HBU

HBU means “how about you?” It turns a question back to the person who asked it: “I’m good, hbu?” WBU, “what about you?”, does the same job.

How HBU works

It’s the small-talk relay. Someone asks how your day was or what you’re up to, you answer, and hbu hands the question back so the conversation keeps going. It shows up constantly in early texting with someone new, especially on dating apps.

On its own it’s polite enough. The trouble starts when hbu is doing all the work. A thread of “good hbu” and “nm wbu” can feel like nobody is really trying, which is how people end up being called a dry texter. Adding one real detail before the hbu makes a big difference.

Examples

• “Just got home from work, hbu?”
• “wyd” / “nothing much, wbu?”
• “I loved it honestly. hbu, would you go back?”

HBU vs. WBU

There’s no real difference. Use whichever you like; most people pick one and stick with it. Both are almost always written in lowercase.

Where HBU came from

No dictionary has dated it, and there’s no known first user. It belongs to the same family as wyd and wya: short, lowercase questions built to keep a back-and-forth going with as few keystrokes as possible.

Related terms

• WYD: what are you doing?
• Talking stage: the early texting phase before dating.
• HMU: hit me up.

See more terms like this in our texting abbreviations guide.