Bookish Slang

Guest post by Megan Brown

Bookish Slang and What It Means

ARC, TBR, COHO, DNF, ACOTAR, Reading Slump, Book Hangover, and Much, Much More! 

The bookish world can be confusing. Between the shortened book titles, literary jargon, and author nicknames, it can be difficult to understand what people in the book world are even saying. This guide is meant to help you understand some of the slang so you can break into the book world with confidence!

General Acronyms:

• ARC: Advance Reader Copy– publishers give them out before they publish the final book to see what people think and if anything needs to be changed. 
  
• B&N: Barnes and Noble
• CR: Current Read 
• CW/TW: Content Warning/Trigger Warning 
• DNF: Did Not Finish- A book you started reading but didn’t finish 
• HB/HC: Hardback/Hardcover 
• MC: Main Character 
• MG: Middle Grade– books where the main character is around elementary/middle school age
  
• NA: New Adult– books where the main character is around college age ​
  
• PB: Paperback 
• POV: Point of view 
• TBR: To Be Read– Books that you really want to read 
• YA: Young Adult- Books where the main character is around high school age 

Author Acronyms:

• COHO: Colleen Hoover 
• JLA: Jennifer L. Armentrout 
• SJM: Sarah J Maas 
• TJR: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Book Acronyms:

• ACOTAR: A Court of Thorns and Rose by Sarah J Maas 
• FBAA: From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout 
• HP: Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
• RWRB: Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston 
• SOC: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo 
• TID: The Infernal Devices by Cassandra Clare 
• TMI: The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare 
• TOG: Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas 

General Slang:

• Backlist: All the books that an author already has published. 
• Booktok/bookstagram/booktube: The subgenres of tiktok/insta/youtube where people only talk about books 
• Book Hangover: When you finish a book so good you don’t want to start another one because it won’t live up. 
• Buddy Read: Reading a book at the same time as a friend 
• Canon: The plotline that an author wrote — only things that happen in the books. Headcanon: Things that a reader imagines could happen in the book. 
• High Fantasy: Books that take place in a completely different world than ours. Ex: Throne of Glass, Lord of the Rings, Shadow and Bone 
• Info-dump: When an author puts a bunch of information about the characters/world/plot in at the same time. 
• Insta-love: When two characters fall in love immediately 
• Low Fantasy: Books that take place in our world, but there are magical/fantastical elements added. Ex: Harry Potter, Ninth House, Percy Jackson 
• Meet Cute: The way that characters who will be in a relationship first meet– has to be cute.
• Mood Reader: Someone who reads based on the mood that they are feeling. Opposite a TBR Reader 
• Reading Slump: When you don’t have the motivation/desire to read for a period of time Ship: Two characters who you like together– Doesn’t have to follow the actual plot. Ex: Four/tris, Rey/Kylo, Katniss/Haymitch 
• Spicy books: Books with a lot of smut 
• Smut: Sex scenes 
• TBR Reader: Someone who reads the books on their TBR in a specific, planned order. Opposite a mood reader. 
• Tropes: Reoccurring themes in books. Ex: Enemies to lovers, only one bed, grumpy/sunshine, love triangle 
• Wrap-up: The collection of books that a person reads in the month — usually in bookstagram/booktok/booktube or book blogs.

With the incorporation of this vocabulary, you can join the bookish world with ease! Whether on Booktok, Booktube, or even chatting with your buddy read partner, these slang words can help you to discuss books and fangirl over characters.
​Happy reading!

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​Megan Brown is an English and Journalism student at Augustana University. She loves reading, writing, and writing about reading!