Baby Wearing Lingo
So you've fallen hard and fast down the rabbit hole into the wonderful world of baby wearing, or perhaps you're just dipping your toes. You don't know your tas from your tub and what the hell is an RRR?
I've compiled a (somewhat) comprehensive, but not exhaustive list of the current baby wearing slang and abbreviations to help you navigate the pages.
General terms
BW - Baby wearing
BWers - Baby wearers.
Beater: A wrap worn for general purpose, one you don't mind using during chores or getting a little dirty. See alternate meaning under "Woven Specific."
Colourway: The colours of the wrap, eg one design may have various colourways.
DD/DS - Dear daughter/son
DH - Dear Husband (also double hammock carry)
DIY - Do it yourself
FTM - First time mum
HE - High end (Designer/ Expensive)
HW - Hand Woven - Woven on a loom by hand.
IMO - In my opinion
LO - Little one
Loom state: Straight off the loom needs washing and depending on the blend steaming/ironing to set the fibres.
MW - Machine woven
Natty: Natural coloured wraps (cream, white etc)
PM - private message
RAOK - Random act of kindness
SIL/MIL/FIL - Sister/ mother/ monster / father (etc) in-law
SS: Stash shot - Basically a pile of woven beauties/ carriers
STIH - Soft tape in hand (a means of measurement)
TBH - To be honest
Wearee - Child or baby being worn
Buying, Selling & Trading
AUD/ CAD/ EU/ GBP/ NIS/ USD etc- Currency
B/S/T - Buy/Sell/Trade (also can be BSS - Buy Sell Swap)
BNIB - Brand New In Box
BNIP - Brand New In Package
Boomerang - To sell, only to buy the same wrap
BT - bank transfer
BUMP - Bring up my post (bumps the post up or to the wall), some mamas use emojis for the same person.
CISO - casually in search of
DD - direct deposit
DISO - desperately in search of
ETF - easy to find
EUC - excellent used condition
F - Following aka I'm just waiting until you drop your price enough so I can swoop on a deal.. Try to refrain from using this, you can turn on notifications on the top right corner of the post in facebook, which is sneaky but less rude.
FFS - free for shipping (or For F***'s Sake! :D)
FS - for sale
FSO - for sale only
FSOT - for sale or trade
FT - for trade
FTO - for trade only
GUC - good used condition
HSA - highly sought after
HTF - hard to find
IHA: I have a...
ISO - in search of
LE - Limited edition
LR - Limited release
MMARO - Make me a reasonable offer
MV - Market value (what the carrier is worth according to market trends/ recent sales etc)
NGPP - Non-gifted Paypal (goods & services, which incurs a fee yet provides insurance rather than gifted)
NIL - Next in line
OOAK - One of a kind
P&H or S&H - Postage/Shipping & handling
PIF - Pay It Forward
PFA - Perfect Fit Adjusts
PP - Paypal - The global baby wearing currency eg "I need a PP tree!" or "PP Ready!"
PPD - Postage Paid Domestic
RV/Retail - Price paid when new
Sub - subscribing to the thread (for updates or interest)
TFTO - Tentatively for trade only
TV - Trade value
VGUC - Very Good Used Condition
VTFTO - very tentatively for trade only
Wrap Split: Splitting a wrap into 2 shorties, two ring slings or a shortie and a ring sling
Carries & Finishes
BWCC - back wrap cross carry
BWCC w/ CB - back wrap cross carry with a chest belt
CCCB - Candy cane chest belt - a twisted finish across the chest.
CHCC - coolest hip cross carry
DH - Double hammock (a double layered carry)
FCC - front cross carry
FFO - front facing out
FW FWF or FWV - Fresh Water finish or variation
FWCC - Front wrap cross carry
HCC - hip cross carry
JC - Jordan’s back carry
KC - Kangaroo carry
LT - Lexi twist
P-WCC - pocket wrap cross carry
PHC - Poppins Hip Carry
RHC - Robins Hip Carry
RRR AKA Pirate's Carry - Rear Reinforced Ruck
RUB - Ruck under bum
SHBC - Secure High Back Carry
TAS - Tied at side
TC - Taiwanese carry
TIF - Tied in front
TT - Tied Tibetan
TUB - tied under (baby's) bum
T2T - Tummy-to-tummy
WCC - wrap cross carry
WPBC - Wiggle-proof back carry
Types of carriers
ABC - Asian-Style Buckle Carrier
Buckles: Buckle Carrier
Crotch dangler: A tongue in cheek reference to a less ergonomic carrier, such as a Bjorn
FB/C - Full Buckle/ Carrier
HB - Half buckle carrier
Hybrid - Any carrier with characteristics of 2 or more carriers eg. buckle mei tai or woven wrap mei tai
MT - Mei Tai
Onbu - Sometimes referring to an Onbuhimo which is a 2 strapped asian-style carrier, however it is respectful to use the full name Onbuhimo.
RS - Ring Sling
SPOC - Simple piece of cloth (usually a home made wrap)
SSC - Soft structured carrier
SC - Structured Carrier
Stretchy - A stretchy wrap
Woven Specific
Beater: In weaving can also be referred to as a tool or fork used to pack weave tightly.
Bias: Direction of weft and warp (weave)
Blunt edges: Straight non-tapered edges (recommended for more advanced BWers)
Heddle: Part of the loom that guides the warp thread.
Loom - The machine or apparatus on which the yarn is woven into fabric, Can be either mechanical or human operated.
Selvedge (selvage) - The sides of the fabric, sealed edges that won't unravel.
Shuttle - A ski, stick or boat shaped device that holds the yarn and delivers the weave.
Taper - Tapered or Angled tails which help in tying off.
Treadle - Foot pedals that impart motion on parts of the loom
Weft - Horizontal threads across the wrap
Warp - Vertical threads (the base of the wrap)
Common Brand Abbreviations
AD - Ali Dover
AE - Ankalia Embraced
AP - The devil
BS - Bebe Sachi
CC - Chateu Coco
Didy - Didymos DM - Diva Milano
Gira - Girasol
LF - Little Frog
LL - Lenny Lamb LW - Lawilde
PN - Pink Nova
SS - Sling Studio
WO4 - West of 4th
WW - Woven Wings
**Edited to say: I have removed all use of the word "Rebozo" as rebozo is a traditional garment, not a type of carries. Such carries names are transitioning. You can read more about it on the following link (note: exiting blog): http://wearingwiki.com/wp/takebacktherebozo/ and http://wearingwiki.com/wp/a-shift-in-terminology/ **