The acronyms below are those most frequently used in Online meetings. Many of them do not appear in Conference Approved Literature (CAL), but are posted here for clarification. For a more complete list that includes common texting/Internet acronyms, please consult the Acronym Dictionary.
- A: Alcoholic
- AA: Alcoholics Anonymous
- 3A’s: Awareness, Acceptance and Action
- ABF: Alcoholic Boyfriend*
- ACOA: Adult Child(ren) of Alcoholics
Some Al-Anon meetings focus on issues common to ACOA’s, also referred to as Adult Children. - AD: Alcoholic Daughter*
- AF: Alcoholic Father*
- AFG: Al-Anon Family Group(s)
- AH: Alcoholic Husband*
- AM: Alcoholic Mother*
- ANTS: Automatic Negative ThoughtS
- AS: Alcoholic Son/Sister/Spouse*
- C2C: Courage to Change
This is one of Al-Anon’s daily readers, the second one published. Please see the CAL page for more information. - CAL: Conference Approved Literature (Al-Anon)
Please see our CAL page for more information. - ESH: Experience, Strength and Hope
Members are always encouraged to focus on their experience, strength and hope when sharing. Additionally, members seeking help for personal struggles will occasionally post off topic (OT) requests for ESH to the meeting. - F2F: Face-to-Face
This typically refers to an in-person Al-Anon meeting. For more information, please follow this link: Al-Anon Face to Face Meetings - FEAR: Face Everything And Recover/False Evidence Appearing Real
- FOG: Fear Obsession Guilt
- FOO: Family Of Origin
- GOD: Good Orderly Direction
Al-Anon does not endorse and discourages discussion of any particular religion. Some members don’t believe in God as a supreme, supernatural being, and prefer to think of Good Orderly Direction as their Higher Power (HP). Please see the Three Obstacles to Success for more information. - GOD: Grace over Drama
- GOMU: God Of My Understanding
- HALT: Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired
- HALT: Have A Laugh Today
- HFA: High Functioning Alcoholic
- HOPE: Happy Our Program Exists/Hold On Pain Ends
- HOW:Honest Open Willing
- HP: Higher Power
- JADE: Justify Argue Defend Explain
- KISS: Keep It Simple, Sweetheart
Please see the Al-Anon Slogans page for more information. (Some members may have heard, “Keep It Simple, Stupid,” but that’s not so… sweet!) - LGLG: Let Go and Let God
Please see Al-Anon Slogans for more information. - 4 M’s: Martyring, Managing, Manipulating and Mothering
- MMOB: Mind My Own Business
In Al-Anon, we are encouraged to keep the focus on ourselves. - NUTS: Not Using The Steps
- ODAT: One Day at a Time
This is both an Al-Anon slogan and the title of the first Al-Anon daily reader every published. Please see the Al-Anon Slogans and the CAL pages for more information. - OT: Off Topic
- PAUSE:Postpone Action Until Sanity Enters/\Please Assist Until Sanity Enters
- QTIP: Quit Taking It Personally
- RA: Recovering Alcoholic
- RABF: Recovering Alcoholic Boyfriend*
- RAH: Recovering Alcoholic Husband*
- THINK: Thoughtful Helpful Intelligent Necessary Kind
This is a suggestion commonly heard in Al-Anon meetings to ensure that what we have to say is, “Thoughtful, Helpful, Intelligent, Necessary and Kind.” This acronym is often considered synonymous with the slogan, “Think.” Please see the Al-Anon Slogans page for more information. - WAIT: Why Am I Talking?
- WAIST: Why Am I Still Talking?
- WSC: World Service Conference
- WSO: World Service Office
*Members get a bit creative with these, but you can usually tell what the writer means from the context.