Spanish Cell Phone and Social Media Abbreviations and Vocabulary

Do you want to send cellphone text messages to your Spanish-speaking friends? Or communicate with them on Facebook or other social media (known as medios sociales in Spanish)? You'll find it easy with this texting and social media abbreviation glossary.

Sending messages in Spanish can pose a challenge in typing accented letters and Spanish punctuation, as the method isn't always intuitive and varies with the software. But that hasn't prevented cellphone chat — technically known in both English and Spanish as SMS (for Short Message Service) — from becoming useful for Spanish speakers worldwide. The term is common in Spanish, where SMS is pronounced as would be esemese.

Phone Texting Abbreviations

Cellphone abbreviations are far from standardized, but here are some of them you may come across or want to try using yourself.

100pre — siempre — always
a10 — adiós — goodbye
a2 — adiós — goodbye
ac — hace — (form of hacer)
aki — aquí — here
amr — amor — love
aora — ahora — now
asdc — al salir de clase — after class
asias — gracias — thanks
b — bien — well, good
bb — bebé — baby
bbr — bbr — to drink
bs, bss — besos — kisses
bye — adiós — goodbye
b7s — besitos — kisses
c — sé, se — I know; (reflexive pronoun)
cam — cámara — camera
cdo — cuando — when
chao, chau — adiós — goodbye
d — de — from, of
d2 — dedos — fingers
dcr — decir — to say
dew, dw — adiós — goodbye
dfcl — difícil — difficult
dim — dime — tell me
dnd — dónde — where
ems — hemos — We have
ers — eres tú — you are, are you
ers2 — eres tú — are you
exo — hecho — act
eys — ellos — they

inde — fin de semana — weekend
fsta — fiesta — party
grrr — enfadado — angry
hl — hasta luego — see you later
hla — hola — hello
iwal — igual — equal
k — que, qué — that, what
kbza — cabeza — head
kls — clase — class
km — como — as, like
kntm — cuéntame — tell me
KO — estoy muerto — I'm in big trouble.
kyat — cállate — Shut up.
m1ml — mándame un mensaje luego — Send me a message later.
mim — misión imposible — mission impossible
msj — msnsaje — message
mxo — mucho — a lot
nph — no puedo hablar — I can't talk now.
npn — no pasa nada — nothing's happening
pa — para, padre — for, father
pco — poco — a little
pdt — piérdete — get lost
pf — por favor — please
pls — por favor — please
pq — porque, porqué — because, why
q — que — that, what
q acs? — ¿Qué haces? — What are you doing?
qand, qando — cuando, cuándo — when
qdms — quedamos — we're staying
q plomo! — ¡Qué plomo! — What a drag!
q qrs? — ¿Qué quieres? — What do you want?
q risa! — ¡Qué risa! — What a laugh!
q sea — qué sea — whatever
q tal? — qué tal — What's happening?
salu2 — saludos — hello, goodbye
sbs? — ¿sabes? — Do you know?
sms — mensaje — message
spro — espero — I hope
t — te — you (as object pronoun)
tas OK? — ¿Estás bien? — Are you OK?
tb — también — also
tq — te quiero — I love you
tqi — tengo que irme — I have to leave
uni — universidad — university, college
vns? — ¿Vienes? — Are you coming?
vos — vosotros — you (plural)
wpa — ¡Guapa! — Sweet!
xdon — perdón — sorry
xfa — por favor — please
xo — pero — but
xq — porque, porqué — because, why
ymam, ymm — llámame — call me
zzz — dormir — sleeping
+ — más — more
:) — feliz, alegre — happy
:( — triste — sad
+o- — más o menos — more or less
- — menos — less
:p — sacar lengua — tongue sticking out
;) — guiño — wink

Many of the messages using a q for que or qué can also be expressed with a k, such as "tki" for "tengo que irme."

A few popular abbreviations for vulgar words aren't included in this list.

Social Media Abbreviations and Vocabulary

Many of the abbreviations above are also commonly used in social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Here are some others that are commonly used:

AHRE, ahre — (origin uncertain) — A word, especially common in Argentina, used to indicate that what has just been said should be understood ironically or as a joke, something like the way the winking symbol can be used

ALV — a la verga — A common insult, cam be considered vulgar

etiqueta — The word for "label," preferred by some for "hashtag"

mensaje directo, mensaje privado — Private message

Vocabulary Related to Text Messaging

Although it's frowned on by purists and isn't in most dictionaries, the verb textear is often used as the equivalent of "to text." It is conjugated as a regular verb. The noun form is a cognate, texto. Another verb derived from English is chatear, to chat.

A text message is a mensaje de texto. To send such as message is enviar un mensaje de texto.

Words for cellphone include teléfono celular or celular, more common in Latin America; and teléfono móvil or móvil, more common in Spain. A smartphone is a teléfono inteligente, although use of the English word, sometimes spelled esmartfón, is frequent.

A messaging app is an aplicación de mensajes or app de mensajes.