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In informal chat conversations online, I have seen Spanish speakers write the abbreviation "xq." What does this stand for, and why?

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I'd suggest you not to use them, It's a bad habit and mostly used by teenagers – Luis Carlos Nov 26 '11 at 19:02
3  
There is a universal law that whenever you write against incorrect usage of language, you will invariably make a usage faux pas of your own for everybody to see. For instance some people would regard the omission of a full stop/period at the end of a sentence to be a bad habit. (-; – hippietrail Nov 27 '11 at 10:42
I do it when I am in a hurry, texting, lazy or feel comfortable enough with someone to use it. If is something formal I would never use it – cayerdis May 22 '12 at 4:14

2 Answers

up vote 13 down vote accepted

It essentially means porque

x is widely recognized as the multiplication sign. To say it one says por.

x = Por

and q is the abbreviation of que. Being just a q there are no words I can think of that are monosyllables and that start with q. So it is safe to assume it is que.

q = que

xq = porque

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"Porque" no lleva tilde. "¿Por qué ...?" sí la lleva – belisarius Nov 25 '11 at 7:32
«xk» means the same as «xq», just as «k» means the same as «q» and both mean «que» (or «qué»). But «xD» has nothing to do with «por». Texting is hard. – Brian Nov 25 '11 at 8:22
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xD resembles this smiley. – kodkod Nov 25 '11 at 10:46
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Porqué lleva tilde cuando se utiliza la forma de la pregunta "por qué" en forma indirecta, como sustantivo. Son tres formas diferentes. Ejemplo: "Le preguntaron el porqué de su vestimenta inadecuada" – Leandro Jun 4 '12 at 23:04
up vote 14 down vote

In SMS/chat slang:

  • xq, xk, pq means "porque" or "por qué";
  • x means "por", because it looks like × (multiplication sign);
  • q or k means "que";
  • xf means "por fa(vor)"
  • qtl or ktl means "que tal";
  • qtpsa or ktpsa means "que te pasa";
  • = means "igual";
  • + means "mas" or "más";
  • - means "menos";
  • s means "es";
  • l means "el";
  • d means "de";

etc.

Example:

"ktl?"
"+ o -"
"xk? ktpsa?"
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5  
It's harder to write slang than regular spanish! :P – Alenanno Nov 25 '11 at 12:48

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