Hey, we all love a good LOL or BRB in our texts, right? But according to a new study, it might be time to hit the brakes on those abbreviations. Research from the American Psychological Association says if you want to come across as more genuine — and actually get more responses to your texts — spelling out your words is the way to go.
Here’s the scoop: researchers analyzed thousands of texts from Discord and Tinder users across 37 countries (yes, Tinder — apparently love and linguistics are global). They thought abbreviations might make things feel more casual and close, but nope! The results showed that people who use shortcuts like LOL or TTYL are often seen as less sincere because they seem like they’re putting in less effort.
And here’s the kicker: those “lazy texters” got fewer responses, shorter replies, and were less likely to score a follow-up or someone’s contact info. Even Gen Z, the kings and queens of text slang, weren’t thrilled about getting those abbreviations in their chats.
The takeaway? Spell it out! Otherwise, you might not get a response — and they definitely won’t TTYL.
(And don’t even get me started on people making up their own abbreviations. PPUSLD? “Please Pick Up Some Lasagna”? Come on!)
