On social media apps such as TikTok and Twitter, people will use the letters W and L to abbreviate the words “Win” and “Lose”.
To put it simply, W = Win and L = Lose.
For instance, if someone does something cool in a video, then a user in the comments section might reply with the letter “W”. In this case, they think that the video is a “win”.
Although these are their literal “translations”, it can be a little more complicated than that.
Over time, these Internet slang phrases have continued to morph.
Nowadays, when someone combines one of these letters with another word, the statement can take on a broader meaning.
For example, if someone writes “W car”, then it basically means that they think the car in question looks great. It might not have anything to do with that car winning an actual race.
The comment above basically translates into “Good sound, bad creator”. In this case, they believe that the sound on the TikTok video is good. However, they do not like the creator who uploaded it.
As you can see, it doesn’t necessarily have to be about winning or losing anything.
L meaning.
L means lose, loser or loss.
On apps such as TikTok, users will sometimes use this letter instead of the words “bad” and “terrible”.
For example, if a user replies with the phrase “L comment”, then it means that they think it’s a losing comment.
In other words, it is a bad comment and they personally disagree with it.
In one particular video, a girl joked about how she would choose her “guy best friend” over her current boyfriend.
As a result, users flooded the comment section with the phrase “L girlfriend”.
The screenshot above is from Twitter. Here, a user disagrees with someone’s negative opinion about Eminem by replying with the words “L tweet”.
This “slang” is not limited to TikTok. You will also find people using it on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
W meaning.
W means win or winner. However, when placed beside a noun, it can mean “good” or “great”.
Take the following example.
The screenshot above is another example from Twitter. In this case, “W song” translates into “win song” or “winning song”, which in turn means “great song”.
“W guy. L comment section.”
As you can see, the definitions for these two letters are pretty fluid.
However, ultimately, it boils down to W = Good and L = Bad.
Sometimes new lingo can be difficult to understand. Like the word "cap," which went from meaning there's no "ceiling" to the greatness one can attain to now being just another way to say the word "lie." Strange indeed.
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But then there are other terms, even single letters, that have pretty apparent meanings. Like "W" on TikTok. But don't feel bad if you found yourself asking: What does a "W" mean on TikTok?
Source: Twitter
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If you watch or participate in any type of sports, or heck, if you even follow internet feud culture at all, then you'll know that "W" is an abbreviation for a win. It's the opposite of someone taking an "L," but can also be extended to mean that something is generally good.
For instance, if someone comments #W on a post, it can mean that they think your TikTok is a win. So if you see a bunch of "W" comments on a TikTok that you posted, then know that it positively resonated with several users and that you've received some validation from strangers on the internet, so you can go about your day feeling happy and proud of your accomplishments.
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So naturally, #W and #L are polar opposites and can represent a wide range of different emotions in specific scenarios. If you didn't like the performance of your favorite sports team, you thought that a certain episode of a TV show wasn't as good as it could have been, or you really hated the catered food at some banquet wedding you didn't even want to go to, that's an #L.
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You could even use #W and #L to describe how you're feeling in a certain situation. Happy that your school is deciding to open up again and that COVID cases are super low in your area? That's a #W. Unless you're an introvert and want to have all of your classes done from home so you can put that time you'd probably use commuting towards another endeavor. Then yes, that would be very #L-worthy.
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"W," according to 'Urban Dictionary,' ultimately just means "winning."
Again, however, this is a very loose term that can be applied to a variety of different situations — the concept of "winning" is subjective.
So there you have it. If you long-wondered what those single letter terms mean on TikTok, you can fret no longer and comment #W's and #L's to your heart's content.
What does W and L mean?
Acronym | Definition |
W/L | Win/Loss |
W/L | Waterline |
W/L | Warning Letter (legal) |
W/L | Window/Level |