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Your Bridge Glossary: A Long List of Short-Hand

by Alex J. Coyne © Great Bridge Links 2020 (Updated 2024)

Great Bridge Links has covered the basics of must-know bridge terms before, but it seems that wasn’t quite enough, so Alex has put together for us another list covering some of the acronyms, abbreviations and shorthand you might come across playing bridge both online and at the local club.

Where will you find this kind of shorthand? These should all come in handy on message boards, chat rooms, forums, bridge books and during online play – especially when you’re playing online. The list also includes clubs, associations and unions – but of course, not all of them by a long shot.

The list below is for short hand terms and acronyms only. TIP: Press CTRL+F to bring up the Find function on your browser if you need to find something in a hurry!

Here also are some good Bridge Glossaries and Dictionaries.

The Bridge World Magazine has a fantastic Bridge Dictionary – not to be missed!

Wikipedia Glossary of Contract Bridge Terms

Funbridge offers a complete Bridge Glossary 

ACBL has a Bridge Glossary on their Learn to Play Bridge pages.

BridgeBum offers a complete listing of Bridge Bidding Conventions

The Bridge Players Dictionary – Compiled and edited by Randall Baron, Illustrated by Jude Goodwin. This is a ‘hold in your hand’ dictionary – great for gifting!

Audrey Grant’s Better Bridge Comprehensive Bridge Glossary

A

ABA

American Bridge Association

ABF

Australian Bridge Federation

ABTA

American Bridge Teachers’ Association

ACBL

American Contract Bridge League

AI

Authorized Information

B

BAM

Board-a-Match

BAWA

Bridge Association of Western Australia

BBA

Bedfordshire Bridge Association or Burley Bridge Association

BBO

Bridge Base Online

BD

Board of Directors (also BoD)

BFI

Bridge Federation of India

BIT

Break in Tempo

BOOT

Bid Out Of Turn

BRB

Be Right Back – a common term when playing online and typically signifies a bathroom or beverage break.

C

CACBF

Caribbean and Central American Bridge Federation

CBA

Chennai Bridge Association

CBF

Canadian Bridge Federation

CBLT

Contract Bridge League of Thailand

CCBA

Chicago Contract Bridge Association

CHO

Centre-Hand Opponent

CIBA

Central Indiana Bridge Association

COOT 

Call Out Of Turn

D

DAB

Directional Asking Bid

DBAA

Duplicate Bridge Association of Atlanta

DEPO

Double Even Pass Odd

DONT

Double Opponent’s No Trump

DOPE 

Double Zero Pass Even

DOPI

Double Zero Pass One

E

EBL

European Bridge League

EBU

European Bridge Union

EMBA 

Eastern Massachusetts Bridge Association 

G

GNT

Grand National Teams

GNYBA

Greater New York Bridge Association

GSF

Grand Slam Force

H

HCP

High Card Points

HUM

Highly Unusual Method

HKCBA

Hong Kong Contract Bridge Association

I

IB

Insufficient Bid

IMP

International Match Point

IOC

International Olympic Committee

IPBM

International Popular Bridge Monthly

L

LBA

Louisiana Bridge Association

LHO

Left Hand Opponent

LOL

Little Old Lady. OK, Alex, this can also mean Laughing Out Loud! Be sure to double check before being insulted! LOL (Jude)

LTC
Losing Trick Count

M

MBA

Maryland Bridge Association

MCBA

Malaysian Contract Bridge Association

MB

Misbid

MUD

Middle-Up-Down

MVBA

Miami Valley Bridge Association

N

NAP

North American Open Pairs

NBB

Nederlandse Bridge Bond

NHBA

New Hampshire Bridge Association

NSWBA

New South Wales Bridge Association

NT

No Trump

NMF

New Minor Forcing

NOS

Non Offending Side

NVBA

North Virginia Bridge Association

NZB

New-Zealand Bridge

O

OS

Offending Side

P

PLOOT

Play Out Of Turn

POOT

Pass Out of Turn

R

RA 

Regulating Authority

RHO

Right Hand Opponent

RLB

Real Life Bridge (as opposed to playing online)

S

SABA

South Australian Bridge Association

SABF

South African Bridge Federation

SAWBA

South African Woman’s Bridge Association

SAYC

Standard American Yellow Card

SBU

Scottish Bridge Union

SCBA

Singapore Contract Bridge Association

SCCBA

Sussex County Contract Bridge Association

SO

Sponsoring Organizations

STAC

Sectional Tournaments at Clubs

SPS

Suit Preference Signal

T

TAP

Teacher Accreditation Program (offered by the ACBL)

TD

Tournament Director

TYP

Thank You Partner

U

UI

Unauthorized Information

USBC

United States Bridge Championships

USBF

United States Bridge Federation

UPH

Unpassed Hand

V

VBA

Victorian Bridge Association

VP

Victory Points

W

WBF

World Bridge Federation

WBFLC

World Bridge Federation Laws Committee

WCBA

Wiltshire County Bridge Association

WWBA

West Wales Bridge Association

Y

YCBA

Yorkshire Contract Bridge Association

YCBC

Young Chelsea Bridge Club

Z

ZT

Zero Tolerance

Casino Dictionary

No list of card terms is complete without a nod to casino card games and we’ve found a great website with a comprehensive dictionary. Learn all these terms and you’re on your way! Visit Casinopedia and click on Casino Dictionary.