Acronyms, Huh? Here’s a List from this Alphabet Soup You Might Want to Know

We admit we’re old but proud we’ve made it this far. We’ve mastered a lot of life’s lessons through the ups and downs of life’s journey through seven decades and counting, remembered lessons our parents taught which never go out of style (be kind, be inclusive, don’t criticize in public) and are eager to be viewed as hip by our kids, even when we’re not, by trying to stay abreast of their likes and dislikes in music, clothing, furniture, food, politics and what’s proper to say and not. 

However, we find ourselves behind the curve and often must look up the growing number of acronyms hitting us morning, noon and night. We thought a refresher course or guide for those who are clueless would be helpful. Right now, we’re trying to learn all the jumble of acronyms people pepper their texts and emails with, sometimes with cute emojis. We hate to keep googling or asking, huh, what’s that mean?  

We’re sharing the ones we see most often with you, our peers, as a sort of public service so you can be as hip as we are. If you’re hipper and know all and have others you know that didn’t make our list, please share with us as well.  Here goes. 

AMA, ask me anything
BRB, be right back
BTW, by the way
ELI5, explain like I am 5
FOM, fear of missing out
FWIW, for what it’s worth
GOFT, greatest of all time
GTG, got to go
HMU, hit me up
ICYDST, in case you didn’t see this
IDK, I don’t know
IRL, in real life
ICYMI, in case you missed it
LMK, let me know
LOL, laughing out loud
OOTD, outfit of the day
OMG, oh my God
POV, point of view
ROFL, rolling on floor laughing
SMH, shaking my head
TBH, to be honest
TTYL, talk to you later
TY, thank you
YOLO, you only live once

Here are some we came up with, try them out:

WAYRMC, why aren’t you returning my call
YDITS, your dress is too short
WTWYA, what time will you arrive
YANSWTPAY, you are not serious with that person are you
YATAB, you are the absolute best