HBY

What Does HBY Mean in a Text?

The Quick Answer

HBY means "How About You."

More Detail...

The abbreviation HBY is typically used with the meaning "How About You?" as a response to a question. HBY is normally used to confirm the other person's plans or to assess their opinion. For example:

• Person 1: Are you going to the match tonight?
• Person 2: Definitely! HBY?

• Person 1: Do you think the moon landings were faked?
• Person 2: Of course not! HBY?

By using relaxed pronunciation, the word "about" becomes "'bout," which is closer to the way "How About You" is usually pronounced and why it is abbreviated as HBY, instead of HAY. "How About You" is also abbreviated as HBU.

Image for HBY

When I write HBY, I mean this:

HBY is a response to a question.

Summary of Key Points

We have summarized the key points in the table below:

HBY
Definition:	How about You?
Type:	Abbreviation
Guessability:	4: Difficult to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Examples of HBY in Sentences

Here are examples of HBY in conversations:

• Angus: I got straight A's in all my exams. HBY?
• Cally: Yeah, something like that.

• Trisha: Where are you going on holiday this year?
• Toni: The Bahamas. HBY?
• Trisha: Detroit.
• Toni: Oh. Never mind.

An Academic Look at HBY

HBY plays the role of an interrogative sentence (i.e., a question), but it is commonly seen without a question mark. In other words, it can be written "HBY?" or "HBY". As it is pronounced using its individual letters (i.e., "Aitch Bee Why"), HBY is classified as an initialism abbreviation. However, HBY is not often spoken using its letters. It is usually employed for efficiency in writing and not efficiency in speech.

What Did We Say before Texting and Social Media?

Before the digital era, we would have just said something like "How About You?" instead of using using HBY.

Example of HBY Used in a Text

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