The Internet is a technological phenomenon that has transformed the way we talk. It has brought many new additions to the dictionary (some of which are ridiculous).
Social Media platforms have an immense influence on how we behave and talk, more than anything now. One such social media platform is Snapchat which has almost 530 million active users. With so many followers, this social media platform has an immense influence on the culture, language, business, and overall lives of the users.
What does the slang word “srs” mean on Snapchat?
One widely used slang word on Snapchat is “srs” or “/srs” on Snapchat. It is the tone indicator and contraction of the word “serious.”
To learn more about internet slang, especially tone indicators, keep reading!
An Ode to Snapchat
Snapchat is young and crazy, which resonates well with the younger audience. Its features are unique, unlike any other social media platform before. With its cool filters, it gave crazy a new definition (I mean, how crazy was the dog with its tongue sticking out back then).
Snapchat allows its users to stay in the moment with Stories and Snaps. These Stories and Snaps, after entertaining the audience — automatically disappear (will not haunt you for the rest of your lives). Similarly, after exchanging snaps with your friends, they disappear into thin air as early as 10 seconds (without a trace).
Snapchat has enabled people to share the content (instead of only sending it) with their friends.
Since Snapchat has such an immense influence on our lives, it also affects how we communicate. Slangs and abbreviations generated from Snapchat and other social media platforms quickly become part of our daily language.
Words, Slang & Abbreviations Coming From Social Media
Every year new words, slang, lingo, and abbreviations generated from social media become part of the dictionary. Some are simply abbreviations, for example, FOMO (fear of missing out), LOL (laughing out loud), or YOLO (You only live once) — be clear that I find abbreviations confusing and ridiculous.
Some words become new words by combining pre-existing words, for example, social networking.
Similarly, some switch their origin — change from one part of speech to another. For example, trend (noun) now has become the new word trending (verb).
The point is that social media has brought so many changes to the dictionary over the years. New words that pop up on these platforms become part of our daily conversations.
More than a thousand new words were added to Collins, Oxford English, Merriam-Webster, and Dictionary.com in 2021. These words were mostly internet slang which became words in the dictionary.
Some words are as follows:
1. Flex – is an act of showing off.
2. Yeet – an exclamation of surprise, approval, excitement, and triumph.
3. TBH – To be honest
4. Amirite – Internet slang for ‘Am I right?’
5. Dad joke – unfunny joke or corny joke
6. Zaddy – an attractive and stylish man
7. Bants – banter
8. Flutternutter – Peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich
What Does “SRS” Mean on Snapchat?
On Snapchat and other places on the Internet, “SRS” or “/SRS” is the shrinkage of the word “Serious.” It is a tone indicator which the gravity of the matter.
People on Snapchat or elsewhere on social media platforms use it to imply that the intention behind their statement is pretty serious.
For example, I love you! /srs
It means it isn’t a joke! You might not be getting my non-verbal cues cause we are on chat, but I am as serious as death /srs.
What Is a Tone Indicator?
According to Wikipedia, a tone indicator is a symbol attached to a sentence or statement to convey the intent behind the message. Tone indicators usually come at the end of the sentence to show the real intention behind the statement — whether it was a joke or sarcasm or whatever.
Since in real life, we have our non-verbal cues that give away our motives, in the Internet world, you cannot tell the intention behind any statement, so it is difficult to assess the tone of the messages. Therefore, tone indicators came into existence to resolve the matter for us.
The first tone indicator is believed to have originated on Reddit and was; /s (sarcastic). Other popular tone indicators are:
/P – Platonic
/J – Joking
/Nm – not mad
/LH – light-hearted
/s – sarcastic
/g – genuine
/li – literally
/f – fake
/th – threat
Conclusion
However silly they seem, Tone indicators possess great importance to imply the tone of the message on the internet word /li.
So, /srs is the tone indicator which is the contraction of the word ‘serious.’
We have given a bunch of them in our article; make sure to try them for fun in your online conversation next time.
