DTB: What Does The Acronym Mean On TikTok?

It’s often difficult to get a handle on the meaning of a phrase, abbreviation, or acronym that starts trending on TikTok. Even if the word or phrase continues to trend, it can often stand for several, very different things.

DTB is a good example. You might see one TikTok post using the phrase in the context of a nasty breakup with a man, another referring to an acrimonious split with a woman, and a third describing DTB as an apparently tongue-in-cheek way to attack a very annoying person.

So, what does DTB actually mean on TikTok? Let’s find out.

DTB: Meaning #1

When referring to a breakup with a guy, “DTB” stands for “Don’t Trust Boys.” There’s no indication where the saying first originated; it just started popping up on social media platforms and quickly became adopted as a mantra.

Used in this context, DTB could be used in a first-person TikTok video about a relationship that went badly, with the person who thinks they were mistreated concluding with the phrase or tagging the post #DTB in their description. It’s also used as a sympathetic show of support by others who see the content and simply respond: DTB!

DTB: Meaning #2

This similar usage of the acronym does have an apparent backstory.

In 2020, the New York rapper known as A Boogie Wit da Hoodie released a track that went viral: “DTB 4 Life.” “DTB” stood for “Don’t Trust Bitches,” and the misogynistic lyrics were a callback to one of his 2016 track D.T.B.: “I’m DTB for life, no, I can’t trust my bitches.”

Both the song and the acronym started trending in the 2020s and DTB is still regularly used on the app, primarily as a response to videos about alleged disloyalty or cheating by a poster’s female partner.

DTB: Meaning #3

And now for something completely different.

A program on the Zeus Network known as Baddies(a spin-off of the Oxygen Network series Bad Girls Club) features a cast member known as “Diamond the Body.” Her name is abbreviated as — you guessed it — DTB.

In what’s called her signature move, DTB does selfies, taking her fingers and “squishing” the images of her nemeses’ faces. That’s a far cry from the “Body Breaker” signature move of the former pro wrestler and former Minnesota governor with a similar name, Jesse “The Body” Ventura. In these days of selfies and influencers, though, it’s become a big deal.

It’s also become a big trend among TikTok users who do the “squishing” move in their own selfies posted to the app and credit “DTB.”

You might less frequently see the acronym used to mean “don’t text back” or “down to bang” (in an explicit sense, of course), but the lesson is already clear: be sure of the context before responding to anyone using “DTB” in their TikTok content.