What is symbol in text?

Last Updated on April 15, 2023 by Corinne Schmitt

Do you ever get a text from your child and have a hard time deciphering it due to all the unfamiliar text message symbols? Our kids, who have grown up with cell phone technology, know an entire new language that we’ve been slower to learn.

Since fostering open, clear communication between parents and their children is one of my goals, I want to help break down that language barrier. So, I’ve put together this guide to common text message abbreviations and emojis and their meanings for you.

Now, not only will you know what your kids are trying to say to you, you can communicate with them in the way that is easiest for them!

Of course, face-to-face interactions are still important, perhaps now more than ever. Maybe once you’ve made the effort to match your child’s communication style, they’ll be more open to matching yours and you can pass on all of your wonderful conversational skills!

When you text, you get tired of having to type with your thumbs, so finding a way to save effort by typing as few letters as possible is essential. Text message symbols were actually created for that reason, to make texting faster and easier.

Each abbreviation is different, some leave out vowels, while others replace letters that have the same sound, and you get the ones that replace an entire sentence by being acronyms. Even if you’re not interested in using the abbreviations yourself, you will most definitely find it helpful when you get that rushed text from the kids.

Below you’ll find dozens of common text abbreviations. I’ve listed even the obvious ones, just in case.

AMA – Ask me anything

& or + – And

NE1 – Anyone

R – Are

RUOK? – Are you okay?

@ – At

AAF – As a friend

AAR – At any rate

8 – Ate

BI5 – Back in five

B – Be

BRB – Be right back

BRT – Be right there

BTDT – Been there done that

BC or B/C – Because

B4 – Before

BL – Belly Laughing

BFF – Best friends forever

BYTM – Better you than me

B2D – Bored to death

BF – Boyfriend

BTW – By the way

CX – Cancelled

QT – Cutie

DM – Direct message

DMI – Don’t mention it

ETX – End of text

F2F – Face to face

4 – For

4EVER or 4EVA – Forever

FOAF – Friend of a friend

GF – Girlfriend

GL – Good luck

GG – Good game

IC – I see

IMO – I see

TBH – To be honest

JK – Just kidding

K4U or KFY – Kiss for you

KIR – Keep it real

L8R – Later

LOL – Laughing out loud

LMAO – Laughing my ass off

ROTFL – Rolling on the floor laughing

LUV – Love

MBN – Must be nice

MRA – Moving right along

MF – My friend

NBD – No big deal

NP – No problem

OMG – Oh my God

G2G or GTG – Got to go

GR8 – Great

HB – Happy Birthday

REHI – Hi again

XO – Hugs and kisses

IDK – I don’t know

ONID – Oh no I didn’t

121 – One to one

OAO – Over and out

PPL – People

PLZ or PLS – Please

POV – Point of view

PTL – Praise the Lord

PM – Private message

QL – Quit laughing

QOTD – Quote of the day

ROFO – Read and find out

RTBS – Reason to be single

SMH – Shaking my head

SRY – Sorry

CUL8R – See you later

S2U – Same to you

TY – Thank you

THX or TNX – Thanks

TOY – Thinking of you

2DAY – Today

SUP? – What’s up?

2NITE – Tonight

WTG – Way to go

YOLO – You only live once

W/O or WO – Without

U – You

UR – Your or you’re

Emojis, which come from the Japanese E(picture)moji(character), are basically small pictures. Emojis are used for all kinds of digital communication, whether it’s through text, or on social media, or on websites.

There are many types of Emojis, over 3000 worth. They express many different things.

Emojis vary greatly from yellow smiley faces to other day-to-day objects such as food, weather, animals, country flags, and more. Most of the Emojis are self-explanatory, but others mean specific things.

😊☺️ – Happiness or Positivity, can be used with an insult or criticism to lessen the sting.

😀😃😄😆 – Also express happiness, but at greater levels. Rarely used with an insult or criticism.

😅 – Happiness with relief or joy after a negative event works out.

😂 – Laughter, the Emoji version of the LOL abbreviation or can he used when sending or receiving a joke.

🤣 – Extreme laughter, the Emoji version of the ROFL abbreviation.

🙃 – Implies that something doesn’t make sense or that you’re not being serious.

🤪 – Flippancy, something is silly and funny at the same time.

