What Does W/ Mean? (and W, L and W/o)
What does w/ mean? It means “with.” Dictionary.com lists w/ as an abbreviation of with, so a note reading “coffee w/ Jess at 3” means coffee with Jess at 3. Checked against Dictionary.com: w/ Put an o after the slash and you get w/o, short for without. Checked against Merriam-Webster Dictionary: w/o
Drop the slash and the letters turn into verdicts. In slang, W is a win and L is a loss; Dictionary.com describes L as slang for a loss, “the opposite of win.” Checked against Dictionary.com Slang Dictionary: L + ratio (June 15, 2022) Each form gets a short section below, plus a table that puts them side by side. More chat shorthand lives in our social media glossary.
What Does W/ Mean? It’s Short for With
W/ is a written shortcut for “with,” two characters in place of four. Two dictionaries record it. Dictionary.com lists w/ as an abbreviation of with, and Merriam-Webster lists “with” as a meaning of the abbreviation w.
Checked against Dictionary.com: w/.
Checked against Merriam-Webster Dictionary: w.
Examples we wrote:
- “Brunch w/ the team on Sunday”
- “Iced latte w/ oat milk, please”
- “Our collab w/ a local bakery drops Friday”
What Does W/o Mean?
W/o means “without.” Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com both list w/o as an abbreviation of without, which makes it the mirror image of w/: “fries w/o salt,” “a weekend w/o screens.”
Checked against Merriam-Webster Dictionary: w/o.
W/, W/o, W and L at a Glance
A slash means an abbreviation; a lone capital is a verdict. Here is the whole family in one place.
| Form | Means | Example we wrote | Recorded by |
|---|---|---|---|
| w/ | with | Pasta w/ extra cheese | Dictionary.com; Merriam-Webster (under w) |
| w/o | without | Tea w/o sugar | Merriam-Webster; Dictionary.com |
| W | a win | Got the job. That’s a W. | Collins (as an abbreviation for win); Dictionary.com (“take the W”) |
| L | a loss | Missed the bus by a minute. L. | Dictionary.com |
| L + ratio | a mocking reply to a post seen as particularly bad | None: it’s an insult | Dictionary.com |
What Does W Mean in Slang? A Win
In slang, a W is a win: calling something “a W” says it went your way. Collins lists win or wins among the abbreviations for w in American English, the shorthand used in standings. No dictionary we checked has a separate entry for W as social media slang, though; the nearest record is Dictionary.com’s idiom “take the W,” covered next.
Checked against Collins Dictionary: w in American English (Webster's New World College Dictionary, 5th Digital Edition).
Examples we wrote:
- “Passed my driving test. W.”
- “They brought back the old menu? That’s a W.”
Take the W and Take the L
To take the W is to accept a result that works for you, even if it isn’t everything you wanted. Dictionary.com lists it under the idiom take the win, also “take the W”: to accept an outcome that is in your favor or meets your minimum requirements, even if it is less favorable than you hoped. So it’s closer to “I’ll take it” than to a trophy.
Checked against Dictionary.com: take the win.
Take the L runs the other way. Dictionary.com says L is slang for a loss, the opposite of a win, and its example is “you just took the L.”
Checked against Dictionary.com Slang Dictionary: L + ratio (June 15, 2022).
Examples we wrote:
- “No front-row seats, but we got in. Take the W.”
- “Left my umbrella at home on the one rainy day. Took the L.”
L + Ratio: The Mocking Reply
“L + ratio” is a put-down, not friendly banter. Dictionary.com describes it as a mocking insult on social media, replied to a post or opinion considered particularly bad, and says it appears to have emerged in 2020.
Checked against Dictionary.com Slang Dictionary: L + ratio (June 15, 2022).
Replies can stack more insults on the end: Dictionary.com lists touch grass among the slang people chain after “L + ratio.” Checked against Dictionary.com Slang Dictionary: L + ratio (June 15, 2022) For the ratio half on its own, see the ratio entry in our glossary.
However bad the post, replying “L + ratio” invites a pile-on, and a brand account should never start one.
Using W/ in Captions and Short Posts
W/ saves two characters every time, which matters when a post has a character limit. It reads naturally in a short X post or a list-style caption (“New drop w/ free shipping”). Where the tone is formal, as in a LinkedIn update, a press note or a work email, spell out “with.” To test a draft against X’s limit, paste it into our X (Twitter) character counter.
The win-and-loss slang needs more care from a brand. “A W for our team this week” can sound playful from a casual account; an “L” aimed at a customer or a rival reads as mockery.
If the same update goes out on several networks, you can keep “w/” for X and write “with” for LinkedIn.
More shorthand you’ll meet in replies: what SMH means, what ion means in a text and what RT means.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does w/ mean in texting?
It means with. Dictionary.com lists w/ as an abbreviation of with, and Merriam-Webster lists with as a meaning of the abbreviation w. So “lunch w/ Sam” means lunch with Sam.
What does w/o mean?
It means without. Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com both list w/o as an abbreviation of without, so “coffee w/o sugar” means coffee without sugar.
What does W mean in slang?
A win. Collins lists win or wins among the abbreviations for w in American English, and Dictionary.com records the idiom take the W. No dictionary we checked has a separate entry for W as social media slang.
What does L mean in texting?
A loss. Dictionary.com says the letter L is used as slang for a loss, the opposite of a win, and its example is “you just took the L.” Its mocking cousin, L + ratio, is an insult replied to a post considered particularly bad.
What does take the W mean?
Dictionary.com lists the idiom take the win (also take the W): to accept an outcome that is in your favor or meets your minimum requirements, even if it is less favorable than you hoped.