Acronyms dictionary BMS or rate:BMS [bee em es] Published March 27, 2018 What does BMS mean? BMS is an internet acronym for “broke my scale,” used in support of a user, often a woman, posting a picture of herself and asking for a numerical rating from her online followers. Where does BMS come from? Examples of BMS 4th WCW @jenyqtpi she so cute #bms #10 #ratebms #damn #wooooo #wcw ppaappii.chulo, Instagram, January, 2014 How about you? Follow me @springbreakgirls_sbg 😘😍 #blonde #brunette #bluejeans #sexygirls #sexy #eyes #lipstick #makeup #gorgeous #contacts #croptop #shirt #nails #fitgirl #pants #bms #slay #wow #prettygirls #loveislove springbreakgirls_sbg, Instagram, March, 2018 In this case, a girl may trade a “like” — meaning, a friend will like her photo — in exchange for another tidbit of honesty: a 1-10 rating, of how much she likes you, your best physical feature, and a numerical scale that answers the question of “are we friends?” and many others. Girls hope for a “BMS,” or break my scale, the ultimate show of affection. Rachel Simmons, Time, November, 2014 SEE MORE EXAMPLES Who uses BMS? During the height of the acronym’s popularity, BMS was mostly used by young women and men on social media, sometimes in the form of rate:BMS. As noted, BMS has largely fallen out of use, with Instagram posts including “#BMS” being more likely to tag a brand, business, or school with the initials BMS (e.g., Bristol Motor Speedway or Barberton Middle School). Rating photos on a scale is still popular on some social-media accounts (e.g., WeRateDogs awarding dog pictures a 12/10 for cuteness), though the BMS acronym is not common in replies to these accounts. Around the same time as the hashtag “#BMS” was gaining popularity in the early 2010s, a TV show about college freshmen, Blue Mountain State, was also airing. As viewers watched live and streamed reruns for a few years, the hashtag “#BMS” served as a hub for online conversations about the show on social media. Just Added pushing P, Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, trigger law, bystander effect, CSI effect Note This is not meant to be a formal definition of BMS like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of BMS that will help our users expand their word mastery.