😎 – Depicts coolness, or just to imply “deal with it”.

😳 – Used for an awkward situation, a mistake or for embarassment.

😉😏 – Depicts humorous intent, but when used together may be depicted as a suggestive message.

😛😜😝 – Express humor at different levels.

😌 – Relief or contentment.

😇 – Innocence, can be serious or humorous.

😈👿 – The smiling Emoji is for naughtiness (more like suggestive) and the frowning Emoji for mischievousness (more like malice).

😘😗😙😚 – Romance and affection.

🙈🙉🙊 – Used for embarrassment, shock or something cheeky.

💩 – Humor or criticism.

❤💔 – The whole heart is used for friendship, fondness or romance. The broken heart is used for extreme sadness or for irony.

👍👎👌🙏🙌✌🤙 – As per the order of the Emojis- acceptance, disagreement, okay sign, used as a thank you (appreciation) or for prayer, support or appreciation, victory sign, call me or hang loose.

🙏 – Thank you, prayer or pleading.

🤗👐 – Hugging, friendliness and openness.

💫 – Shooting star or dizziness.

🔥 – Lit or hot.

😬 – Grimace or awkward grin.

💓💗 – Falling in love or having butterflies.

🖤💛💚💜💙 – Black is for dark humor, yellow is for friendship, green is for jealousy or healthy living, purple is for love or compassion, blue symbolises Autism Awareness and stands for harmony, peace and loyalty.

💯 – Approval, or an Emoji version of “keep it real” or “keep it 100”.

💀 – Dead tired, or something so funny it could kill you from laughter.

👽 – Weird behavior or something out of this world.

🤯 – Mind blown.

🥺 – Pleading face or asking for a favor.

😢😭 – The first Emoji is of strong hurt and pain. The second Emoji is an extended version of the first, with being in pain, being upset and sad- can be used ironically.

🤨🧐🤔 – Scepticism, doubt or disapproval.

😨😰😱 – Different levels of being scared to completely terrified- but can be used ironically as well.

😕😖 – Confusion, awkwardness and as an apology (i.e., for cancelling plans).

😠😡 – Different levels of anger and pouting.

🌬 – Wind, fog, smoke and mother nature.

💨 – Fast movement or a gust of air.

In addition to the everyday emojis listed above, there are specific emojis for different holidays, special observances, and events. Here’s a summary of the most commonly used seasonal emojis.

🎂 – Birthday

🛍 – Black Friday

🐉 – Chinese New Year

🎅 – Christmas

🕯  – Diwali

🐰 – Easter

🍂 – Fall / Autumn

👨 – Father’s Day

💪 – Festivus

🎓 – Graduation

🎃 – Halloween

🕎 – Hanukkah

🕉 – Holi

👩 – Mother’s Day

🎊 – New Year’s Eve

🏊 – Summer Olympics

🏳️‍🌈 – Pride

👑 – Queen’s Birthday

☪ – Ramadan

🌱 – Spring

☘ – St Patrick’s Day

☀ – Summer

🏈 – Super Bowl

🦃 – Thanksgiving

💘 – Valentine’s Day

👰 – Wedding / Marriage

Have you ever received a text from someone and for the life of you, you couldn’t figure out what your text buddy was trying to say? I know, it happens to me all the time. Well here is a text symbol dictionary to keep you on top of the latest texting lingo. I know, you’re welcome. Thank me later! LOL

