All of the bookish abbreviations and terminology I could think of. Please let me know of any I missed! I hope this helps someone.
AA= African American romance (can also be Amazon Affiliate, Alcoholics Anonymous and Ana’s Attic, possibly Asian American as well.)
A/B/O – fictional universe where gender roles are dependent upon each character’s Alpha, Beta, or Omega characteristics (see also: Omegaverse).
ACOTAR= A Court of Thorns & Roses
AE=Audible Escape (no longer available)
Affiliate or Associate= when a link leads to a store that pays a tiny finder fee per click (I am an Amazon affiliate)
ALC= Advanced Listening Copy – An advanced copy of an audiobook for the purposes of review.
ARC=Advanced Reading/Review Copy (usually provided by author or publisher)
AWWM=Asian Woman/White Man
BDE= Big Dick Energy
BDSM= BD=Bondage and Discipline, D/s=Domination/submission, SM=Sadism and Masochism
BIPOC=Black, Indigenous and People of Color
Black Cat= A grumpy female MC. Often goes with a Golden Retriever male for reverse grumpy/sunshine
BOB=Battery Operated Boyfriend (sex toy)
BB or BBF=Book Boyfriend
BBW=Big Beautiful Woman
BWWM=Black woman, white male
Cinnamon Roll= A sweet, nice guy
Cliffie= Cliffhanger
Closed Door=No explicit sex scenes
CNC = Consensual Non-Consent. A mutual agreement between partners to be able to act as if sexual consent has been waived.
Coho= Colleen Hoover
CR= Current Read
CW= Content Warning
Daphne= A female character who has to be rescued all the time (in reference to Daphne from Scooby Doo)
DILF=Dad I’d Like To Fuck
DNF=Did Not Finish
DP= Double Penetration (one in front and one in back)
Dub-Con= Dubious Consent
DVP=Double Vag Penetration (2 at the same time) (Also TVP)
D/s=Just the Domination and Submission part. Pain and bondage is not necessarily a part of it.
DYWMTCOAEYPTYCOMF= Do you want me to come over and eat your pussy till you come on my face.
Easter Egg= A little surprise, usually a cameo of another character in a book.
ETL or E2L= Enemies-to-lovers
ff=Fan Fiction
f/f=female/female
FMC=Female Main Character
FTB= Fade to Black
FWB=Friends with Benefits
GOAT= Greatest Of All Time
Golden Retriever= A friendly, playful, loyal guy
GNO=Girls’ Night Out
G/S=Grumpy/Sunshine
GS vs STA= Good Shit vs Shit To Avoid
H/h=Hero/heroine
HEA=Happily Ever After
HFN=Happy for Now
IR=Interracial romance
ISO= In Search Of
JLA= Jennifer Lynn Armentrout
J/P=Jealous Possessive Also J/P/O= Jealous/Possesive/Obsessive
KA= Kick Ass or Kristen Ashley
KU=Kindle Unlimited
LGBTQ+=Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer LGBTQIA2S+ adds Intersex, Asexual, and 2 spirits
LMSYCUYCDMT= Let me suck your cock until you come down my throat
LMSYDTYNIMM= Let me suck your dick till you nut in my mouth
Love Triangle= When the main character can’t decide between two romantic partners
Manic Pixie Dream Girl= quirky and vivacious, she makes the male appreciate life more
Mary Sue= A character who is too perfect and/or too good (which, originated from a Star Trek parody story).
MC=Motorcycle Club or Main Character
MFM=menage usually with straight men
MILF=Mother I’d Like to Fuck
MM or M/M=male/male
MMF=menage with bi men
Mood Reader/Free Range= Someone who typically picks up a book based on their current mood or just picks up whatever they feel like in the momen
NA=New Adult (characters between 17 and 23, slightly more tame sex)
NBR=Not Book Related
Non-Con= Non Consent
NSFW=Not Safe For Work
OM= Other Man
OMD=Other Man Drama
ONS=One Night Stand
OOP= Out of Print
Open Door=Explicit Sex Scenes
OTP= One True Pairing
OTT=Over The Top
OW= Other Woman
OWD= Other Woman Drama
Own Voices= When someone is writing from experience (ie; A Native American writing about Native Americans)
Omegaverse= fictional universe where gender roles are dependent upon each character’s Alpha, Beta, or Omega characteristics
OMYM= Older Man Younger Woman
PI= Pseudo-Incest which means a romantic relationship between stepsiblings or a stepparent and stepchild, but no one is biologically related.
PNR=Paranormal Romance
POC=Person of Color
POV=Point of view
PWP= Plot-What-Plot, otherwise known as smut fiction or pure erotica. BUT, I have also seen it as Porn With Plot!
PWOP=Porn Without Plot
RH= Reverse Harem (aka why choose)
RTC= Review to come
RTD= Readers Take Denver, a fiasco of a book convention in 2024
SA= Standalone
Ship= If you ship a couple, it means that you want them to get together (comes from the word “relationship”)
SJM= Sarah J. Mass
STFUATTDLAGG= Shut the fuck up and take that dick like a good girl.
T= If you see the T on its own, that means it contains “Taboo” content.
