For newcomers to Booktok and Bookstagram, terms like TBR, DNF, HEA, MMC, or POV can feel like a secret code. The book community has a huge number of acronyms and shorthand phrases, so here’s a cheat sheet explaining some of the most common ones:
Character Types
MMC = Male Main Character
FMC = Female Main Character
MC = Main Character
POV = Point of View
BIPOC = Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (often used in publishing discussions)
POC = Person/People of Colour
BBW = Big Beautiful Woman
Relationship Types
MF = Male/Female romance
MM = Male/Male romance
FF = Female/Female romance (sometimes also called sapphic)
RH/Why Choose = Reverse Harem (one female protagonist with multiple love interests)
Poly = Multiple people in a relationship
OTP = One True Pairing
NOTP = Not One True Pairing (relationship you dislike)
OW/OM = Other Woman / Other Man (cheating)
Then we get onto the more complex arrangements with multiple partners. The order of the letters tells you what type of relationship is involved…
MFM = Two men, one woman. The woman is centred, and the men are not involved with each other.
MMF = Two men, one woman. There is action between the men too.
FMF = Two women, one man. The man is centred, and the women aren’t involved with each other.
FFM = Two women, one man. There’s usually a relationship/intimacy between the women too.
Types of Romance
HEA = Happily Ever After
HFN = Happy For Now
FWB = Friends with Benefits
UST = Unresolved Sexual Tension
ETL / E2L = Enemies to Lovers (my favourite!)
FTL / F2L = Friends to Lovers
STL / S2L = Strangers to Lovers
Subgenres
PNR = Paranormal Romance
CR = Contemporary Romance
HR = Historical Romance
FR = Fantasy Romance
Romantasy = Blend of romance + fantasy
RS = Romantic Suspense
SFR = Science Fiction Romance
NA = New Adult
Spice-related terms
Smut = Explicit sexual content
Steam/Spice = Sexual tension and/or explicit scenes
Slow Burn = Relationship develops gradually
Open Door = The story shows the spicy scenes on the page (most of my books!)
Closed Door = The story acknowledges intimacy happened but does not show it (I have closed-door alternatives for some of my Blackwood Security books)
Fade to Black = Similar to closed door, but specifically means the story cuts away at the moment things become intimate.
CNC = Consensual Non-Consent
Dubcon = Dubious Consent
Noncon = Non Consent
D/s = Dominant/submissive dynamic
Reading & Reviews
TBR = To Be Read
DNF = Did Not Finish
ARC = Advance Reader Copy
ALC = Advance Listener Copy (audiobook)
BR = Buddy Read
RTC = Review To Come
GR = Goodreads
CR = Currently Reading (can also mean Contemporary Romance depending on context)
OOP = Out of Print
WIP = Work in Progress (this one is mainly used by authors)
BOTM = Book of the Month
BOTY = Book of the Year
CW/TW = Content Warning/Trigger Warning
Community Slang
Book Boyfriend = Fictional male character readers adore
Book Husband = Same idea, but more serious
Shadow Daddy = Powerful, dangerous, morally grey fantasy man (popular in romantasy)
Morally Gray = Character whose ethics are questionable but who isn’t fully villainous (Emmy and Dasha are good examples)
Touch Her and Die = Protective-love-interest trope (see: Xav and Garrett and Art)
Touch Him and Die = As above, but with the roles reversed–she’s the badass (Jezabel and Dusk excel at this trope)
Who Did This to You? = Protective/caretaking trope (looking at you, Heath)
Only One Bed = Classic forced-proximity trope (Aaron & Romi, Grey & Giselle)
Fan Communities
AO3 = Archive of Our Own (fanfic website)
Fic = Fanfiction
Canon = Official story
AU = Alternate Universe
Ship = Support a romantic pairing
PWP = “Plot? What Plot?” (basically smut)
A test question to finish…
Translate the following:
This E2L RS has a morally grey MMC, amazing UST, and a perfect HEA. The MMC is officially my new book boyfriend. 5⭐️, no notes.
I’m sure I’ve forgotten a bunch of stuff, so let me know in the comments if there’s anything else you think should be included!
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