into the dictionary, the general population must use it and keep using it. Fiona McPherson, Senior Editor, Oxford English Dictionary, says five years is a good length to become eligible for a spot in the big book.

Dictionary editors also look to us when voting on whether a word should have a place in their dictionary. “Dictionaries are fantastic resources, but they are human and they are not timeless,” Language Historian Anne Curzan reminds us. “If you ask dictionary editors, what they‘ll tell you is they’re just trying to keep up with us as we change the language. They‘re watching what we say and what we write and trying to figure out what’s going to stick and what’s not going to stick.”

So, no matter whether you think internet slang vitalizes or destroys language, there’s no denying how revealing it is of the culture that invents and uses it — and the ease with which we adapt our language to new technologies and concepts.

3 Facets of Inbound Marketing Won’t Be the Same After AI: Here’s Why

Inbound marketing is about providing unique, standalone value via content to your prospects. It’s a “show, don’t-tell” methodology: I will show you that my brand is empathetic, helpful, and trustworthy, rather than simply telling you it is.

But what about a world in which people don’t turn to your brand anymore to find content … They turn to AI?

The marketing industry is changing rapidly as a result of AI, and with any change, it’s normal to question the status quo: Will the traditional inbound marketing playbook continue to triumph in a post-AI world?

Inbound marketing isn’t going anywhere, but it is changing as a result of AI. Here, let’s dive into some changes marketers’ can expect to see when it comes to inbound marketing and AI over the next few years.

How Inbound Marketing Will Change as a Result of AI

1. AI will transform the content creation process.

In the short-term, HubSpot Creative Director Matthew Watkins believes AI will decrease the quality of content we see across the web and social channels.

As he puts it, “AI has made it easier to create the absolute worst type of content. It hasn’t changed much about creating really good content that matters and improves people’s lives. Can creators create faster with AI tools? Sure, but truly valuable content still requires a human to extract an insight. Creators still need a great idea to make AI work for them.”

Watkins adds, “Unfortunately, AI will fill up the internet (more than it already is) with bland, empty platitudes, images, and video. Finding the good stuff will get harder before it gets easier.”

When you consider all major technological shifts, you’ll see this same pattern occur. In the early days of social media, for instance, people were largely posting large piles of unedited photos to their Facebook accounts. Nowadays, people have become much savvier at creating high-quality content because it’s the only way to stand out on social.

While we’ll absolutely see a decrease in content value short-term, it will inevitably boomerang back to high-quality content in the long run. As the quantity of content increases online, quality will become an increasingly critical aspect of your strategy if you want to stand out in a post-AI world.

Additionally, a marketing team of one will have an easier time competing against major enterprise teams with the help of AI.  

As Principal Editorial Lead Ben Harmanus puts it, “AI tools empower people to take an idea to ‘experience’ in a short time. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It helps to iterate faster and test again as ‘testing’ isn’t as expensive as it used to be.”

He continues, “It’s now easier for a single person to outrun a corporate Marketing department, because that person can take an idea to publication in no time. It still needs a person that can enter a smart prompt, a person that understands how important brand consistency is, a person that can differentiate between good and bad.”

This is one of the major shifts we’ll see as a result of AI: marketing will become a more level playing field. You won’t need enterprise-level marketing budgets to compete. AI will become a tool any marketer can use to create stronger content.

Harmanus believes that AI will have the same impact on content creation that the cloud CRM had on spreadsheet contact management — in other words, it will change virtually everything. 

2. AI will drastically change user expectations when it comes to newsletters.

Right now, email personalization is largely limited to token personalization, like the “Hey, Caroline” I see at the beginning of my emails.

But that will change drastically as a result of AI.

To learn how AI will impact newsletter creation, I spoke with rasa.io Chief Innovation Officer, Paul Christmann. rasa.io is a tool that enables companies to automatically pull relevant articles from across the web to include in their email newsletters. 

A process which only works with the help of AI. 

As Christmann told me, “We’ve got AI that tries to find other content that is accessible on the web, and is relevant to both the sender and the recipient. And that’s where AI truly shines: When it can create newsletters that are tailored to each individual based on what we know about them.”

He adds, “If we’re scouring the web to find strong content for our recipients, how do we comb through 500 piles of junk to find the good ones to really spend your time in? And then, within that content pool, how do we find the selection that is right for each individual reader?”

Imagine a world in which each newsletter has been curated with your interests, values, and content preferences in-mind. Similar to a social media algorithm that becomes smarter with time, these newsletters will hand-deliver the content that resonates most with you.

This is a powerful opportunity for a major revamp when it comes to your newsletter strategy. In the future, users will expect this personalization, so email marketers will want to prepare by testing how AI can help them now.

Christmann points out that there’s also currently a challenge to mass personalization: Namely, that you can’t edit each individual email before it goes out.

As he puts it, “If I’ve got an audience of a hundred thousand people, I’m not going to read a hundred thousand of these emails in proofread. So it still leaves me in this weird blast method.”

Over time, Christmann believes this challenge will be solved with AI. He told me, “AI will help me tailor those messages over time, and ensure it has my voice, my tone, etc. There will be ways AI is going to continue to enhance the creation of newsletters.”

3. AI will shift how marketers’ analyze data.

Beyond content creation, AI will revolutionize data analytics across marketing teams.

For instance, Chris Devona, HubSpot’s Senior Paid Media Manager, currently leverages ChatGPT to format his ad campaigns.

