304

What Does 304 Mean?

image for 304, showing the silhouette of a woman on a street

304 means "prostitute" or "promiscuous woman." It is widely used in chat and on social media to refer to a woman who works as a prostitute. By extension, it is sometimes used to refer to any woman considered to be sexually or emotionally promiscuous. The use of 304 is based on the fact that when the number is typed into a digital calculator and read upside down, it looks like the word "hoe," which is shorthand for whore (a synonym of prostitute).

Especially on TikTok, 304 is not considered a derogatory term. Many women working as prostitutes post with the hashtag #304 and talk about their working lives. For example:

@mfknnani #accountant #trending ♬ The Magic Bomb (Questions I Get Asked) [Extended Mix] - Hoàng Read

304 can be considered algospeak (i.e., the changing of words to avoid automated content moderation), similar to accountant (another coded term for sex worker).

Image for 304

When I write 304, I mean this:

When viewed upside down on a calculator, 304 looks like "hoe."

Summary of Key Points

"Prostitute or Promiscuous Woman" is, by far, the most common meaning for 304 when it is used in a text. (Bear in mind that it could have another meaning if used in a different context.)

304
Definition:	Prostitute or Promiscuous Woman
Type:	Internet Slang Term
Guessability:	5: Extremely difficult to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

An Academic Look at 304

304 is a numeronym, which is an abbreviation made up of just numbers or of letters and numbers. They can be formed in various ways, such as:

Shortening a word by replacing a sequence of letters with the count of those letters (e.g., i18n for "internationalization" and a11y for "accessibility").
Combining letters and numbers (e.g, K9 for "canine" and W3 for "World Wide Web").
Using numbers to represent letters or words (e.g., 143 for "I love you," 637 for "always and forever," and 5201314 for "I will love you for a lifetime").