If you are using an iPhone, I am sure that you are using all of its messaging capabilities as well. Thanks to a butter-smooth UI, and optimized performance within the apps, the iPhone is very popular when it comes to building your presence or even interacting, on social media. Coming to messaging, the iPhone consists of a lot of options like iMessage, support for Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger among others, and in this current day and age, people like to use these messengers to communicate with their family, friends, or colleagues, but what’s more, they want to do it fast.
This is where abbreviations come in. Over the years, instant messenger users have developed a sort of language of their own. Using quick abbreviations for rather long phrases, people are now getting their point across in a simple three-letter abbreviation, rather than actually typing out the entire phrase.
Yes, the difference is hardly a few seconds, but their justification here is that each second counts, and if something can be achieved in three seconds instead of ten, what’s the harm. There is no real problem when it comes to using abbreviations in simple messages, but when it comes to formal emails, you need to keep in mind that using full phrases is much better.
Coming to these abbreviations, you may have come across the more common ones like LOL (laughing out loud), BRB (Be Right Back), or even TC (Take Care). Every day, these abbreviations are increasing, and one of the more recent ones is TFW.
TFW stands for ‘That feeling when’ and is used when you want to express a sensation or an experience that you have come across recently, by linking it to a GIF or a popular meme. You will see TFW appear across a lot of platforms, most commonly, more image-oriented platforms like Instagram or even Reddit, but generally speaking, there is no real restriction on using TFW in any platform on the internet today.
As mentioned earlier, make sure you use abbreviations only in general-purpose text messages, and stick to formal language when interacting on a professional level.