What it means
Short for away from keyboard, flagging that you have stepped away and are not really there. In a game it warns the team you are not controlling your character, in chat it just means back in a bit. It has crept into speech too, as in I went afk for an hour.
Usage examples
"Going afk for five, someone is at the door with a parcel."
"He went afk mid-game and the whole team got wiped."
"brb, going afk to rescue my burning toast."
"Don’t queue yet, I’m afk grabbing a drink."
Where it comes from
AFK comes straight from away from keyboard. It popped up in early IRC chats, forums, and online games in the 1990s when people needed a quick way to say they’d stepped off and weren’t actively replying or playing. From there it spread all over internet slang and then into everyday speech.