He says, “I have a working prototype that allows me to submit a brief I created into ChatGPT’s code interpreter. ChatGPT then formats the brief into a CSV file that I can download and then upload into Google Ads to bulk-create entire campaigns or make edits easily. This saves hours of manual formatting.”

Imagine some of the more manual tasks you do throughout the day as a marketer. Which ones could be potentially automated using AI?

As Devona told me, “I’m also working through a workflow that will allow AI to ‘analyze’ week-over-week data and produce insights to cut down on time needed to log into the platform and form them myself.”

Devona told me, “I think when AI is initially brought into the ring the first thought is creation, but using it as an assistant can potentially bring greater value.”

In the long-run, entire marketing teams will adopt AI-driven data analysis strategies to bypass the current messy and ineffective processes of data collection and analysis.

AI Will Fundamentally Transform Inbound Marketing … But The Foundation Will Remain the Same

There’s no doubt that AI will drastically alter how inbound marketing works on a step-by-step basis.

In the next few years, we’ll see AI transform how marketers create content, analyze data, and connect with their audiences.

As Christmann puts it, “AI is going to fundamentally transform inbound marketing. It’s going to transform everything we do. It will make us think differently about problems that we took for granted. Jobs will be different, and it will be uncomfortable for a lot of people, but it’s ultimately a job enabler, and a job creator. But the game’s still the same.”

One thing AI won’t change? The purpose behind inbound marketing. At its core, inbound marketing is about forming connections with your prospects through valuable content.

The how’s, what’s, and where’s for content creation will drastically change as a result of AI. But the ‘why’ will remain the same.

68% of Web Analysts Don’t Think SGE Will Negatively Impact Traffic: Are They Wrong?

SGE is Google’s move to transform the search experience by integrating generative AI. With this massive change to SERPs, many marketers wonder if— or how — it will impact traffic.

According to our Web Traffic and Analytics report, 75% of web analysts believe generative AI-integrated searches will positively impact their blogs, and 68% predict their blogs will get more traffic than before.

But are they correct, or is this just wishful thinking? Here, let‘s dive into how SGE could impact your site’s ranking for the long haul.

The Pros of AI-integration into Search Engines

As mentioned above, most web analysts expect AI integration to affect the SERPs positively.

For instance, SGE will positively impact user experience. It will provide more accurate and relevant information and allow users to find what they’re looking for more quickly and efficiently.

Furthermore, an AI-integrated search engine will create more personalized results based on user preferences and past behaviors. Users will enjoy a more customized experience with content tailored to their needs.

Accessibility is another excellent perk of AI-integrated search thanks to automatic language translation capabilities, which can facilitate communication across different languages.

AI-generated translations would break down language barriers and make information (and content) accessible to a broader audience.

Moreover, generative AI can help create unique content, such as summaries, suggestions, and recommendations that intrigue users and provide fresh ideas.

The Challenges of AI-integration in Search Engines

Of course, there are some concerns and possible drawbacks to AI-integrated search. One concern is the impersonal user experience. Our report found that many users prefer human responses over generic AI.

An impersonal user experience could also result in a lack of user trust.

Our report shows users are skeptical toward AI-generated responses, as they expect biased or untrustworthy information.

Furthermore, users expressed the need to double-check AI-generated responses due to the perceived bias of programmers.

There is also a possibility marketers may experience a dip in visibility and organic traffic due to Google’s AI Snapshot feature, which would push some content beneath the fold and out of sight of users.

How to Adapt to AI-Integrated SERPS

There are many ways to prepare your website for AI integration in search engines.

Train, Research, and Learn

Train your employees to understand and work with AI tools and technologies. Consider attending conferences, workshops, or webinars to stay updated on the advancements of AI in your industry and to keep ahead of the competition.

You should also research other businesses using AI and how they integrated the technology. Moreover, take steps to understand algorithms, models, and functions.

Integrate and Implement

Look for ways to integrate AI into websites and digital marketing strategies, such as downloading and using AI-powered software and apps.

Our study shows that 50% of blog writers use AI in some capacity, be it to brainstorm, outline, or copyedit.

74% of web analysts whose websites leverage AI say it makes their content perform better, and 65% say it helps their pages rank higher in SERPs.

Implementing AI into your digital marketing strategy for the first time could be challenging, so you should consider hiring professionals in AI and organizing teams dedicated to the technology.

These professionals can test algorithms and conduct program testing.

Optimize and Improve

Leveraging AI in your strategy isn’t a cure-all. Beyond AI, you must also optimize your keyword usage, SEO management, keyword search, and search results to keep up with AI-integrated SERPs.

Additionally, SGE will change the types of content that perform best on the SERPs.

For instance, in a post-SGE world, HubSpot’s Director of SEO Global Growth Aja Frost, believes first-person, expert, personality-driven content will perform best.

As she puts it, “As a result of the AI evolution, there is an exponential increase in the amount of AI-written, low-value content. And, in response to that, Google is prioritizing first-person, credible, personality-driven content.”

Additionally, update search definitions and website lists. You must also utilize SERP tools and improve website inquiries and instructions.

So, will SGE have a negative or positive impact on SERPS?

Whether or not you’ll benefit from changes by SGE will depend on how proactive your organization is in adapting to AI-integrated SERPs.

According to our report, 57% of web analysts are already taking steps to prepare for generative AI being integrated with search engines.

These steps include the tips mentioned above, such as training your team staff on AI usage and implementing it into their workflow.

There‘s no way around it — SGE will impact your web traffic; its impact depends on your organization’s preparedness.