BNB

What Does BNB Mean in a Text?

The Quick Answer

BNB means "Bed and Breakfast," "Bad News Bears," and "Bread and Butter."

Bed And Breakfast

The most common definition for BNB is "Bed And Breakfast." In this context, BNB is most widely recognized as part of the name of Airbnb, the online accommodation service, based in San Francisco, California. BNB typically indicated the level of catering included in an hotel's room prices (i.e., BNB is a room with breakfast included, RO is room only, HB is half-board and FB is full-board). Throughout the English-speaking world, but particularly in the UK, BNBs are small lodging establishments that offer overnight accommodation and breakfast. They are often private family homes and typically have around six rooms. (Many accommodation providers working with Airbnb have only one or two rooms.) Here's an example of use of BNB meaning "Bed and Breakfast":

Peter: Did you book a hotel for the gig?
Polly: I booked a BNB. It's right opposite the hall.

Bed and Breakfast is also often abbreviated as B&B.

Bad News Bears

The abbreviation BNB is also used to refer to the 1976 American sports comedy film "The Bad News Bears," starring Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal. For example:

Pamela: What's your favorite sports-based film?
Percy: It's gotta be BNB. It's a classic!

Bread and Butter

BNB is used with the meaning "Bread and Butter" to refer to a person's main employment (i.e., the work that generates the income that provides their basic necessities). For example:

Pat: OK, so you're a wannabe social media influencer, but what's your BNB?
Paul: I clean rooms and wait tables in my mom's BNB.

Image for BNB

When I write BNB, I mean this:

BNB also means "Bad News Bears" and "Bread and Butter."

Summary of Key Points

We have summarized the key points in the table below:

BNB
Definition:	Bed and Breakfast
Type:	Abbreviation
Guessability:	1: Easy to guess
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Second Definition for BNB

"Bad News Bears" is another definition for BNB.

BNB
Definition:	Bad News Bears
Type:	Abbreviation
Guessability:	3: Guessable
Typical Users:	Adults and Teenagers

Third Definition for BNB

BNB also means "Bread and Butter."

BNB
Definition:	Bread and Butter
Type:	Abbreviation
Guessability:	3: Guessable
Typical Users:	Adults

An Academic Look at BNB

When used with the meaning "Bad News Bears," BNB is classified as an initialism abbreviation, because it is pronounced using its individual letters (i.e., "Bee Enn Bee"). Initialisms are different to acronyms, which are spoken like words. When used with the meanings "Bed and Breakfast" and "Bread and Butter," the letter 'N' in BNB is a contraction of the word 'and.'

What Did We Say before Texting and Social Media?

Before the digital era, we would have just said "Bad News Bears" and "Bread And Butter," instead of using the abbreviation BNB. The use of BNB to mean "Bed And Breakfast" long pre-dates the digital era.