Rosy: Hey, how are you?
Ron: Fine, How about you?
Rosy: Alright, I guess.
Ron: Why? What happened?
Ron: Hey, rosy, you there?
Ron: ??
Rosy: Sorry, I was AFK. I’m alright; I’m just worried about tomorrow’s test.
What do you think? Does Ron know what AFK means? If you, too, are looking for AFK meaning, then you have landed in the right place. People use the abbreviated form of many words during online chats. These urban terms are quite new; you may know some of them, while some of them might be quite new.
You can learn about the AFK meaning today.
What Does AFK Mean?
AFK means “away from keyboard.” when someone texts AFK to you, it means that they are away from their keyboard and they will be unavailable for some time. They write AFK to notify the receiver of their text that they won’t be responding to the text for the time being.
When someone texts AFK, they are usually implying that they will be away from their computer for a short and will be unable to take any calls or reply to any urgent emails or texts. It’s purpose is similar to BRB, which is another urban term people use to mean “Be Right Back.” People usually use these short terms during online conversations to say that they are on a short back.
It could be a bathroom break, or they got a little busy with their dog/cat or eating random snacks. AFK can also mean that the person sending that has gone offline entirely or just answering the door. This term is sometimes side-by-side and used with BRB. People are usually right, “BRB AFK.”
Knowing the meaning of AFK will be helpful when you are chatting with your friends and they take a break suddenly, and you start wondering why they are not texting you back. If someone sends you this abbreviation during a conversation, you should better wait for them to get back instead of texting them repeatedly.
AFK Origin
Most of the internet acronyms we used today during chat appeared in IRC chatrooms online. During the 1990s, people used these terms to tell others that they would be temporarily unavailable. This helped them to notify others to stay logged in during their absence.
Back in the 80s or 90s, people could not stay online all the time. However, in today’s time, you can text someone and wait for them to reply at any time. Knowing the AFK meaning was helpful during the 80s and the 90s. It was a polite gesture to help people to know how long they should be online.
However, when instant messengers like Yahoo and AIM came into play, people started to use AFK as a status under their username, meaning that they were busy. As for the legitimate documentation of the acronym, AFK owed its roots in the Urban Dictionary in 2002.
The term has been widely used in the gaming community ever since. So, if your gaming partner sends you AFK, it’s not the right time to start another round.
AFK meaning in Text
Sometimes it can happen that while chatting with your friend on WhatsApp or Instagram, you suddenly remember that there is some urgent work that you need to attend to immediately. It can be anything from having to go to the bathroom to getting a call from work.
In such situations, we don’t usually have a lot of time to explain to our friends why we need to stop the conversation. But it is also rude to leave another person on “read”. So we use AFK which means ‘away from keyboard’ in these situations to let the other person know that we won’t be able to continue the conversation as we will be away from our laptop or phone for a while. We just type AFK in the chat which will hardly take more than 60 seconds and then give all our attention to the urgent work.
If you see that your co-worker’s status has changed from “active” to “AFK” or if your friend sends you an “AFK” while chatting, then instead of wondering AFK meaning in chat, you should put off the conversation for a time that suits you both.
AFK Meaning In Gaming
As you can already expect, the term became more popular with the rise of many multiplayer games. Take World of Warcraft, for example. AFK in gaming is used to say that a player is inactive. If you are playing PUBG or a similar game and the avatar of another player is not moving (frozen) for a few minutes, you can say that the player is AFK.
It is uncool to go AFK in the middle of a game. Gamers know how damaging it can be. When playing team games like DOTA 2 or Overwatch, going AFK might have a damaging consequence for the ongoing match.
Other Meanings Of AFK
This is internet slang popularly used among gamers. However, different AFK meanings are there. But, most of them are made up and are not as popular as “Away From Keyboard.”
- All For Kill (gaming)
- Away From Kitchen
- Anderson, Flesher, and Key
- Absolute Frequency Keying
- Astronomy For Kids
- A Free Kick
- A Free Kill computer game
- Artificial Friendly Killer
- Amazingly Fat Kid
- Absolutely Fearless King
How To Use AFK? Examples
If you are new to this slang, it might be a little difficult to use. Here are some examples to help you use AFK in a sentence –
- I am AFK. Don’t wait.
- Are you gonna be AFK again? We are reconsidering for the last time. If you do the same, you are out in the next match.
- Ron is AFK; we are losing this match too.
- He is AFK, taking a smoke break, I guess.
When not to use AFK
By now you have clearly understood what does AFK mean and when you can use this term. But you also need to remember that AFK is an internet slang term and there are situations when you cannot use this term. Some of these situations are as follows:
- Avoid using AFK when you are talking to your teacher or professor via chat and you need to step away for a while.
- Avoid using AFK during a conversation with your immediate supervisor or manager at work.
- Dont set AFK as an away message for your email before taking few days off for vacation or other purpose.
Instead of AFK or any other abbreviation slang like BRB, let your professor or supervisor know that you need to step away from your phone or laptop for a while to attend to some urgent work.
Final Words
If your gaming partner suddenly goes AFK, the match might be as good as lost. So, if you want to win the game, make sure that your gaming partner won’t go AFK before creating the room. So, that is how you use AFK in a sentence. I hope that you understood the AFK meaning after reading this article.
However, if you are interested in reading this type of topic, you should check out our other articles. Also, please let us know if you liked this article. We like your feedback.
Read Also:
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