It’s no secret that Newfoundland has many terms and phrases that are exclusive to the province. Since SMS texting and messaging apps became the preferred way to communicate, Newfoundlanders have adapted and created their own textspeak as well! In case you’re ever texting with one of us, let’s run through some common abbreviations in Newfoundland texting slang.
Yat
This is derived from the ever-popular Newfinese saying “waddaya at?” / “what are you at?” We’ve already covered that this is a general greeting, quite similar to “what’s up?” or “hello.” As you can probably guess, “yat” is just an ultra-shorted version of “waddaya at?” It’s commonly used at the beginning of a new conversation, usually to find out what the other person is doing at the moment. Plans to get together are probably about to be made when someone uses this Newfoundland texting slang!
otg
This is short for another very common saying in Newfoundland and Labrador, “on the go”. Usually, it refers to plans that you have coming up or that are happening right now. For example, “I have a party otg tonight” means “I’m going to a party tonight”. “I’ve got nothing otg tomorrow” means “I have no plans tomorrow”. “On the go” can also refer to dating. An example of this is “I’m otg with that girl I met last week” meaning “I’m dating that girl I met last week”. We’ll often shorten “on the go” to “otg” when texting!
bk
Short for “best kind” which is used in Newfoundland as a term of acknowledgement or approval, though not exclusively. It can also be a response to “how have you been?” or to conclude a conversation. It’s also commonly heard said twice in a row.
yb
This is a quicker way of saying “yes b’y” which is a commonly used phrase in Newfoundland. Yes b’y can be used to show surprise, acknowledgement, and dismissal. It’s used so much that shortening to just two letters will save you lots of time.
dt
The final Newfoundland texting slang we’re looking at today is “dt”. It’s short for “downtown”! In St. John’s, George Street is often referred to simply as “downtown”, despite it being just one part of the downtown area. When someone asks you if you want to go downtown, you can bet they are asking you to go drinking on George Street! We’ll often simply this even more when texting to just “dt.”
An Example of Newfoundland Texting Slang
It’s very easy to use the three phrases we’ve shown you today in one short conversation! We’ve had quite a few back-and-forths that look very similar to this:
Yat?
I’ve got nothing otg.
Let’s go dt!
More Newfoundland Textspeak
Are there any more abbreviations in texting you’ve seen that are exclusive to NL? Let us know if the comments below!
