Are you OOTL on English Abbreviations?

Most people learn English from movies, TV shows,

Amazing English teachers on YouTube! ;)

or talking to friends online.

But this is what causes a lot of confusion.

How do you understand abbreviations in English?

So today I'll teach you the most common English abbreviations that you'll see

online everywhere on Reddit, in emails, in text messages

from your new bestie on Tinder, everywhere.

I'll explain everything in today's English lesson.

In very simple terms, in very easy to understand ways

that even a five year old could understand.

And if you like, when someone explains things

in simple ways that a five year old could understand, you could say, hey,

my brain is like a five year old, please explain it to me like I'm five years old.

You could abbreviate this whole thing to ELI5

or explain like I'm five.

A FAKE!!

Excuse me?

This guy. Sometimes we do missions together. It’s not important.

He messaged me.

AFAIK the bank is empty tonight.

So come at midnight.

Do not be late.

What means -

What DOES AFAIK mean?

Oh, no, it's not “A fake”

It's “AFAIK”

That means “As Far As I Know”, this is when you want to say I don't know.

I'm not 100% sure.

Maybe.

Use it like this.

For example, he asks the question, who is Aly from Papa Teach Me?

She replies, Aly? I don't know everything.

I'm not an expert.

But as far as I know,

Aly from Papa Teach Me is the best English teacher on YouTube.

She won't say the whole sentence she's texting.

She will abbreviate to AFAIK

Aly is the best English teacher on YouTube.

Hey. Sorry I'm late.

- I just got back from seeing family in Japan. - Welcome back.

You have family in Japan?

Yes! I'm literally Japanese.

You did say.

Oh, so we're talking about abbreviations in English.

And actually this is a really good point.

So be careful not to say these abbreviations out loud

IRL = In Real Life.

I know, I just did say that out loud, okay, but 99% of the time

this is just for text communication.

It makes things quicker.

It sounds really cringe if you use these in real conversation.

No one wants to hear you say LOL in response to a joke that sounds awful.

Just laugh like a normal person.

Hahaha! Yeah, see, that's a normal laugh.

But just wait until someone says something funny, okay, bud?

In my country, “LOL” is “KKK”.

Oh, definitely don't say that in English.

Do not write that anywhere in English.

Why?

Google it.

So what Fred said: OOTL this is a great abbreviation.

We use this when we don't understand the full context

or the full story of what someone's talking about.

For example.

Hey, guys.

This is my girlfriend, Tomie

Your girlfriend's name is Tomie!??!!??!

Okay.

Now, these two understand the situation, but.

This guy doesn't know the full story.

He doesn't know the context.

Like, why is this weird?

So he will say.

wait.

I'm out of the loop.

OOTL I'm out of the loop. What?

Who is Tomie?

So the loop is the situation, the story, the context.

And if you are out of the loop, you don't understand

the full story you are OOTL.

but again, very important point.

You don't say in conversation the abbreviation.

You don't say I'm OOTL no.

In a conversation you say the full sentence I'm out of the loop.

I don't understand.

But in text communication

use the abbreviation I'm OOTL

I don't get this reference. I'm out of the loop.

Who is Tomie?

Well, if this

were a text conversation, I might reply with.

If you know, you know.

But abbreviated to IYKYK

If you know, you know.

We use this abbreviation when you want to reference something

that not everyone will know,

will understand, or immediately recognise.

For example, if you reference a character from a manga,

that not everyone has read.

You might shout out the fans by saying

I y k y k in text conversation.

Again, in real life communication, if you know, you know in text online,

I okay, I wait I y k y k.

What's IIRC?

Okay, I posted, Who is Tomie?

And someone replied, “IIRC she's the girl from the manga.”

What's IIRC?

That's a good one.

I see this very often online, if I remember correctly, abbreviated.

“IIRC” this is when you want to say,

I'm not sure. My memory isn't 100%

but I think it's this.

Fred, where did you hear OOTL?

Reddit.

Knock, knock. Hey, Aly

Sorry to interrupt you, everyone.

Oh my God!

What's your name?

