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The 7 acronyms you should know to understand the “whatsapps” of centennials
Since the existence of text messages, and later with the arrival of Twitter, the use of acronyms and abbreviations is part of everyone's life. Although the number of characters or words is rather a concern of the past, younger generations continue to normalize these types of words as part of their daily lives. Babbel, an app to learn languages, compiles the acronyms most used by centennials, the generation born after 1995. Would you know how to decipher all these messages?
Do you want to be my BAE? Coming from English, this anglicism has been part of the vocabulary of many young Spaniards for some time: specifically since 2014, the year in which Pharrel Williams popularized the term with his song "Come Get It Bae" ("Come get it Bae").
It means "Before Anyone Else" ("Before anyone") and is a compliment in relationships with a partner, lovers or even friends and family, since it is understood as "being number one" for someone. Not to be confused with BFF, "Best Friend Forever" ("Best friend forever").
ntr, man. Probably one of the phrases most used by young people in Spain: “don't scratch yourself”. These three letters, NTR, represent consolation for the endless worries of this generation.
UWU and 7U7, the analog emojis. Before reaching the emoticons as we know them today, many graphic representations were used with the signs and letters on the keyboard. Some are preserved and others have been appearing, as in the case of UWU, in which eyes (the "u") and nose (the "w") represent tenderness or shock. 7U7 however, come to represent sadness, as the two sevens are the eyes with tears. In either case, both can be used for flirting or flirting on social media.
TBH or TBBH. Also derived from English, it means “To Be Honest”, which is either a sign of sincerity or a justification. It usually precedes an idea or a thought and on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, it is common to see it in the form of a hashtag. There is also the variant TBBH, which means "To Be Brutally Honest" and which goes one step further to be politically incorrect.
From Carpe Diem to YOLO. One of the Latin topics of universal literature has penetrated deeply into the new generations to the point of incorporating into their vocabulary another acronym derived from the English YOLO, or what is the same: «You Only Live Once».
Flipo with the KMK. A sign of the astonishment of that comment or information can be put KMK, where the «q» is replaced by the «k» and means «what are you telling me». In this representation of the phrase, Spanish finds its Anglo-Saxon counterpart with the already well-known OMG ("Oh My God").
With little time, TL;DR. «Too long, didn't read», which translates as «too long, I haven't read». It is a very common jargon in networks that is used when the text is very long and has not been read for that reason. The same letters can represent “too lazy; didn't read", that is, "too vague, I haven't read".
Other acronyms in English:
PAH (Parent at home): Father at home.
HIFW (How I feel when): How do I feel when...
TFW (That feeling when): That feeling when...
MFW (My face when): My face when...
MRW (My reaction when): My reaction when...
IFYP (I feel your pain): I feel your pain.
LOL (Laughing out loud): Laughing out loud.
TNTL (Trying not to laugh): Trying not to laugh.
JK (Just kidding): It's a joke.
ILY (I love you): I love you.
IMU (I miss you): I miss you.
ADIH (Another day in hell): Another day in hell.
IDC (I don't care): I don't care.
ZZZ (Sleeping, bored, tired): Sleeping, bored, tired.
WYWH (Wish you were here): I wish you were here.
TIME (Tears in my eyes): Tears in my eyes.
F4F (Follow For Follow): Follow to follow.
L4L (Like for Like): Like for like.
