Where it sits
It is the shortest absence online. "Right back" is the promise, though it isn't always kept.
Tell it apart
| Aspect | Brb | Afk |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Be right back | Away from keyboard |
| Promise | Back soon | None |
| Typical home | Chat, texts | Games, chat |
Both say you're away from the screen. Brb promises a quick return to the conversation; afk (away from keyboard) just reports your status, often in a game, with no promise about when you'll be back.
What it really means
Brb is three letters of politeness for the live-chat era. It stands for "be right back", and it only makes sense where someone is watching the screen as you type, which was the whole point of the places it came from.
Those places are older than the web. Know Your Meme, and linguist Ben Zimmer writing in Computerworld, both point to a logged chat on an Apple II developers' forum dated 3 January 1989, where at least two users wrote "brb". It turns up in the FidoNews bulletin-board newsletter that May, and by about 1990 it was in the Jargon File, the hackers' own glossary. Through the 1990s it travelled through IRC channels, text-based multiplayer games and AOL chat rooms.
The word is a small promise. You aren't leaving; you're pausing. That's what separates it from ttyl ("talk to you later"), which ends a conversation, and from gaming's afk ("away from keyboard"), which just reports that you've gone.
It still lives wherever conversation is live: games, streams, the chat beside a video call. In ordinary texting, where replies already take minutes, nobody needs to be told. So brb has become a sign that you're in a conversation where people are actually waiting for you.
Where it comes from
be
right
back
A live-chat word: it only makes sense where the other person is watching the screen in real time.
- 3 January 1989
At least two users write "brb" in a logged Apple II Development Forum chat (Know Your Meme; also cited by Ben Zimmer in Computerworld).
- May 1989
Appears in the FidoNews newsletter (Computerworld).
- c. 1990
Listed in the Jargon File, the hacker glossary (Computerworld).
- 1990s
Spreads through IRC, MUD games and AOL chat (Know Your Meme; Computerworld).
In real life
- Text: "brb, someone's at the door"
- Text: "brb grabbing a charger, keep talking"
- Text: "ok brb, need to check the oven"
Questions
Q01What does brb mean?
"Be right back." You type it when you need to step away from a live chat or game for a moment.
Q02How old is brb?
It predates the web. The earliest dated use found so far is a logged Apple II Development Forum chat from 3 January 1989, and it was in the hacker Jargon File by about 1990.
Q03Is brb still used?
Yes, mostly where conversations happen live: games, streams, group calls with chat. In ordinary texting, where replies are already slow, it's less necessary.
Sources
- BRB — Know Your Meme.
- FWIW: The origins of 'net shorthand — Computerworld, 2008.
- brb — Online Etymology Dictionary.