Yes. Here are some common ones in my native language, danish:
- pga: på grund af (because of)
- dvs: det vil sige (used for adding additional explaination)
- ift: i forhold til (in relation to)
I’m certain there are also some more modern slang abbreviations in use, but these change relatively frequently, like they do in English.
Is there also an abbreviation similar to Swedish m.v.h. (med vänliga hälsningar) or German MfG (Mit freundlichen Grüßen)?
Those are official abbreviations that can be found in a dictionary.
The ones OP posted aren’t all official. TBH and SMH are official. IMO is internet slang.
There’s not a lot of consensus on internet slang abbreviations in Danish. It was more common back in the texting days, when all girls would end their messages with an S for “smiling”, SS for “smiling sweetly”, or KKK for “hugs hugs and kisses”.
Someone once made an index: https://www.telemarkedet.dk/sms-ordbog-sms-sprogets-forkortelser
I remember this GG ^^
And then you gotta type your smiley faces with a nose :-D
Question from a curious mountainmonkey: We have the same phrases and abbreviations up here, and is Danish equally as subject to people abusing “I forhold til” when they actually mean “I forbindelse med” or “med tanke på” ?
I speak Dutch, reading Danish is a trip. Dat wil zeggen -> det vil sige. And yes we use dwz.
We use plenty of abbreviations like that too. Like aub for alstublieft. Meaning please, or more literally if you would be so inclined.
Back in the 90s when I lived in Amsterdam, I also saw svp (which is actually French) used often instead of aub. I never understood why though.
Also, ff wachten for example. ff is short for effe, or rather “even”. Just wanted to throw that one into the mix.
Edit: alstublieft is also a short version of “als het uw blieft”
Assuming you mean texting style acronyms, yeah, we have them in German and I’d assume in other languages too.
Alongside the stuff borrowed from English 1:1, there’s stuff like bb for “Bis bald” (See you soon) or hdl for “hab dich lieb” (Love you)
I’d assume other languages do the same out of efficiency or laziness.
I just wanna throw in French‘s s.v.p. for s’il vous plait, “please“, and German’s valediction MfG for Mit freundlichen Grüßen, “with best regards/wishes/greetings”.
The latter is disappearing again I think. It was actually meant as a parody in a very popular 1999 song about German acronymization madness by the rap group Die Fantastischen 4. Somehow people then thought it was okay to use it in adult correspondence.
In Spanish there’s some things like “xq” instead of “por qué/porque” but it was only used in SMS messaging to use less characters. If someone talks to me like that I won’t reply, it just doesn’t have the same vibes as in English.
…which makes me kind of a hypocrite for using “obv” for obviously (obviamente).
For anyone else who is curious but doesn’t already know “por qué” = “because”.
Por que?
Porque.
Por que?!
Porque.
¡Te pregunto quién sale primero!
(I don’t know spanish)
A few more in case anyone is interested:
- Tkm Te quiero mucho, I love you
- Ntp No te preocupes, don’t worry
- Tlj Te lo juro, I swear (to you)
- Cdt Cuídate, take care (of yourself)
- Tki Tengo que irme, I gotta go
Spanish bases its texting slang around phonetics, instead of the English way of the first letter of the word
I don’t speak French natively but I happen to know their version of lol is “mdr”, short for mort de rire (dying of laughter)
