What Does “AFAIK” Mean, and How Do You Use It?

AFAIK means “as far as I know.” It denotes that the piece of knowledge you're sharing is something you believe to be correct, but you're not ... 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Bysubmittingyouremail,youagreetotheTermsofUseandPrivacyPolicy. tookitook/Shutterstock.com Ifyoufrequentlybrowseonlineforumsandsocialmediasites,chancesareyou’veseentheterm“AFAIK”atleastonce.We’llexplainwhatitmeansandhowtouseitproperly. “AsFarAsIKnow” AFAIKmeans“asfarasIknow.”Itdenotesthatthepieceofknowledgeyou’resharingissomethingyoubelievetobecorrect,butyou’renotsureifit’swhollyaccurateoruptodate.Thefullphraseiscommonlyusedinbothonlineinteractionsandin-personconversations.Ithasasimilarmeaningtothephrase“tomyknowledge.” Whenusedontheinternet,suchasintextmessagesoronsocialmedia,AFAIKtakesonthesamemeaning.Youcanuseitinbothuppercase(AFAIK)andlowercase(afaik).It’sfrequentlyseenonmessageboardsandmicrobloggingsites,suchasTwitterandReddit. AFAIKcanalsobeinterchangeablyusedwiththeinitialismIIRC,whichmeans“ifIrecallcorrectly”or“ifIremembercorrectly.”Botharegenerallyusedtoconnotethatthewriterorspeakerissayingsomethingthatislikelycorrect,butthatthey’renotentirelysureabout. ThisinitialismshouldnotbeconfusedwithAFK,whichmeans“awayfromkeyboard.” RELATED:WhatDoes"IIRC"Mean,andHowDoYouUseIt? TheHistoryofAFAIK Theterm“asfarasIknow”hasbeeninuseforaverylongtime,butitsinternetinitialismhasamuchmorerecenthistory. Advertisement Likemostinternetinitialisms,acronyms,andslangwords,AFAIKcanbetracedbacktoearlyIRCchatroomsaroundthe1990sandearly2000s.Becausecomputershadlimitedscreenspaceandtheonlymethodofcommunicationwastext,earlyadoptersshortenedmanyfairlylengthyphrases,suchas“asfarasIknow.”Shorteningallowedforsnappierconversationsandlesstyping. InitialismslikeAFAIKcontinuedtothriveonplatformslikeinstantmessagingandSMS,whichoftenhadcapsoncharactercountandencouragedshortertexts.Lateron,theywouldfindahomeonsocialmediawebsiteslikeTwitter,whichalsohasacharactercountlimit. TheInternetDisclaimer AFAIKisoftenusedasasoftonline“disclaimer.”Whileit’snotintendedtodiscredityourmessageentirely,itencouragesotherstotakeitwithagrainofsalt.Theinitialismisoftenpairedwithphraseslike“butdon’ttakemywordforit”or“butdon’tquotemeonthat.” Often,apostwith“afaik”iscorrect,buttheuseraddsittoseemmoremodestandnon-confrontational.Thisiscommoninonlinemessageboards.Forexample,iftheoriginalposterasksaquestionregardingtheregularcostofaparticularitem,someonemightreply,“AFAIK,itcosts$250”evenifthey’resureitcosts$250. Othertimes,AFAIKisusedtoqualifypotentialvariationsbetweenpeople’sexperiences.Forexample,ifsomeoneasks,“what’sthequietestareainthecity?”,someonemayreplywithan“AFAIK”beforesharingthequietestneighborhoodintheirexperience.ThisisausethatoverlapswiththeinternetinitialismYMMV,or“yourmileagemayvary.” AFAIKinPersonalConversations GaudiLab/Shutterstock.com AFAIKcanalsobeusedtodescribethingsthatarehappeninginyourdailylife.Whenusedinareal-lifecontext,itusuallyrepresentssomethingthatyoubelieveistruenowbutmaychangeinthefuture. Advertisement Forexample,ifsomeoneasksyouifyou’reworkingthisweekend,youmightanswer,“AFAIK,I’mnot.”Whatthistellstheotherpersonisthatyouarecurrentlyoff-dutyfortheweekend,butthatcouldpotentiallychangeifyousuddenlyhavesomethingurgenttoattendto. HowtoUseAFAIK “AsfarasIknow”isarelativelycommonconversationalphrase,soitshouldbeeasytopickuphowtouseandinterpretit.Asmentionedabove,youcanuseittoaccompanyapieceofknowledgeyou’resharingordescribesomethingthatvariesperson-to-person. HereareafewwaystouseAFAIK: AFAIKtheschoolwillresumeclassesinthefall. AFAIKLebronJameswasborninOhio. ThisstorehasaprettygenerousrefundpolicyAFAIK. We’respendingThanksgivingatmysister’shouse,AFAIK. Ifyouwanttolearnaboutotherinternetterms,readuponIRLandSMH.You’llbeaninternetinitialismexpertinnotime. RELATED:WhatDoes"TFW"Mean,andHowDoYouUseIt? READNEXT ›WhatDo“IMO”and“IMHO”Mean,andHowDoYouUseThem?›CyberMonday2021:BestTechDeals›TheComputerFolderIs40:HowtheXeroxStarCreatedtheDesktop›Functionsvs.FormulasinMicrosoftExcel:What’stheDifference?›HowtoFindYourSpotifyWrapped2021›CyberMonday2021:BestAppleDeals›5WebsitesEveryLinuxUserShouldBookmark JOINGEEKTALKONFACEBOOK Theabovearticlemaycontainaffiliatelinks,whichhelpsupportHow-ToGeek. How-ToGeekiswhereyouturnwhenyouwantexpertstoexplaintechnology.Sincewelaunchedin2006,ourarticleshavebeenreadmorethan1billiontimes.Wanttoknowmore?