How do you find out what all the abbreviations on Mumsnet mean?

[MarvinGerard]

Hi!

AIBU, AMA, ExH… others I’ve already forgotten! This place seems to be full of abbreviations which everyone understands but it’s all new to me. Is there a guide somewhere to help me decode the common ones?

thank you!

Confusing, isn’t it?!

there’s a list here :)

www.mumsnet.com/i/acronyms

Amazing! Thank you :heart:

What does AMA mean?

AMA = Ask Me Anything

Usually along the lines of "I'm a funeral director AMA"

Of course there is no way to know whether the poster actually is a funeral director (other professions are available)

Thank you!! I probably could have worked that one out if I thought about it, so sorry for being lazy @😀

I’d better just join in some threads and work it out as I go. Thank you both for being helpful 👏

You're not being lazy - some of the acronyms can be baffling, and some people just make up their own as they go along!

A lot of them are fairly common across the internet. I don't use Reddit but I gather AMA is a popular theme over there. AIBU is very specific to MN (Mumsnet). I'm not keen on DH, DMIL and so on, especially as the OP (opening post(er) ) often doesn't seem to feel warmly towards these people, so calling them D for Dear or Darling is often a bit jarring! Also, DD can be Dear Daughter or Dear Dad, DS can mean Dear Sister or Dear Son, DF can mean Dear Friend or Dear Fiance or Dear Father, BF can be Best Friend or Boy Friend, so lots of scope for confusion.

Some useful ones used on all sorts of sites which I like are IMO (In my opinion, a more honest one than IMHO, which is in my humble opinion, and the humble is rarely sincere ), IIRC (if I recall correctly) and AFAIK (as far as I know).

Thanks all. I’m finding it all a bit inpenetrable to be honest. The acronyms guide linked to above only seems to cover a small proportion of the ones I see cropping up on the threads I’ve read today. No doubt @Itwasntevenblackpudding is right and people are just making them up on the fly!

Which ones are you struggling with?

It's MAMAL that always gets me

Oh it's MAMIL apparently

Middle aged man in Lycra or leather.

No wonder I didn't get it! Thanks @ErrolTheDragon

LTB - leave the bastard
OP - opening post or opening poster
RTFT - read the full thread (other words starting with f are available)
FFS - for fucksake
MNHQ - Mumsnet Headquarters

HTH = hope that helps (usually always used sarcastically)

ODFOD = Oh do fuck off dear

STBXH = soon to be ex husband

PFB = precious first born

PBP = previously banned poster

CF = cheeky fucker

SHL = shit hot lawyer

As pointed out upthread it can get confusing when the post is garbled in the first place, people are trying to change details to remain anonymous and then mix up their DDs and DSs.

Context is everything. Stick with it, you'll get there. Or just ask on the specific thread. Someone will usually come back with a quick response (and you will realise that loads of other people were wondering the same).

One thing to be aware of, you'll often see people doing @MNHQ in the mistaken belief it sends them a message. Unless they've changed things recently, it doesn't.