Have you ever been scrolling on TikTok (or other social media sites) and seen acronyms or phrases you don’t understand? Then this is for you!

This is based on my personal experience with BookTok and the acronyms/phrases I see most frequently. If you have one I don’t cover, drop it in the comments and I’ll do my best to find out and add it to the list.

Common Acronyms and Abbreviations

General Acronyms

• MC – main character
• MMC – male main character
• FMC – female main character
• YA – young adult
• NA – new adult
• TBR – to be read
• CR – currently reading
• DNF – did not finish
• NRN – did not finish, but intend to
• CW – content warning
• TW – trigger warning
• HEA – happily ever after
• HFN – happy for now
• KU – Kindle Unlimited
• WIP – work in progress
• Canon – confirmed to be apart of the universe
• Headcanon – fan theory of something they want to happen/thinks has happened

Romance Acronyms and Terms

• Ship – relationship, often used to say they want two (or more) characters to get together
• WLW – lesbian romance
• F/F – lesbian romance
• MLM – gay romance
• M/M – gay romance
• PNR – paranormal romance
• OTP – one true pairing (the favorite relationship in the book
• Spice/smut – refers to sex
• FTB – fade to black: when the sex scenes is not written out but implied
• Sword-crossing – when the male love interests have sex with each other as well at the female love interest
• MFM – Male, Female, Male. This acronym implies that there are two male love interest that both get with the female main character, but NO sword-crossing
• MMF – Male, Male, Female. This usually has sword-crossing

Popular Book Titles and Authors

• ACOTAR – A Court of Thorns and Roses
• ACOMAF – A Court of Mist and Fury
• ACOWAR – A Court of Wings and Ruin
• ACOFAS – A Court of Frost and Starlight
• ACOSF – A Court of Silver Flames
• CC – Crescent City
• HOSAB – House of Sky and Breath
• TOG – Throne of Glass
• KOA – Kingdom of Ash
• SJM – Sarah. J. Mass
• FBAA – From Blood and Ash
• JLM – Jennifer L. Armentrout
• SOA – Song of Achilles
• SOC – Six of Crows
• POJ – Percy Jackson and the Olympians
• JKR – JK Rowling

Book Tropes

• One bed – this trope involved the two main characters having to stay the night and there only being one bed available, often leading to sexual tension as they share the bed for the night
• Love triangle – when characters B and C love character A. Most often, B and C are not in love with each other
• Enemies to lovers – when the main love interests hate each other and then start falling for each other
• Morally grey – a character who may act villainously but is not necessarily evil
• Why choose – the MC has multiple love interests that they are in a relationship with

For more reading resources, check out my tracking books or finding books guides!