Online bridge and face-to-face bridge share a lot of things, but also have a handful of differences between them.

When it comes to rules, strategies, and what you can do with your cards on a table, it’s the exact same game.

One of the differences that I’ve spotted between one version of bridge and the other is the language. The language of online bridge could require some studying up on if you’ve never joined an online game before.

Did you click somewhere and get to this post, or did you search for the meaning of a specific online bridge term?

Here’s a look at some of the terms you’ll need for online bridge (and what they mean in context on the internet).

ai – Where bridge players see the term ai, it could mean two things. You’ve either got artificial intelligence, or it means authorized information.

atb – The term atb refers to a variety of bridge puzzle. It actually means assign the blame. The point of the bridge puzzle is to see where the game went wrong – and why. There’s usually a right answer (and usually a disagreement about one or two aspects of bridge in the comments).

bbo – Since you’re already on the Prime or Prime Archive page right now, you might have guessed that this term means bridge base online. This very site.

brb – Where brb appears in a conversation, expect a partner, opponent, or kibitzer to be right back. There’s no appropriate bridge abbreviation for when they aren’t, though.

btw – While this one is not specifically reserved for online bridge games, in online conversation it usually means by the way.

cc – Cc shows up often, and usually means convention card when a bridge player has said it.

f2f – With more active online bridge tables in the world today than ever before, the term f2f has shown up with increasing frequency – and usually to distinguish in-person games from online ones.

glp – Where used during bridge, the term glp says good luck partner.

jd – Usually, the term jd refers to junior detectives. Not always favourable when used, it refers to players who conduct their own bridge investigations.

np – Simply, this term means no problem.

olb – The term olb usually means online bridge, and to distinguish it from face-to-face (or f2f) games.

typ – The online bridge term typ is a way of thanking your partner for a game well played, a move well made, or anything else that you might want to say thanks to your bridge partner for. Simply, it says thank you partner.

wdp – When it appears during a conversation about online bridge, the term wdp means well done partner. Alternatively, go with typ, described above.

What new or unusual online bridge terms have you seen appearing on the internet?