B4

Texting & Internet Slang abbreviation · Texting and Chat

B4 stands for Before, a texting and chat abbreviation.

Number-sound spelling that replaces "fore" with 4, used in texts, social posts and gaming chat. It appears in phrases such as "b4 u go" and in hashtags or captions where brevity matters.

Example: Text me b4 you leave work so I can start dinner.

Usage notes

A product of the keypad-phone era, when a single digit was quicker to type than several letters. The same trick appears in B4N (bye for now). It looks informal and dated in professional or academic writing, and some readers find it childish. Pronounced as the word "before."

Related abbreviations

More texting and chat abbreviations

• ABT – About
• AFAIC – As far as I'm concerned
• AFAICT – As far as I can tell
• AFAIK – As far as I know
• ASL – Age, sex, location
• ATM – At the moment
• B4N – Bye for now
• BB – Bye-bye
• BBIAB – Be back in a bit
• BBL – Be back later
• BBS – Be back soon
• BC – Because

See all 215 texting and chat abbreviations →

Edited by the AbbreviationList.com team. Spotted an error or a missing meaning? Contact us.