Quelles sont les abréviations informelles courantes en anglais

The most common informal abbreviations in English include “LOL” (laugh out loud), “BRB” (be right back), “OMG” (oh my god), “IDK” (I don’t know), and “BTW” (by the way), which are frequently used in digital communication such as texting and social media. ^{3, 4}

Common Informal Abbreviations

These abbreviations are typically used in casual conversations, especially online, to save time and convey tone efficiently. ^{4, 5}

• LOL: Laugh out loud – used to indicate amusement ³
• BRB: Be right back – signals a temporary absence ³
• OMG: Oh my god – expresses surprise or excitement ³
• IDK: I don’t know – a quick way to express uncertainty ³
• BTW: By the way – introduces an aside or additional point ³

Usage Contexts

Informal abbreviations are prevalent in text messaging, instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, and social media platforms. They originated from early internet culture and mobile texting constraints, where character limits and typing speed encouraged shortened forms. Over time, many have become standardized in everyday digital interaction. ^{5, 4}

Linguistic Characteristics

These forms fall under clippings or initialisms, where phrases are shortened to their first letters or syllables. Unlike formal abbreviations (e.g., “Dr.” for “Doctor”), informal ones are rarely used in written academic or professional contexts due to their colloquial nature. Their meaning often depends on context, and misuse can lead to confusion, especially in translation or cross-cultural communication. ^{6, 7, 9, 10, 5}

Références

• Genres, Contexts, and Literacy Practices: Literacy Brokering Among Sudanese Refugee Families

• De l’expérience informelle à la formalisation d’une discipline :. recherche-action à travers l’expérience du drama en formation de formateurs

• List of abbreviations

• SOME PECULIARITIES OF MODERN ENGLISH ABBREVIATIONS AS DIFFERENT KINDS OF SPEECH ACTS

• The long history of shortening: a diachronic analysis of abbreviation practices from the fifteenth to the twenty-first century

• An Overview of English Dictionaries of Abbreviations

• Categorizing and translating abbreviations and acronyms

• On Translating Technical Terminology: A Translation Workflow for Machine-Translated Acronyms

• Use and translation of abbreviations and acronyms in scientific texts

• Translation of Abbreviations in International Relations (IR)