TEXT MEANING

#:-) Smiling with a fur hat

%- ) Confused or merry

%-( Confused and unhappy

%-} Intoxicated

%-6 Not very clever

&:-) Smiling with curls

(-: Smiling

(:-) Smiling with helmet

(:::X:::) Plaster /Elastoplast

******@* Cenitpede wearing a sombrero

*<|:o)> Santa Claus

/: – | Unamused, mildly cross

/\(00)/\ Spider

: – )… Drooling

: – 7 Smirk

: – D Grinning

:’ ) Happy and crying

: @ Shouting

:-# Razes

:( Sad, without nose

:’-( Crying

:-( Sad

:-( ) Shocked

:-(0) Shouting

:) Smiling without a nose

:-) Smiling

-:-) Punk

:-)= Smiling with a beard

:-)8 Smiling with bow tie

:-* Bitter

:-* Kiss

:-? Smoking a pipe

:-\ Sceptical

:^) Broken nose

:-{) With a moustache

:-{} Lip stick

:-| Determined

:-|/:-I No face/poker face

:-|| Angry

:-~) Having a cold

:’-( Crying

:’-D Crying with laughter

:-< Cheated

:-<> Surprised

:=) Two noses

:-0 hbtu 0-: Happy birthday to you

:-9 Salivating

:-c Unhappy

:-D Laugher

:-E Buck-toothed Vampire

:-o Appalled

:-O Wow

:-o zz Bored

:-v Talking

:-w Talking with two tongues

:-x Small Kiss

:-X Biggy sloppy kiss

:-X Not saying a word

;) Twinkle (Wink), without nose

;-) Twinkle (Wink)

@:-) Wearing a turban

@}–\-,— A rose

@WRK At work

[:-) Smiling with walkman

[:] A Robot

{:-) Toupee

{:-) Smiling with hair

|:-[|] Mick Jagger

|-I Sleeping

|-O Snoring

}:-( Toupee blowing in the wind

<:-| Monk / Nun

<|-) Chinese

<3 A love heart =(_8^(1) Homer Simpson =|:-)= Uncle Sam >: – ( Angry, yet sad

>: -| Cross

>:-( Very angry

>:-@! Angry and swearing

>@@@@8^) Marge Simpson

><:> A Turkey

>>: -) A Klingon

>8-D Evil crazed laughter

2bctnd To be continued

2d4 To die for

2g4u To good for you

2Ht2Hndl Too hot to handle

2l8 too late

2WIMC To whom it may concern

4e Forever

4yeo For your eyes only

5:-) Elvis Presley

7K Sick

8-) Smiling with glasses

8:-) Glasses on head

8:] A Gorilla

A3 Anytime, Anywhere, Anyplace

AAM As a matter of fact.

AB Ah Bless!

ADctd2uv Addicted to Love

AFAIK As Far As I Know

AFK Away From Keyboard

AKA Also known as

ALlWansU All I want is You

AML All my love

ASAP As Soon As Possible

ASL Age, Sex, Location

ATB All the best

ATK At the keyboard

ATM At the moment

ATW At the weekend

AWHFY Are we having fun yet

B-) Sunglasses

B:-) Sunglasses on head

B4 Before

B4N Bye For Now

BAK Back At Keyboard

BBL Be Back Later

BBS Be Back Soon

BBSD Be back soon darling

BCNU Be seein’ you

BF Boy Friend

BFN/B4N Bye For Now

BGWM Be gentle with me

BRB Be Right Back

BRT Be Right There

BTW By The Way

C|:-) Smiling with top hat

c|B-) Ali G

Cld9? Cloud 9?

Cm Call me

CU See You

CUIMD See you in my dreams

Cul See you later

CUL8R See you later

CYA See You

d:-) Smiling with cap

DK Don’t know

DUR? Do you remember

E2EG Ear to ear grin

EOD End of discussion

EOL End of lecture

F? Friends

F2F Face to face

F2T Free to talk

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions

FC Fingers Crossed

FITB Fill in the Blank

FWIW For What It’s Worth

FYA For your amusement

FYEO For your eyes only

FYI For Your Information

G9 Genius

GAL Get A Life

GF Girlfirend

GG Good Game

GMTA Great minds think alike

GR8 Great

GSOH Good Salary, Own Home / Good Sense of Humour

GTSY Glad to see you

H&K Hugs and Kisses

H2CUS Hope to see you soon

H8 Hate

HAGN Have a good night

HAND Have a nice day

IC I See

ICQ I Seek you

IDK I dont know

IIRC If I recall correctly

ILU I love you

IMBL It must be Love

IMFL I’m Falling in Love

IMHO In my honest/humble opinion

IMI I mean it

IMO In my opinion

IOW In other words…

IRL In real life

IUSS If you say so

J4F Just for fun

JFK Just for kicks

KC Keep cool

KHUF Know how you feel

KISS Keep it simple, stupid

KIT Keep in touch

KOTC Kiss on the cheek

KOTL Kiss on the lips

L8 Late

L8r Later

LDR Long distance relationship

LMAO Laugh my ass off

LOL Laughing out loud

LTNC Long time no see

M8 Mate

MC Merry Christmas

MGB May God Bless

MOB Mobile

MTE My thoughts exactly

MYOB Mind your own business

NA No access

NC No comment

NE Any

NE1 Anyone

NO1 No-One

NRN No Reply Necessary

NWO No way out

O :-) An angel

O4U Only for you

OIC Oh, I see

OTOH On the other hand

OU I owe you

PCM Please call me

PITA Pain the the ass copyright hubmaker

PPL People

PRT Party

PRW Parents Are Watching

QPSA? Que Pasa?

