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Calling all olds: Gen Z has created yet another slang acronym.
“There’s a new texting term that all the young people are doing that we weren’t aware of,” Hoda Kotb shared Thursday morning on “TODAY with Hoda and Jenna.”
Kids aren’t saying LOL anymore, she told Jenna Bush Hager. Instead, they’re saying IJBOL, meaning “I Just Burst Out Laughing.”
It’s one of many ways internet users use online slang terms to convey amusement in the absence of face-to-face communication.
Among the more popular expressions are LOL — “Laugh Out Loud” — and LMAO — “Laughing My A** Off” and ROFL, or “Rolling On the Floor Laughing.”
According to the New York Times, the new term to add to your lexicon is “IJBOL.”
Never heard of it? Neither had Hoda and Jenna.
Hoda pointed out that regardless of the acronym, most people probably aren’t actually laughing aloud when they use these slang terms in their messages and group chats.
As fun spin on the new trend, Hoda and Jenna attempted to guess other texting acronyms, including “WYLL” (“What You Look Like?”), “MBN” (“Must Be Nice”) and “NGL” (“Not Gonna Lie”). Bonus points go to Hoda for actually knowing that last one.
Not quite on Hoda’s level of hipness? Sourced from social media, parental control websites and local screenagers, here is a list of commonly used slang acronyms you need to know.
Certain slang terms could be categorized as “NSFW” (“Not Suitable For Work”), so use these acronyms with caution.
AF: “As F***”
AFAIK: “As Far As I Know”
ASL: “Age/Sex/Location”
BTW: “By The Way”
CBTM: “Could Be The Move”
DM: “Direct Message”
DW: “Don’t Worry”
FTW: “For The Win”
FWB: “Friends With Benefits”
FWIW: “For What It’s Worth”
GL: “Good Luck”
GOAT: “Greatest Of All Time”
GTG: “Got To Go”
HBU: “How About You?”
HMU: “Hit Me Up”
HU: “Hook Up”
ICYMI: “In Case You Missed It”
IDC: “I Don’t Care”
IDK: “I Don’t Know”
IJBOL: “I Just Burst Out Laughing”
IKR: “I Know, Right”
ILY: “I Love You”
IMO: “In My Opinion”
ISO: “In Search Of”
IYKYK: “If You Know, You Know”
JK: “Just Kidding”
LMAO: “Laughing My Ass Off”
LOL: “Laugh Out Loud”
MBN: “Must Be Nice”
MYOB: “Mind Your Own Business”
NBD: “No Big Deal”
NGL: “Not Gonna Lie”
NP: “No Problem”
NSFW: “Not Suitable For Work”
NVM: “Never Mind”
OFC: “Of Course”
OMG: “Oh My God”
OMW: “On My Way”
RN: “Right Now”
ROFL: “Rolling On the Floor Laughing”
SMH: “Shaking My Head”
STFU: “Shut The F*** Up”
TBH: “To Be Honest”
TIL: “Today I Learned”
TN: “Tonight”
TY: “Thank You”
WBU: “What About You?”
WYA: “Where You At?”
WYD: “What You Doing?”
WYLL: “What You Look Like?”
YOLO: “You Only Live Once”
Sophie is interning for TODAY.com this summer. Originally from Texas, she is adjusting to life in New York City. When she isn’t writing about news and pop culture trends, she can be found petting stray animals, spending hours at bookstores, or taking the subway in the wrong direction.
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