5 dumb slang terms on the web that surely won’t stand the test of time

April 19, 2021
by Gymglish

One constant on the World Wide Web is the mountain of Internet slang, abbreviations, acronyms and expressions online that separate the boomers from the millennials.

Because we’re caring people, we’ve prepared a list of the most ephemeral, disposable and most trivial expressions à la mode in the chat rooms. 

Without further ado, Gymglish has come up with the following five dumb, yet essential Internet slang we hope will disappear along with COVID-19.

LMFAO

The first term on our list is a real side-splitter. LMFAO stands for “Laughing My F**cking A** Off”. Medically, this is a serious concern and should be addressed by a doctor. The term is of course NSFW (Not Safe For Work) but an English expert such as yourself will have probably guessed that already.

Safer acronyms: LMAO (Laughing My A** Off), LMBO (Laughing My Butt Off) and ROFL (Rolling On the Floor Laughing).

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BAE

Have you found the person that you want to be with “Before Anyone Else”? Neither have we, and again, WTF*?! On its Wikipedia page, “bae” (pronounced “bay”) can either mean “before anyone else”, “before all else” or be an abbreviation of the word “babe”. The term originated around 2010 and has achieved widespread usage since, particularly among young people, and more ironically among the olds.

*WTF: stands for “What The F***”

Useful tip: Variant forms of “bae” have recently emerged: you can be “baeless” or “baeful” and can even achieve “baeness” or “baedom”. We are truly #blessed to witness this evolution of language.

YOLO

This next acronym is a millennium attitude in its own right. YOLO stands for “You Only Live Once” and quite frankly we’re not in a position to say otherwise, although our cats beg to differ. One could hypothetically use such an abbreviation as a call for doing something exciting or risky, as after all, life is short, live your best life, you can sleep when you’re dead, etc. Warning: in the midst of all this YOLOing, don’t forget to complete your daily online English lesson.

Note: this term is essentially the Millennial “Carpe Diem”, but probably less frequently tattooed on people’s lower backs.

FTW

Frying those walnuts? Fondling that waistcoat? Firing that walrus? Not even close. FTW actually means “For The Win,” and that’s enough to leave the average adult puzzled. Truth be told, FTW can be used in countless situations in the online world, and the probability that you’ve seen this term floating around somewhere on the Internet is high.

This slang expression enthusiastically conveys something is excellent or will succeed. The usage of its antonym “epic fail” – basically a complete and utter failure – has also skyrocketed.

Did you know? The acronym FTW originated on the television show Hollywood Squares.

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SMH

If shaking your head in disbelief is part of your morning routine, this next term should be to your liking. The initialism – which translates as “Shake My Head” – is used to express a feeling of bemused incredulity, as if you can’t believe something, or find it shocking or silly. Feel free to also use the facepalm emoji, a symbol of disapproval or frustration. 

Note: the thought of you missing your daily Gymglish lesson will no doubt elicit some major SMHs on our part. 

Bonus: IKR

We’re on the brink of a linguistic burnout, but still here we are, serving up some irrelevant acronyms we wouldn’t dare use on a non-digital platform.

However, we will persist with a bonus term. Should you wholeheartedly agree with something someone is saying somewhere somehow, then feel free to serve up the abbreviation IKR (“I Know Right?”).


Want to delve deep into useful everyday English? Check out our online English course Gymglish for free for seven days, it’s mostly SFW, but sometimes NSFW. YOLO, y’all.


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