WYD

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About

WYD is a slang expression that is an abbreviation of the question "What are you doing?" or "What do you do?" Used in internet slang at least since the mid-2000s, the acronym saw extensive spread online and appeared in numerous memes, including WYD After Smoking This and This Guy Slaps Your Girlfriend's Ass, WYD?

Origin

WYD, an abbreviation of "what are you doing?," has been used online in chats and on forums, as well as in text message shorthand, since at least the mid-2000s. On April 10th, 2006, Urban Dictionary^[1] user Rozza added a definition for the acronym. The definition received over 3,100 thumbs up on the site in 16 years (shown below).

The expression saw extensive use online on various social media websites, particularly on Twitter^[2]^[3]^[4] where the 140 symbol limit, which existed until 2017, encouraged heavy use of acronyms (example tweets shown below).

The acronym is often used to initiate a conversation with a person one is already acquainted with, often with a romantic or sexual interest, but not necessarily so (examples shown below).^[5]^[6]^[7]

Use in Memes

Online, the acronym saw extensive use in memes starting with the This Guy Slaps Your Girlfriend's Ass, What Do You Do? format, among others throughout the 2010s and 2020s.

This Guy Slaps Your Girlfriend's Ass, What Do You Do?

You're In The Club And This Guy Slaps Your Girlfriend's Ass is a catchphrase associated to a picture of a muscular Black man, which has been often parodied by being used with images of people or objects with ridicule or bizarre looks. The setup is often continued, "what do you do?"

WYD After Smokin' This?

WYD After Smokin' This? refers to a series of jokes in which a user posts a picture of especially powerful-looking marijuana and asks "wyd after smokin this?", followed by a picture representing a particularly outlandish activity to illustrate the level of intoxication caused by the weed.

It's Always WYD and Never HYD

It's Always 'WYD' and Never 'HYD' is a phrasal template used to express feelings of dejection when others do not ask about one's emotional well-being. The template employs the use of the initialisms "WYD" or "what you doing?" and "HYD" or "how you doing?" In many cases, memers replace the second part of the template, using the form: It's always WYD, and never [X]."

LOL You Wild Wyd Tho

LOL You Wild Wyd Tho is an internet slang expression meaning "you're crazy, but what are you doing though?", which is frequently referenced on Black Twitter to mock those who feign interest in someone for the purpose of seduction.