The 20 Most-Googled Text Abbreviations 

The 20 Most-Googled Text Abbreviations 

Now that pretty much EVERYONE communicates by text message . . . we’re all forced to keep up with slang and internet shorthand.  Even though sometimes it’d be easier to just USE OUR WORDS.  (Especially considering autocorrect.) 

But some of us are struggling to keep up. 

A website came up with a list of 114 popular text message abbreviations . . . and then looked though Google search data to see which ones people are still asking Google to define. 

Thankfully, people are NOT Googling “What does LOL mean?”  But there are some surprises.  Here are the “20 Most-Googled Text Abbreviations”: 

1. SMH (shaking my head) . . . Average U.S. monthly searches:  231,000 
2. POV (point of view) . . . Average U.S. monthly searches:  156,000 
3. NSFW (not safe for work) . . . 127,000 
4. FOMO (fear of missing out) . . . 122,000 
5. TLDR (too long; didn’t read) . . . 119,000 
6. IYKYK (if you know, you know) . . . 99,000 
7. OFC (of course) . . . 96,000
8. IMO (in my opinion) . . . 75,000 
9. IIRC (if I recall correctly) . . . 66,000 
10. HMU (hit me up) . . . 64,000 
11. LMAO (laughing my [butt] off) . . . 64,000 
12. AFK (away from keyboard) . . . 59,000 
13. NGL (not gonna lie) . . . 59,000 
14. OOTD (outfit of the day) . . . 56,000 
15. IG (I guess) . . . 54,000 
16. TBH (to be honest) . . . 51,000 
17. TTYL (talk to you later) . . . 51,000 
18. DM (direct message) . . . 47,000 
19. YOLO (you only live once) . . . 47,000
20. FWIW (for what it’s worth) . . . 44,000 

• Mel McKay