It sometimes seems that the language used in social media, on platforms like Instagram, Tik Tok, WhatsApp, Twitter, etc., is an entirely new language, especially for people over 40.

Below, a former student at our school, Patricia Esteller, who is studying a degree of English Language and Literature at the University of Seville, has created a fun list of some of the most common expressions and phrases used in English-language social media.

Parece ser que el lenguaje de las redes sociales está cada vez más un idioma desconocido para los mortales, o por lo menos, para los mayores de 40 años.  A continuación, se os presenta un divertido mini-diccionario de las abreviaturas más comunes, hecho por Patricia Esteller, antigua alumna de la casa y alumna de Filología Inglesa en la Universidad de Sevilla.

LOL. Laughing out loud.
LMAO. Laughing my @#@# off.
ILY / ILYSM: I love you / I love you so much.
TY / TYSM: Thank you so much.
IDK. I don’t know.
JK. Just kidding.
BAE. Before anyone else. This one is mainly used to refer to a significant
other, it is another way of refering to someone as baby/babe.
AKA: Also known as.
BTW: By the way. Normally used either at the very beginning of a sentence or
at the end.
ASAP: As soon as possible.
IDC. I don’t care.
LMK: Let me know.
NVM. Nevermind. Used mostly as a full response but could also be added to a
sentence.
BRB: be right back. The actual meaning of the abreviation is I will be right
back.
RN: right now.
NP. No problem.
ppl. people. This is commonly used as a way of abreviating the word, often
seen in tweets.
srsly. seriously. I have usually seen this followed by a question mark as a tag
question.
w8. wait.
TBH/TBF. To be honest/to be frank.
C U. See you.
ATM. At the moment. Similar to rn (right now)
G2G. Gotta go (got to go)
IMO. In my opinion.

OOTD. Outfit of the day. Related to posts on instagram about what outfit
(look) are you wearing that day.
QOTD. Quote of the day. Used to post a quote (inspirational??) on any social
media.
ISTG. I swear to God. I have seen this mostly on tiktok and twitter, it is a way
of introducing a point of view/opinion on something that you disagree with.
ISTG if I see that video again, I’ll delete this app.
wbu/hbu: what about you/how about you. Used when someone asks about
how you are, then you tell them about it and end up using that expression.

SMH. Shaking my head. This is only used at the end of statements and to
express disappointment. It does not refer to something to be said outloud but
to a gesture.
*Did they really do that dance again?? smh
FYI. For your information.
Some examples of an actual conversation I would have (over text!!!!!)
-Could u check his last post for me rn?
-[no response]
-nvm, I just checked it.
-tbh he was way more handsome when datin you lmao
-lol
-btw he is with that girl he told me not to worry about
-srsly?? idk what to tell u
-ppl these days going crazy smh
-mom’s callin brb
-okay ilysm Also… here some clarifications fyi!!

The most common thing to see abreviated is actually the word you, which is
written with a simple u, this is also followed with the abreviation of the verb
are which is written with a r. Besides, it is also really common to see the
gerund form of the verbs without the last g as in datin’, comin’, walkin’.

Some of the abreviations that I listed are seen predominantly on social media
like TikTok or Twitter, slang words and abreviations change according to
different fashions and trends. With that being said, some of them are not
frequently seen nowadays but they used to be normal over text messages with
friends (g2g, c u), this is because when text messages were a normal thing,
they used to have a word limit and cost money to send; so an easy way to say
more with less was using these abreviations. Another regular thing to see is the
removal of certain words (verbs/pronouns) when writting sentences because
the meaning of the sentence is clear enough as in ppl these days goin crazy
(correctly said: people are going crazy these days).

One last thing, the most important ones are: wanna (want to), gotta (got
to/have to), gonna (going to), lemme (let me), gimme (give me). These are
not only used in written speech but also in oral speech!!
This is everything I have to offer… for now.

tysm 4 ur attention!! hope u enjoyed it!