txtspk

Compressed mobile writing

Txtspk is the abbreviated spelling style that emerged from mobile phone text messaging, where character limits and small keypads made brevity essential: u for you, 2 for to or too, gr8 for great, lol for laughing out loud.

Though smartphones have made such shortcuts unnecessary, txtspk persists in casual digital communication and has contributed lasting abbreviations to everyday language.

spelling

u

Informal second-person abbreviation

urTextspeak for your
rEighteenth alphabet character
2Second counting number

4 · b4 · gr8 · cuz · tho · thru · plz · sry · nite · luv

culture

millennial

Concerning thousand-year cycles

digital nativePerson raised with internet
internet slangCasual online expressions
memeShared online humor

viral · emoji · emoticon · kaomoji · sticker · GIF · reaction · character limit · autocorrect · thumb typing

platforms

SMS

Mobile text protocol

TwitterMicroblogging social network
WhatsAppMobile messaging platform
MessengerBearer of communications

iMessage · Snapchat · Discord · Telegram · WeChat · Viber · Signal · Instagram · TikTok · Reddit

abbreviations

LOL

Internet amusement abbreviation

BRBTexted temporary departure
OMGTexted exclamation of shock
IMOAbbreviated personal-view marker

BTW · IDK · ROFL · SMH · NVM · LMAO · FWIW · ICYMI · JK · FYI

Opposites

formality of written language

txtspkStandard English

Codified mainstream dialect

proper English · academic writing · formal writing · Queen's English · correct spelling

completeness of expression

Unabbreviated handwriting

spelled out · expanded form · purple prose · circumlocution

medium/register association

txtspkprint journalism

News published on paper

belles-lettres · official correspondence · professional communication · manuscript

Family

text, texts, texting, texted, texter, textual, speak, speaks, speaking

Familiarity: Top 1,000,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Abstract · Everyday, not technical · Rated G