FOMO (fear of missing out) and IMO (in my opinion) come from text messages, emails and social media, where people want to respond immediately and communicate quickly. Brevity is important, especially with Twitter, where there is a limit of 140 characters per tweet. They are often abbreviations for common colloquial expressions, keeping up the informal, often personal and subjective nature of these electronic communications.
 

Some abbreviations, such as FOMO, are also acronyms, that is, they are spoken as a word, not a series of letters, and become words in their own right.
 

Do you use any of these?
 

AFAIC = as far as I’m concerned
ICYMI = in case you missed it
IIRC = if I recall correctly
TBH = to be honest
 

In the lead up to the American elections in 2016, the words POTUS (President of the United States) and FLOTUS (First Lady of the United States), were in frequent use. Slightly less well used is SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States). All are easy to read and pronounce. They are recognizable and space-saving in journalism and the media, where they are chiefly used.
 

British politics is full of abbreviations. Not all of them are memorable, but JAM has been on everyone’s lips since the Prime Minister Theresa May drew attention to those people who are ‘just about managing’ in society.
 

In the field of economics, two popular acronyms are BRIC and, more recently, MINT. These words are composed from the initials of countries grouped together: the fast-growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and a newer group of economic interest, Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey. The term MINT was coined in 2014 by the economist Jim O’Neill, who was also the first to spot the huge potential of the BRIC countries and predict how the world would change. Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey – MINT – could become the new name on people’s lips, and further overturn the old world order.
 

In education, the term STEM is a useful acronym for the key subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, now central to many curricula worldwide. We derive STEAM from this, which includes and recognizes the importance of the Arts in this curriculum. Both acronyms make it easy for people to write about and discuss these topics. Mint, jam, stem and steam are existing words in their own right, helping to make the acronyms memorable, even though there are no connections in meaning. In language teaching CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) is a well-known term that describes learning a subject through the medium of another language, a method which aims to improve language learning by giving it context.

 

Conversational abbreviations:

AB/ABT = About
AFAIK = As far as I know
AYFKMWTS = Are you f---ing kidding me with this s---?
B4 = Before
BFN = Bye for now
BGD = Background
BH = Blockhead
BR = Best regards
BTW = By the way
CD9 = Code 9, parents are around
CHK = Check
CUL8R = See you later
DAM = Don't annoy me
DD = Dear daughter
DF = Dear fiancé
DP = used to mean "profile pic"
DS = Dear son
DYK = Did you know, Do you know
EM/EML = Email
EMA = Email address
F2F /FTF = Face to face
FB = Facebook, F--- buddy
FF = Follow Friday
FFS = For F---'s Sake
FML = F--- my life.
FOTD = Find of the day
FTW = For the win, F--- the world
FUBAR = F---ed up beyond all repair (slang from the US Military)
FWIW = For what it's worth.
GMAFB = Give me a f---ing break
GR8 = Great!
GTFOOH = Get the f--- out of here
GTS = Guess the song
HAGN = Have a good night
HAND = Have a nice day
HOTD = Headline of the day
HT = Heard through
HTH = Hope that helps
IC = I see
ICYMI = "In case you missed it," a quick way to apologize for retweeting your own material
IDK = I don't know
IIRC = If I remember correctly
IMHO = In my humble opinion.
IRL = In real life
IWSN = I want sex now
JK = Just kidding, joke
JS = Just sayin'
JSYK = Just so you know
JV = Joint venture
KK = Kewl kewl, or ok, got it
KYSO = Knock your socks off
LBS = Laughing but Serious
LHH = Laugh hella hard (stronger version of LOL)
LMAO = Laughing my ass off
LMK = Let me know
LO = Little One (child)
LOL = Laugh out loud
MM = Music Monday
MIRL = Meet in real life
MRJN = Marijuana
MSM = Main Stream Media, as in print, television, etc.
MTF = More To Follow
NBD = No big deal
NCT = Nobody cares, though
NFI = No Further Information or Not F---ing Interested
NFW = No f---ing way
NJoy = Enjoy
NSFW = Not safe for work
NTS = Note to self
OH = Overheard
OMFG = Oh my f---ing God
OOMF = One of my friends/followers
ORLY = Oh, really?
PLMK = Please let me know
PNP = Party and Play (drugs and sex)
POIDH - Pictures, or it didn't happen, as in why would you not tweet a picture of the mad stuff you claim has just happened
QOTD = quote of the day
RE = In reply to, in regards to
RLRT = Real-life re-tweet, a close cousin to OH
RTFM = Read the f---ing manual
RTQ = Read the question
SFW = Safe for work
SMDH = Shaking my damn head, SMH, only more so
SMH = Shaking my head
SNAFU = Situation normal, all f---ed up (slang from the US Military)
SO = Significant Other
S/O = Shout Out
SOB = Son of a B----
SRS = Serious
STFU = Shut the f--- up!
STFW = Search the f---ing web!
TFTF = Thanks for the follow
TFTT = Thanks for this tweet
TJ = Tweetjack, or joining a conversation belatedly to contribute to a tangent
TL = Timeline
TLDR/TL;DR = Too long, didn't read
TMB = Tweet me back
TT = Trending topic
TY = Thank you
TYIA = Thank you in advance
TYT = Take your time
TYVM = Thank you very much
W or W/ = With
W/E or WE = Whatever or weekend
WTV = Whatever
YGTR = You got that right
YKWIM = You know what I mean
YKYAT = You know you're addicted to
YMMV = Your mileage may vary
YOLO = You only live once
YOYO = You're on your own
YW = You're welcome
ZOMG = OMG to the max