Afk means away from keyboard, a phrase that lets others know that you won’t be at your computer for a while. It’s commonly used with another abbreviation—brb (be right back)—to indicate that you’re taking a short break.

The term afk developed as a bit of chat room etiquette in the 1990s, when IRC was at its peak. It was later adopted by the gaming community, especially in MMOs (massively multiplayer online games).

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