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Popular abbreviations in English

In English, there are generally accepted abbreviations that are used everywhere. It is not only the widely known P. S. _ (postscript) or etc. (and so on), but also designations for measures of length and time, days of the week and months, and many others. They can be found both in books and manuals, and in correspondence.

Language development does not stand still. Today, thanks to popular culture and the Internet, slang is evolving especially rapidly. So, over the past 10 years, many new abbreviations and abbreviations have appeared that are useful for all learners of English to know.

Today we will talk about common abbreviations found both in texts and in conversation. And also, we will find out what abbreviations are in English and how they are deciphered.

The most common abbreviations in English

In this section you will find common abbreviations used in England, USA and other countries. Many of them originate from the Latin language.

etc. _ (et cetera) - and so on
e. g. (exempli gratia) - for example
i. e. (id est) - i.e.
vs. (versus) - against
AD (Anno Domini) - AD, from the Nativity of Christ
BC (Before Christ) - BC, before the Nativity of Christ
AM (ante meridiem) - until noon
PM (post meridiem) - afternoon

Abbreviations for people:

Jr. _ (junior) - junior
Sr. (senior) - senior
Smth. (something) - something
Smb. (somebody) - someone
V. I. _ P. _ (a very important person)
Aka (also known as) - also known as
PM (Prime Minister) - Prime Minister
PA (Personal Assistant) - personal secretary

Books and writing:

ABC is the alphabet
n. (noun) — noun
v. (verb) - verb
adj. (adjective) - adjective
adv. (adverb) - adverb
prep. (preposition) - preposition
p. (page) —
pp page. (pages) —
par pages. (paragraph) — paragraph
ex. (exercise) – exercise
pl. (plural) is the plural of
sing. (singular) – singular
P. S. _ (Post Scriptum) - Afterword
P. P. _ S. _ (Post Post Scriptum) - after the afterword
Re. (reply) -
Rf reply. (reference) — footnote,
Edu link. (education)
Appx education. (appendix) - app
w / o (without) — без
w/ (with) — c
& (and) — и

Measures:
Learn more

in. (inch) — inch
sec. (second) — second
gm. (gram) — gram
cm. (centimeter) — centimeter
qt. (quart) - quart
mph (miles per hour) - miles per hour
kph (kilometres per hour) - kilometers per hour
ft. (foot) - foot (30 cm 48 mm)
lb (libra) - pound (450 g)
oz. (ounce) - ounce (28 g)
pt. (pint) - pint (0.56 liters)

Days of the week and months of the year:

yr. (year) -
Jan year. (January) - January
Feb. (February) — February
Mar. (March) - March
Apr. (April) - April
Jun. (June) - June
Jul. (July) — July
Aug. (August) — August
Sep. (September) - September
Oct. (October) — October
Nov. (November) - November
Dec. (December) - December
X-mas (Christmas) - Christmas

May (May) is not abbreviated.

Mon. _ (Monday) - Monday
Tue. (Tuesday) - Tuesday
Wed. (Wednesday) - Wednesday
Thu. (Thursday) - Thursday
Fri. (Friday) - Friday
Sat. (Saturday) - Saturday
Sun. (Sunday) - Sunday
TGIF (Thanks God It's Friday) - "Thank God it's Friday!"

Organization abbreviations:

UN (the United Nations) - ООН
NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) - НАТО
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) - ЮНЕСКО

You can often find truncations of full words to shorter ones. For example:

sis (sister) - sister
doc (doctor) - doctor
telly (television) - television, television
phone (telephone) - telephone
specs (spectacles) - glasses
fridge (refrigerator) - refrigerator
flu (influenza) - influenza
comfy (comfortable) - comfortable
sngl (single) - one, lonely
sngl room - single room
dbl room - double room
gent (gentleman) - male
div. (divorced) - divorced (a)
and others.

Abbreviations and useful phrases for online correspondence

The English, like us, use various abbreviations of long words or phrases in everyday speech or correspondence. What is it for? In order to type a message faster and convey your idea more quickly, keep within the allotted number of characters (for example, on Twitter).

Do you want to chat with foreigners? So, you need to know the popular abbreviations that are often found on the Internet. By the way, the "digital language" has already received its name and stands out in a separate category - Digispeak (digital - "digital")

Many abbreviations have become acronyms (a type of abbreviation that is formed due to the initial sounds of a word) and are used most often in correspondence:

B - be (verb to be, "to be")
C - see (verb to see, "to see")
R - are (verb to be in 2 singular)
K - ok ("good")
N - and ("and")
U - you ("you")
UR - your ("your", "your")
Y - why ("why")
1 - one ("one")
2 - two (“two”) / to (preposition “in”, “on”) / too (“too”)
4 - four, for (4U - “for you”)
8 - ate (verb to eat, “eat » in Past Simple)

Tip: To better understand abbreviations, say them out loud.

Often, acronyms appear precisely because of the consonance of words. A similar rule can be applied to an abbreviation or other abbreviation in correspondence - just say them out loud and try to understand what words or expressions they remind you of.

For example:

Some 1 (someone) - someone
Any 1 (anyone) - any
Be 4 (before) - before
2 day (today) - today
4 u (for you) - for you
gr 8 (great) - excellent / excellent
w 8 (wait) - wait / wait
2 u (to you) - you
u 2 (you too) - you too

And many others. The main thing is to turn on the fantasy!

