What Does FWIW Mean (2023 Update)

FWIW – First glance:

FWIW means “for what it’s worth”, an abbreviation or internet slang widely used on social media like Twitter and Facebook.

Have you ever seen “fwiw” in texting or social media websites? FWIW can be seen as an internet slang, acronym, and abbreviation. You may see your friends or any social media users use “fwiw”. What does it stand for? You can refer to the following content.

What Is the Meaning of FWIW?

“FWIW” is short for “for what it’s worth”, which is often used to show that the user or texter wishes the other one or ones to consider an opinion, idea, or viewpoint when their opinion is wrong.

In normal cases, fwiw will not alter the meaning of the whole sentence but make the sentence more polite.

And “FWIW” mostly appears at the very beginning of a sentence to convey that there will be a contradictory opinion.

Examples of FWIW:

User 1: This movie is interesting.

User 2: FWIW, this movie is much more boring that that one.

User 1: Perhaps! I have no idea now.

In this example, fwiw is adopted by user 2 to express that he or she shares a different opinion that the movie is not interesting.

What is the Origin of FWIW?

At the very beginning, fwiw was coined in the field of economics. To be specific, this slang FWIW is used in a context that a buyer was to buy a horse for what it is worth at an exact price.

But with time going on, “for what it’s worth” is changed to be more of the characteristics of internet slang or acronym, fwiw.

Meanwhile, the meaning of the phrase “for what it’s worth” whose shortened form is “FWIW” has also been changed to simply show that the texter or user has different opinions with the other one.

And in a large sense, people using this slang often hope to show their politeness to present different ideas from others without any confrontations.

In a word, you can learn about the meaning and uses of FWIW from this post. If needed, you can use this slang or abbreviation FWIW to present your ideas that are different from the other or others politely at the beginning of a sentence with the acronym “FWIW” with the full form of “for what it’s worth”.