BRB is one of the oldest and most enduring abbreviations of the internet age. It stands for Be Right Back, and it has been used since the early days of IRC, AOL Instant Messenger, and chat rooms to indicate a temporary absence. Unlike formal sign-offs, BRB promises return. It is the digital equivalent of stepping away from the dinner table: you are not leaving the conversation, you are just grabbing something from the kitchen.
Definition
BRB is an acronym for Be Right Back. It is used in text-based communication to inform others that the sender is temporarily away from the keyboard or device but intends to return shortly. It is polite, functional, and universal across platforms, from 1990s IRC channels to 2020s Discord servers.
Why It Matters
BRB matters because it is a foundational piece of internet etiquette. Before read receipts, before status indicators, before green dots and away messages, there was BRB. It created the expectation that online conversations could be asynchronous without being abandoned. It is also a linguistic fossil: most people who type BRB today have never used IRC, yet the abbreviation persists because it is shorter, friendlier, and more specific than “I will return soon.”
Example
A gamer, in the middle of a team match, types “BRB, doorbell” in the chat. The team knows to hold position for two minutes. Without BRB, the team might assume the player has rage-quit. With BRB, the social contract is preserved.
Internet Angle
BRB has become a meme in its own right. There are ironic variants: AFBRB (Away From BRB), BRB eternity (when someone never returns), and BRB as a sarcastic response to bad takes. The abbreviation has also been adopted ironically by younger users who grew up with always-on messaging, where “being away” is almost impossible. Typing BRB in 2024 is itself a nostalgic gesture, a nod to an era when online presence was an active choice rather than a default state.
Related Terms
- AFK — Away From Keyboard, the more serious version of BRB
- GTG — Got To Go, the permanent sign-off
- IRC — Internet Relay Chat, where BRB was born
- AOL Instant Messenger — the platform that popularized BRB for a generation
- Chat room — the original context for BRB and other abbreviations
- Discord — the modern platform where BRB still lives
- Internet slang — the broader vocabulary of digital communication