Those using the abbreviations do so as a tactic for speed in text communication, a university professor on linguistics said, while others just choose to do so because they are a code that older people don’t quite understand.

WeAreSocial.com.au managing director Julian Ward said the various different shortcuts, which range from the the compassionate ILY (I Love You) to the more profain WTF (What the F***) are commonplace now and indicate the changing way people harness social media.

Using social listening tools, WeAreSocial.com.au monitored trending terms used by Australians on Twitter from April 1 to June 30.

The top ranking term was, LOL which was used a total of 1,242,935.

‘We can see a range of clever to practical acronyms as people look for speed and limited thumb work – plus of course it feels good to be in the know, especially on more subversive terms,’ Mr Ward said.

2. OMG: Oh my god
3. ILY: I love you
4. LMAO: Laughing my a** off
5. WTF: What the f***?
6. PPL: People
7. IDK: I don’t know?
8. TBH: To be honest
9. BTW: By the way
10. THX: Thanks
11. SMH: Shaking my head
12. FFS: For f***’s  sake
13. AMA: Ask me anything
14. FML: F*** my life
15. TBT: Throwback Thursday
16. JK: Just kidding
17. IMO: In my opinion
18. YOLO: You only live once
19. ROFL: Rolling on the floor laughing
20. MCM: Mancrush Monday
21. IKR: I know right?
22. FYI: For your information
23. BRB: Be right back
24. GG: Good game
25.IDC: I don’t care
26. TGIF: Thank God it’s Friday
27. NSFW: Not safe for work
28. ICYMI: In case you missed it
29. STFU: Shut the f***  up
30. WCW: Womancrush Wednesday
31. IRL: In real life Read More…