I am Ivan

Thank you, Miss Coolidge.

Sure.

I gotta go

Ivan. BRB.

By the way, this and more than 100 other

English lessons are available in my Ultimate English e-book.

You can get it on Papateachme.com.

Or that link just below the video.

Not only this lesson you'll find tons of lessons on pronunciation, vocabulary,

grammar, idioms, phrasal verbs, Whatever you want to study, skip to the lesson.

Learn it. There's even a video with it.

and by the way, as far as I know,

there is nothing better for self-study in English than this e-book.

You'll find lessons featuring cartoons like Becky,

Stella Koala, even the Wish Fairy.

If you know you know.

What is BRB?

It means be right back.

So when you want to leave and then return later,

you will say b, r, b and also this.

You can you can say this one out loud in conversation.

People do all the time, like you're gaming online with friends.

You need to pee, you want to say, “Okay, I'm leaving and then I'm returning”

No

“I need to pee. So, BRB!”

Oh. Okay.

So last night, my girlfriend messaged me.

You have a girlfriend!?

Yes, Fred.

I've seen a boob.

So, BRB: Be Right Back. Okay.

So also, before she went to sleep, she said, “ILY”

What's that?

that's cute.

- That means I love you - Oh.

Oh. That's cute.

Hahaha!

I k r.

So the top comment on this YouTube video says

Aly is the best English teacher on YouTube.

And the top reply says “IKR” what's “IKR”?

Oh this is a great one! “IKR” it means I know right.

This is a great way to agree with someone.

So for example imagine this is a YouTube video okay.

And below the video in the comments someone writes an opinion,

someone else reads that opinion

and says wow, you are 100% correct.

I agree with you.

In a casual non formal way

you could say “IKR” in text communication.

So very commonly in the replies “IKR” I know right, Oh.

That's cool.

Oh, that's a cool idea too.

Like, if we were in a YouTube video right now.

I know right!?

They replied: “BTW...

Are you good for tonight's mission?

What mean?

What does b t w mean?

It means by the way,

so you want to ask something or say something

which is maybe not related to the current conversation.

So you're changing the topic, changing the theme of the conversation.

You will say, by the way, or

BTW in text abbreviation.

By the way, what are you doing tonight?

Okay.

Well, let's look at an example of this.

For example, he is complimenting her hair.

Wow. Really nice hair.

Is that a Dyson- Currently, you're talking about hair, but

he has the attention span of a squirrel,

so he will change the conversation very quickly It looks really nice.

And it really suits you.

Oh, by the way, I saw Sabrina Carpenter in Oxford Circus today.

She is tiny.

You will say the full words if you're speaking formally,

but in casual conversation.

This is okay.

To abbreviate out loud, yeah.

Your hair looks amazing.

BTW! I saw Sabrina Carpenter in Oxford Circus today.

She's this small.

FYI

The security code to the back entrance of the bank is 1234.

What is FYI?

It is not FBI, right?

No, no, it's not like FBI, FYI...

That means, for your information.

So someone's giving you extra information

that maybe you need or you're interested in, like the code

for the back door of a bank that you're going to enter at midnight.

Okay, I'm just going to ask Ivan.

Are you planning on stealing some money tonight?

Maybe some gold, if possible.

And you're just fine telling me this.

Why would you tell me this?

You will not tell anyone.

What why Because for this mission, I need you.

You said you wanted to play D and D me and my friends have a game tonight.

Dungeons and Dragons.

You want me to come play Dungeons and Dragons with you?

Yes, of course I'm inviting you to play Dungeons and Dragons.

What else would I be talking about? My friend.

He works at the bank on the night shift.

He says this stuff.

Breakroom is free at midnight.

You come with me.

We go together, we have awesome adventure.

We go to a tavern, we fight some goblins, we steal their gold.

We slay monsters! Lot of fun!

let's just take a breath.

Maybe next time okay, bud?

no problem.

Your loss.

Okay, time to go before pizza gets cold.

I subscribed your channel.

- Did you see? - Yes. Thanks.

I'll see you in the next class. Bye.