Shortened forms

If you can write in English, then you have probably tried correspondence with someone, right? If not, we highly recommend getting yourself someone to chat with to improve your English. 

One has only to remember that if your pen pal is a native English speaker, then in the first couple of weeks you will be literally shocked by the existence of such words that you could not even guess. Also, the difference will depend on which country your interlocutor is from, because each has its own specifics of communication and a certain kind of vocabulary used in order to “facilitate” correspondence. 

Let's take the first step into the wonderful world of incomprehensible letters together. Ready? Let's go! 

 

Abbreviations and shortened forms, what's the difference? 

To begin with, you should understand the differences between the abbreviations and abbreviations that foreigners love to use in their speech. In general, initially the abbreviations were created due to the limitation of the number of characters in one SMS. In order to fit as much information as possible into a conditional fifty characters, I had to resort to a trick, reducing words by half, or even to the first letters. 

The shortened forms look like this: 

• Bcuz – because 
• C'mon – come on 
• Gonna – going to 
• Wanna – want to 
• Gotta – got to 

And the abbreviations are: 

• Ilysm – I love you so much 
• Ig – I guess 
• Brb – be right back 
• Ttyl – talk to you later 
• Istg – I swear to God 

Whether you use simple abbreviations or use acronyms is up to you. It all depends on your comfort and ease of use of the chosen option. Of course, it can be said that abbreviations that are more like words are much easier to use, but in situations where there is catastrophically no time, but you need to answer, a few letters in the response message will also save. 

 

Informal correspondence 

Where you can roam freely in expressions is in communicating with friends. Informal conversations provide an almost complete conversation in the choice of words and expressions, so there are many more abbreviations here. 

At first glance, the conversation between two teenagers may seem like some kind of cipher, in order to understand which you will need to use at least a dictionary, or even a translator. But, once you delve into it once, it will be difficult to stop, believe me. 

Here are some examples of abbreviations and their uses: 

Brb – be right back

Wait. My mom is calling me. Brb  

Ttyl – talk to you later

I have lots of homework to do now. Gotta go. Ttyl <3 

Ig – I guess 

- Have you seen Sarah these days?  

- No, she’s on holiday ig  

Plz – Please

Can u pick me up from school plz  

Bcuz – Because

Why are you mad? – Bcuz u didn’t pick up the phone.  

Rn – right now  

U r – you are

- R u kiddin me rn? 

- No, u r!  

B4 – before

Plz turn off the lights b4 you go.  

2day – today

He texted me and we’re going out 2day!  

Ily – I love you

Don’t forget to eat. Food is on the table. Ily <3  

Ilysm – I love you so much

GN baby! ILYSM!  

Idc – I don’t care

- Do you know what ur brother has done?  

- No. Don’t tell me, idc  

Imma – I am going to 

Imma go there and punch him on his face for it! 

Btw – by the way

Btw I gotta go rn. Sorry. Ttyl  

G’night/gn/GN – good night

If you collect several examples in one message, then it might look something like this: 

Call me asap! Idc what u've done, but call me rn! 

Gotta go now. Ttyl b4 going to bed. Imma go do my stuff now cuz I have to. Ilysm! GN! 

Try to decipher it yourself ;) 

 

Business correspondence 

Abbreviations in business correspondence have their own characteristics, and most often refer to the business area. A person who has never seen foreign business letters and is far from such processes will see simple letters and numbers, nothing more. 

In fact, in business correspondence, quite a lot of things are also reduced for the convenience of both parties. Abbreviations can be found not only in correspondence, but also in contracts. 

 

The main abbreviations are 

Abbreviations in addresses 

• Apt – apartment 
• Ave. – avenue 
• St. – street 

US state names (abbreviated to two letters) 

• CA – California 
• NY– New York 
• TX – Texas 

Time designation (Western/Eastern time, morning/evening) 

• a.m./p.m., 
• CST – Central standard time 
• EST – Eastern standard time 
• PST – Pacific standard time 

Days of the week (usually abbreviated by the first three letters) 

• Mon – Monday, Wed – Wednesday 

Month abbreviations 

• Apr – April, Dec – December 

To learn more about the abbreviations used in business correspondence, we recommend reading the corresponding article. 

 

Game abbreviations as a separate art form 

Where exactly you need a dictionary is here. Sometimes even an experienced English-speaking person is simply unable to understand a gamer when he speaks his usual language, let alone their abbreviations. 

Gaming slang is a whole field for scientific research, because it changes and is supplemented literally every day. Gamers use abbreviations to avoid wasting valuable time, so they can not only write in abbreviations, but also speak in them during the game. 

• GG – good game 
• Irl – in real life 
• NPC – non-playable character 
• AFK – away from keyboard 
• 4u – for you 
• 4s – for us 
• AFAIK – as far as I know 
• Aka – as known as 

This is just a very small part just for reference. In fact, there are much more gaming abbreviations, and there are even official and unofficial dictionaries. Some of them apply to regular informal correspondence as gaming slang has seeped into our daily lives as well. 

In general, we can say that abbreviations are a useful thing, if not overdone.