What does in b4thelock mean

I've heard the term "Inb4thelock" a lot. What does it actually mean?

not sure

oh ok

Here on chess.com, and only here, I've seen people frequently refer to threads as "forums." Not sure how that came about, but it's apparently a thing.

it's the moment when you try to put a few more things in a box just before it closes

it means that a thread will be locked soon 

and why is it on general chess discussion?

inb4itgoesmovedtocommunity

it’s the chesscom version of “let’s head them off at the pass”.

Fools

Some people like to announce they found a discussion that violates Chess.com’s community policy. Perhaps it’s like collecting Pokemen. They rarely report the content to moderators and this allows potentially harmful or unwanted content to remain. We can all help keep Chess.com safe and fun together.

if you suspect someone has violated the Chess.com community policy (https://www.chess.com/legal/community) please use the report message feature next to the message to notify moderators so we can address it.

note: INB4THELOCK does not alert moderators (or improve your ELO).