TT=TikTok
TBR=To Be Read (usually a list)
TBH=To Be Honest
TJR= Taylor Jenkins Reid
TLDR=Too Long (or Lazy) Didn’t Read
TMDLAGG= Take My Dick Like A Good Girl
TSTL= Too stupid to live
TVP= Triple Vag Penetration (at the same time. See also DVP)
TW= Trigger Warning
UF=Urban Fantasy
UNALIVE=Dead or Unalive someone is to kill
UST=Unresolved Sexual Tension
Why Choose=Multiple male partners aka RH=Reverse Harem
WIP= Work in progress
WWBM=White woman, black male
XX=Nonbinary/Nonbinary Romance
YA=Young Adult (teen)
YMMV= Your Milage May Vary
Denise Krauth says
You forgot TBR to be read?
Claire Bowman says
NSFW – it took me ages to get this :p not safe for work I think?
Ana's Attic says
Great one!
Ana's Attic says
Yes! And duh…TBR is why I created this! LOL
Shawna Hembree says
It took me forever to realize that your MC meant things with motorcycles. Keep on Keeping on.
Ana's Attic says
Great! I added it and a few more!
Denise says
Love this!!
Ana says
BBW
Ana says
Oops! Just saw it!
Ana says
By the way, great idea to make a list!
Ana's Attic says
Thanks!
lori moore says
FMN. Fuck me now
JS says
Perfect! I’ve actually been meaning to suggest this one to you-
TMA – Too Much Angst
Thoughts?
Ana's Attic says
I like it, but I don’t want to make up my own lol
Shannon says
Love this!!! Thanks!
LisaLisa AKA Italian Hellian says
thank god you wrote this book glossary thing. There were some I just couldnt figure out what the fuck they were. New Adult: OK so wheres the “mid aged adult” you know..where they all look like and were the age of Joe Manganiello (omg I could like him from head to toe-hell I’d even lick the lint out of his belly button..). OK wait, I got a little over excited about my lover Joe..sweet penis on a stick he’s hot…ok ok seriously. ANYWAYS! Thanks for taking the time to write these. OK now I need to go surf pics of Joe….toodles!
Ana's Attic says
I love you…and I agree, I like some older heroine books too!
Shandra Torbett says
LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgendered content
T: If you see the T on its own, that means it contains “Taboo” content.
PWP: Plot-What-Plot, otherwise known as smut fiction or pure erotica
PI: Pseudo-Incest which means a romantic relationship between stepsiblings or a stepparent and stepchild, but no one is biologically related.
BDSM can also stand for Master/slave which is a different genre than D/s since a Dom can mean someone who holds power over another person who is willingly submissive to them while a Master/slave relationship implies one person has been given total ownership of the other; there is much less give and take in those relationships and they are geared toward a very specific audience.
I could give you a whole list of nothing but erotica terms. LOL! (Laughing Out Loud. HAH.) I love linguistics. I find it fascinating that every culture has its own language and being a bookie is definitely being a part of a particular internet subculture.
Ana's Attic says
These are great! I can’t believe I left off LGBT
Lorenet says
How about TSTL? To stupid to live.
Shermaine Dowling says
There’s a new one I’ve been seeing and just can’t figure it out. MILF I’m sure I’m gonna be embarrassed when I see what it means! Thanks for these!
Susan says
Mom I’d like to fuck
Millie says
I’ve wondered about that one too. Knew it would be something like that, why am I still a little startled??
As a side note: Is anyone else a little sad that in-your-face “bad words” (words I myself say if I smash my thumb with a hammer or something but instinctively wouldn’t say in company) are now in pop songs, etc.? That the grosser something is or the more censured a word or behavior is, the more gleeful some are to get it out there? Because, honestly, after the first shock factor – it’s boring. And we just have a courser society in general, waiting for the next taboo line to cross.
Fascinatingly, I’ve observed a section of young people- leaders in their peer groups- quietly turning away. Shocking is just boring. This will be fun to watch over next twenty or so years.
Shirley Carpenter says
What does BWW mean?
Ana's Attic says
I don’t think it’s a thing. BBW is Big, Beautiful Woman.
Jean says
What does FUN mean?
Ana's Attic says
The only thing I could find references the spongebob song “F is for friends who do stuff together
U is for you and me
N is for anywhere and anytime at all”
If anyone else knows please comment!
J says
What does AWWM mean please?
Ana's Attic says
Asian Woman/White Man
Amber D says
Great post! Most of these I knew.
What about “AA”? I ran across it in an interracial romance group, but after some searching, I can’t figure out what it means.
Thanks!
Ana's Attic says
It’s Asian American from what I can find. Adding it now!
Ana's Attic says
And I am wrong, it’s African American.
Lizzy Finn says
THANK YOU FOR THIS!!! Fabulous list! I keep seeing ’s??? Anyone know what that’s about?
Lizzy Finn says
Hmm it seems to have disappeared. Now I’m even more curious-confused. What is & r s q u o ; s ( I added spaces)
Ana's Attic says
It’s HTML code for an apostrophe. It’s not something you should see on a website.
Sherry says
Thanks. Very insightful n informative.
Lauren says
Thanks for this list! Can you tell me what ddlg means please?
Ana's Attic says
Daddy Dom/little girl. Good one!