How to abbreviate messages in chat
klkkl bb!
akla cu.
cu2 asap!
N / A? Understood everything? This was a conversation in abbreviations like you may have seen in emails or on the web. The resolution is below.
Abbreviations in messages and inchatare particularly popular with younger people. "Network jargon" is the name given to this way of communicating on the Internet. "Jargon" means colloquial or everyday language.
Abbreviations in messages are actually nothing new. They come from a time when you didn't have more than 160 characters for short messages (at that time there was only SMS), so exactly as many:
Unfortunately I can't come to game night tonight. I'm sick. Cough and sneeze. Next time I'll be there again. Until then. Have a nice evening.
Meanwhile, there is no more character limit in the text messaging apps. However, the abbreviations are still used – perhaps because people find them modern or because they are too lazy to type so much.
Incidentally, the first word abbreviations came from English. "lol" for example means "laugh out loud".
In the boxes below we have listed a few English and German abbreviations. You can also use them to decrypt the text above:
(Some people also capitalize individual letters in the abbreviations.)
asap – as soon as possible = as soon as possible
bbl – be back later = see you later
cu – see you
cu2 – see you too = see you too
k – okay = agree
kk – okay okay = very much agreed
klkrkl - kiss left, kiss right, kiss left
lol - laugh out loud = laugh out loud
omg - oh my god
rofl – rolling on the floor laughing = rolling on the floor laughing
xoxo – kisses and hugs! "O" stands for a hug, "X" for a kiss.
English abbreviations are understood by people all over the world. But there are also some with only German words:
ok - all right
bb - see you soon
*g* – grin
*fg* – big grin
GuK – greeting and kiss
GlG - best regards
Hdl - Love you.
Hdgdl - Love you very much.
Wmds - What are you doing?