When looking at text messages, many a parent has looked on in wide-eyed bewilderment as their offspring – supposedly human – communicate in some language that looks nothing like English. Vowels seem to have disappeared, numerals are now letters, and punctuation multiplies like rabbits at the end of these so-called sentences. What does it mean? More importantly, what are your kids saying? In these times of child predators and underage “extra-curricular activities,” parents need to learn the lingo being tapped out by their kids’ lightning-speed fingers.
It’s All Geek To Me
If you can get your brain to think in shorthand, you’ll be one step ahead of the text lingo game. Typical abbreviation techniques like leaving out vowels, using letter names instead of sounds (C for see), and acronyms will help you understand most text messages. There are some acronymns and “codewords” exclusive to Geekdom, though, so you’ll need a Geek to Parent dictionary. Here’s a very abbreviated version to get you started.
2: To/Too
2day: Today
2moro: Tomorrow
2nite: Tonight
4: For
4evr: Forever
B4N or BFN: Bye for now
BAK: Back at keyboard
BBIAF: Be back in a few
BBL: Be back later
BCNU: Be seeing you
BFF: Best friend forever
BFFL: Best friends for life
BRB: Be right back
BTW: By the way
C: See
cos: Because/Cousin
CU: See you
CUL: See you later/Call you later
cuz: Because/Cousin
CYA: See you
CYL: See you later
ez: Easy
FYI: For your information
G2G or GTG: Got to Go/Get Together
GAL: Get a life
GTG or G2G: Got to go or Get together
Homg: Oh my God/gosh
IDC: I don’t care
IDK: I don’t know
IMHO: In my humble/honest opinion
IMO: In my opinion
IWYWH: I wish you were here
JC: Just chilling
JK: Just kidding
JP: Just playing
JW: Just wondering
K: Okay
KWIM: Know what I mean?
L8R: Later
LAFFO: Laughing out loud
LHO: Laughing my head off
LMAO: Laugh(ing) my a– off
LOL: Laugh(ing) out loud
LOLZ: Laugh(ing) out loud
luv: Love
MYOB: Mind your own business
n: And
ne1: Anyone
NM: Not much/Nothing much/Never mind
NMU: Not much, you?
Noob: Newbie (often an insult)
OMFG: Oh my f—— God/Gosh
OMG: Oh my God/Gosh
PITA: Pain in the a-s
PLS or PLZ: Please
PlzKThx: Please. Okay? Thanks. (Thanks In Advance)
ppl: People
qt: Cutie
R: Are
ROFL: Rolling on floor laughing
ROFLMAO: Rolling on floor laughing my a– off
ROTFL: Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFLOL: Rolling on the floor laughing out loud
RUOK: Are you Okay?
THNKS, THNX or THX: Thanks
TTFN: Ta Ta for now
TTLY: Totally
TTYL: Talk to you later
TY: Thank you
U: You/How are you?/You do it.
ur: Your/You’re
UW: You’re welcome
W/E: Whatever
W8: Wait
WB: Welcome back/Write back
wknd: Weekend
WTF: What the f—?
WYSIWYG: What you see is what you get
XLNT: Excellent
y: Why
yr: Your/You’re
ZOMG: Oh my God/gosh
ZZZ: Sleeping/Bored/Tired
Watch for part two in the Texting Parents Series: Emotional Texting.
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