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26 ways to say goodbye online

"L8ter sk8ter." 

 

Kate Knibbs

Internet Culture

Posted on Feb 9, 2014   Updated on May 31, 2021, 6:52 pm CDT

We liked Katie Heaney’s 42 Ways to Type Laughter, Defined over at Buzzfeed. But expressing mirth isn’t the only thing we have a lot of options about online.

There are (at least) 25 ways you can say goodbye on the Internet. Here’s what they say about you:

1. bye bye: I am trying to convey a sense of whimsy I do not possess.

2. brb: I’m lying; not coming back.

3. BRB!!!! I’m lying/ not coming back, or there’s a bathroom emergency.  

4. bye: I have to go. Don’t read into this. I just have to go.

5. bye! I have to go now and I like you!

6. BYE: I might be mad at you. Or I accidentally turned on caps lock.

7. BYE. I am probably a sociopath.

8. BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am Kanye.

9. byyyyeeee: Either under 21, or a dumbass.

10. buh-bye: I am definitely a sociopath.

11. adios: I took Spanish.

12. hasta la vista: I didn’t take spanish but I saw Terminator 2.

13. (signing off without explanation) I am tough but fair. The Irish goodbye of the Internet can offend some, but do you really need to come up with an exit strategy for every Wednesday afternoon Gchat sesh? Nah bro.

14. i have so much work to do, talk later: I am about to spend the next 30 minutes taking online quizzes.

15. catch u on the flipside! I am your dad.

16. bye bitch: I’m a Chelsea Handler fan.

17.  ttyl: I forward chain emails about Facebook stealing our privacy.

18. see ya: We are friends IRL and I will actually see you sometime soon.

19. cya: We are friends IRL and we are 13. 

20. see ya ;) We are friends IRL and I will see you then and will want to make out with you.

21. holla back: I am a teenage boy with bad morals from 2003.

22. peace: I have smoked marijuana before.

23. peace out bro: I have smoked marijuana out of a giant water bong before.

24. ciao: I am either Italian or insufferable.

25. g2g: No matter what my age, I miss AOL Instant Messenger an inappropriate amount.

26.  l8er sk8er: Avril Lavigne found out how to use the Internet.


Photo via Flickr/Raymond Shobe (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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*First Published: Feb 9, 2014, 1:35 pm CST