White 'TBH' text on a blue background

TBH

2003catchphraseclassic

Published September 30, 2026

TBH is an internet initialism for "to be honest," a candid-preface shorthand that grew out of SMS text speak in the 1990s and 2000s before becoming a full-blown social ritual on Facebook and Instagram. By the mid-2010s it powered confession posts, hashtag games and a dedicated compliments app that Facebook eventually bought.

slang memes internet slang origin memes facebook memes urban dictionary memes early internet memes

Overview

TBH is short for "to be honest," typically dropped in front of an opinion the speaker wants to frame as candid or slightly risky. It shows up almost entirely in text messages, DMs and social feeds rather than speech4. The initialism carries a soft hedge, giving whatever follows the flavor of a confession instead of a pronouncement.

By the early 2010s TBH stopped being just a filler and started structuring whole posts. On Facebook it powered a like-for-honesty exchange in which someone offered a personal opinion to anyone who liked their status5. On Instagram it migrated into hashtag form, with users tagging short confession clips #TBH so viewers could scroll a feed of small honesty moments1.

Origin & Background

Platform
SMS text speak / Urban Dictionary (first documented)
Date
2003

The exact first use is not documented, but TBH almost certainly grew out of SMS text speak in the 1990s, when character limits pushed users toward heavy abbreviation3. The earliest dated public record of the initialism as a defined term is a June 23rd, 2003 Urban Dictionary entry by user Suzuki, who glossed it as "to be honest"2.

From there it moved into wider reference works. Wiktionary added an entry for TBH on December 23rd, 2006, cementing it as a documented English abbreviation rather than a purely chat-room habit3. A related spin-off, "cbf tbh" ("can't be fucked, to be honest"), was submitted to Urban Dictionary on July 4th, 20084.

How It Spread

TBH's jump from private texting to a public social ritual happened on Facebook. In a November 14th, 2011 MakeUseOf column on annoying Facebook habits, writer Angela Alcorn described the "TBH word game," in which someone posted a status promising an honest opinion to anyone who liked it5. The mechanic turned a two-letter abbreviation into a small compliments engine.

Mainstream and parenting outlets soon caught up. McAfee's consumer blog ran a December 17th, 2013 explainer titled "TBH (To Be Honest) and More Slang Parents Should Know," pitching the initialism to parents trying to read their kids' texts6. On April 17th, 2014, YouTuber BeautyLiciousInsider posted a body-image confession video called "To Be Honest.. 'I Hate my body'" that used the term as a framing device7.

Instagram then reshaped it again. The Atlantic reported on September 2nd, 2014 that Instagram users were posting confession clips under #TBH, treating the hashtag as a genre of small on-camera admissions1. Around June 2015 the initialism was mocked on 4chan's /v/ board, where regulars used it as a marker of the seasonal influx of younger posters they called "summer fags"4.

Timeline

2003-06-23

Urban Dictionary user Suzuki submits the earliest widely cited definition of TBH as "to be honest."[2]

2006-12-23

Wiktionary adds an entry for tbh, formalizing it as a documented abbreviation.[3]

2008-07-04

Urban Dictionary entry for the spin-off "cbf tbh" is submitted.[4]

2011-11-14

MakeUseOf writes up the Facebook "TBH word game" as a common annoying practice on the platform.[5]

2013-12-17

McAfee's consumer blog publishes a parents' guide featuring TBH.[6]

2014-04-17

YouTuber BeautyLiciousInsider posts a body-image confession video framed with the initialism.[7]

2014-09-02

The Atlantic covers Instagram's #TBH confession-video trend.[1]

2015-06

TBH is mocked on 4chan's /v/ board as a marker of "summer" posters.[4]

Frequently Asked Questions