What it means
Short for can't be arsed, the British texting shrug that closes a conversation faster than any polite no. You type cba when the gym, the family WhatsApp or the third coffee run is just too much, and the other person knows there is zero chance of you turning up. Cousins to the spoken version, but cba lives in screens, captions and group chats.
Usage examples
"Mate, cba with the pub quiz tonight, the rain is sideways and my sofa is winning the argument by a mile."
"Boss asked if anyone wanted to do the Saturday cover, the group chat went silent for nine minutes, then someone finally typed cba lol."
Where it comes from
From can not be arsed, abbreviated as cba in text speak across British smartphones since roughly the late noughties, when SMS character limits were still sacred and three letters could save you a whole guilt trip.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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