And now let's look at what the popular abbreviations and abbreviations of the most common colloquial phrases in English mean:

ASAP - As soon as possible (“As soon as possible” or “The sooner the better”)

This abbreviation is common in the work environment and understood by everyone. The abbreviation ASAP has gone far beyond the borders of English-speaking countries and is used all over the world.

PLS, PLZ - Please (please)

Abbreviation, understandable without unnecessary comments. In Russian, we usually write "plz" or "pliz".

THX - Thanks Learn
more

Also, you can find a shorter version: TU / TY (Thank you)

LOL - Laughing out loud (“I laugh out loud” or “I laugh out loud”)

Perhaps one of the most frequently used abbreviations on the Internet. In Russian, it is known simply as "lol".

ROFL - Rolling on the floor ("Rolling on the floor with laughter")

Same as LOL, only funnier. So that you can "tear your stomach from laughter."

OMG — Oh my god! Oh my goodness! Oh my gosh! («О, господи!»)

This abbreviation has also gone far beyond the English-speaking countries, and now " OMG " can be heard in every corner of the world. Including his obscene version of OMFG (Oh my F**king God) as well.

IDK - I don't know ("I don't know")

A simple abbreviation that occurs quite often.

DIKY - Do I know you ? ("Do I know you?")

So you can write to a stranger who contacted you in a chat or wrote for the first time.

BRB - Be right back ("I'll be right back")

Another popular abbreviation in work environments, especially informal ones. If you need to leave your computer or workplace for a while, write to the BRB chat and your colleagues will understand that you will leave for a while. By the way, online players also often use the abbreviation BRB. They also have an abbreviation AFK, which stands for Away from keyboard ("Not at the keyboard").

B2W - Back to work _

This is when you were BRB, but returned to your computer and write to colleagues in the chat that you are B2W again , that is, you are ready to work on.

?4U - Question for you ("I have a question for you")

If you don’t want to write the full phrase I have a question for you, then you can drop it into the chat to the interlocutor ? 4U and start asking, in fact, the question itself.

IMHO - In my humble opinion ("In my humble opinion")

This interesting abbreviation was quickly picked up in Russia and turned into "IMHO". It is used in cases when you want to express your opinion on some issue, but emphasize that this is only your subjective point of view.

TTYL - Talk to you later _

Short for the full phrase I will talk to you later, meaning "I'll talk to you later."

CUL8R - See you later _

This is one of those options when you need to say the abbreviation out loud to understand where it came from. See the list of acronyms at the very beginning of the article.

С = see; U = you; L8R = later

C + U + L + eight + R = see + you + later

Also, you can find another version of this abbreviation: BCNUL8R - Be seeing you later, in which B = be, and CN = seeing.

RUF2T - Are you free to talk ? ("Can you talk?")

Another abbreviation formed from acronyms. Better to say it out loud to understand.

R = Are; U = you; F = free; 2 = to; T = talk

R + U + F + two + T = are + you + free + to + talk

LU / LY - Love you ("I love you") or ILU / ILY - I love you ("I love you")

There are many abbreviations for " I love you " in English, but these are the most common. You can also write to your loved one <3U. What does this mean - see below.

Less than three - <3 / Love (Love)

It is more of a designation than an abbreviation, but is also found in correspondence. Symbols <3 together form a heart. Individually, < means "down", and 3 is just the number three. Therefore, reading them literally, we get "less than three" or just less than three.

BF and GF - Boyfriend and Girlfriend (Friend and girlfriend)

Pretty simple abbreviations, understandable to everyone.
To learn more

BFF - Best friends forever _

This is what best friends or girlfriends call themselves to emphasize spiritual intimacy. The abbreviation has gone far beyond the Internet and correspondence: you can especially often find it in the fashion industry. For example, one of the gift options for best friends is two identical pendants with halves of a heart, which together form the inscription BFF.

ATM - At the moment ("At the moment")

If you want to say that you are single at the moment (and are looking for a partner) - you can write that you are " sgle ATM". Do not confuse with an ATM - it is also called ATM. Everything depends on the context.

DETI - Don't even think it ("Don't even think about it")

An easy-to-remember abbreviation that sounds like “children” in Russian.

JK - Just kidding _

Usually sent as a separate message after the previous one, to clarify that it was a joke.

SUP - What's up ? ("What's up?")

A common greeting to a friend, used without a question mark.

WTF - What the fuck? ("What the hell?")

This abbreviation does not need to be explained for a long time - it is clear without further ado. <p> Digispeak, after all, is more common on the Internet and among young people and sometimes confuses the older generation. Teenagers, on the other hand, use digispeak in everyday life very often. Here, for example, are a couple of comic dialogues from the correspondence of a young guy with his mother:</p

— Mark, what does IDK, LY & TTYL mean?
— I don’t know, love you, talk to you later
— Ok, I’ll ask your sister. Love you too.

Translation:

- Mark, what do IDK, LY and TTYL mean ?
- I don't know, I love you, we'll talk later
- Okay, I'll ask your sister. Love you too

Or another dialogue when mom doesn't know what WTF is:

— Got an A in Chemistry!
— WTF, well done, Mark!
— Mom, what do you think WTF means?
— Well That’s Fantastic

Translation:

I got an A in Chemistry!
— WTF, great job, Mark!
“Mom, what do you think WTF means ?”
- Well, it's fantastic.

In order not to get into such an awkward situation as Mark with his mother, study the words and phrases given in this article. Chat in English so you can practice the language more often!