QT Cutie

R Are

RMB Ring my Bell

ROFL Rolling On The Floor Laughing

ROFLOL Rolling On The Floor Laughing Out Loud

ROTFLMAO Rolling On The Floor Laughing My Ass Off

RU? Are you?

RUOK? Are you Ok?

SC Stay cool

SETE Smiling Ear to Ear

SK8 Skate

SME1 Some One

SO Significant Other

SOL Sooner or later

SRY Sorry

STATS Your sex and age

SWALK Sent/Sealed with a loving Kiss

SWG Scientific Wild Guess

T+ Think positive

T2Go Time to Go

T2ul Talk to you later

TDTU Totally devoted to you

THX Thank You

THX40 Thanks for nothing!

TIC Tongue in cheek

TMIY Take me I’m yours

TTFN Ta-Ta For Now!

TTYL Talk To You Later

U You

U2 You Too

U4E Yours For Ever

UR You are

URT1 Your are the one

W4u Waiting for you

W8 Wait…

WAG Wild ass guess

WAN2 Want to

WB Welcome Back

WLUMRyMe Will you marry Me?

WRT With respect to

WTF What the f…

WTG Way to go!

WUF Where are you from?

WUWH Wish you were here

X Kiss

X! Typical Woman

Y! Typical Man

YBS You’ll be Sorry

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Find meanings of the acronyms and short forms used while messaging from the following texting symbols list. This will help you enjoy texting and decipher the various symbols send to you through messages.

Many times we hear a new word and rush to refer a dictionary for its meaning. With new words added to the language every other day, its hard to keep a track of their meanings. Thus, a dictionary proves to be a life saver. With the form of communication changing every other day, we are becoming more and more addicted to texting.

This is a new form of communication that is also called a Short Text Messages (SMS). We need to use our mobile phone to send out instant messages to our friends. Along with texting, we are also addicted to online chats. So, if you are an avid texter or instant messaging user, you must have come across many texting abbreviations.

What’s more? You can even sent some symbols that symbolize a word. What do these abbreviations, acronyms and short forms stand for? Which dictionary should you refer to decipher the code behind these text message symbols? This is where we will come to your help. You can refer to the following texting symbols list as a dictionary to help solve your confusion behind the various acronyms and abbreviations.

There are many people who are new to texting and chatting online. These people find it very daunting when they receive a text message that contains smiley faces. They cannot decipher the meanings especially when one types in :^{ or :(#). It even becomes more embarrassing to ask for their meanings as it implies one is not up-to-date with the latest developments in technologically cool languages. One need not worry too much any more. This Techspirited article will cover some of the most commonly used symbols used for texting as well as chatting.

It is very easy to understand the texting symbols. When you are sent a message with the alphabet ‘Y’, it just stands for the word ‘why’. When someone messages ‘U8?’, they actually mean did you eat? The ‘U’ stands for you and ‘8’ stands for ate. If you get a symbol like :'( it just means the person is crying. The symbol <3 stands for heart. Vowels in the spellings are usually omitted as it helps in minimizing the number of key strokes. For example, ‘btwn’ stands for between and ‘hndsm’ stands for handsome.

This is how you need to uncover the meaning of the texting symbols or the emoticons as they are called that you receives. However, if you have any difficulty, you can refer to the following texting symbols list.

Addicted to Facebook chat? Then make you chats interesting by using the following texting symbols for Facebook.

The following table contains some common texting symbols for love. Send these love codes to a special someone and send across your feelings to them quickly.

The following is a list of commonly used text message abbreviation list. Go through the list to find out what do the acronyms for certain words mean. You can read more on text message abbreviations.

You can use the above texting symbols for iPhone as well. Hope, the above texting symbols list helps you to understand and send some cool abbreviations while texting and save your time when messaging.