These days, ‘bad’ means ‘good’ and people say someone ‘ate that’ when not a single piece of food has passed their lips…so you can see how it’s hard to keep up with.
The lingo that youngsters tend to use is like another language to most parents, and kids often communicate with one another in this code while glued to their smartphones.
It might be innocent enough – perhaps discussing their puppy loves or lost homework – however, these acronyms, emojis and cryptic symbols can also stand for something sinister.
Nottinghamshire Police have shared a laundry list of terms which parents ought to become well versed with, as it could help save your child from a dangerous situation.
The force divvied up the words, hashtags and contractions into three categories describing their risk level; ‘warning flags’, ‘terms to keep an eye on’, and ‘fun’.
Youngsters often communicate with their pals in code so that parents can’t snoop (Getty Stock Image)
The new codes kids are using is a topic which has been thrust to the forefront of a lot of parents minds following the success of Netflix drama Adolescence, starring Stephen Graham.
The acting legend stars as the father of Jamie, played by incredible newcomer Owen Cooper, who uses emojis and slang to disguise the contents of his chats with his teenage pals.
Graham’s character wasn’t the only one left baffled by this means of communication, as a host of Brits were too.
Thankfully, Nottinghamshire Police’s list of 60 terms can act as something of a dictionary of potential danger, as it may help you spot when your offspring is in some kind of trouble.
You might know a few of them already – such as AF referring to ‘as f**k’, DM meaning ‘direct message’, YOLO standing for ‘you only live once’, JK for ‘just kidding’ and ILY for ‘i love you’.
It’s simple enough stuff…but the next generation have also evolved onto other puzzling acronyms these days, such as using ‘CD9’ to explain that a parent is keeping a watchful eye on them.
Other bizarre codewords being used as a cover up for worrying words include ‘sue’ for suicide, CU46 to say ‘see you for sex’ and GNOC, which police say means ‘get naked on camera’.
Nottinghamshire Police have revealed what slang terms you should look out for on your child’s devices (Getty Stock Image)
Further alarming phrases include IWSN for ‘I want sex now’, KPC to say ‘keep parents clueless’ and Molly to refer to ‘ecstasy or MDMA’…unless it really is just a friend named Molly.
Moving on from these ‘warning flags’, police also said there are a few terms which parents should ‘keep an eye on’, such as TMB which stands for ‘tweet me back’.
Cops also pointed out that VSF stands for ‘very sad face’, while the letters SWAK are code for ‘sealed with a kiss’.
As well as this PAP is ‘post a picture’, WTPA is ‘where’s the party at?’, TBR is ‘to be rude’ – while ‘airing’ somebody is just a new way of saying ‘ignoring’.
Teens might brand each other ‘salty’ when referring to someone being bitter, ‘slipping’ means making a mistake, ‘preeing’ means having a cheeky spy on someone via social media and ‘parring’ means having someone off.
Spotting some of these terms on your kids devices might help you nip potential cyberbullying in the bud as early as possible.
There are some completely innocent ‘fun’ slang words being used by youngsters though too, which are simply used to shorten their sentences.
AFAIK means ‘as far as I know’, CBA is ‘can’t be ar**d’ and RAK is ‘random act of kindness’ – so on some occasions, kids are just being kids with these contractions.
You can take a look at Nottinghamshire Police’s full list of terms here:
Warning Flags
#ana – Anorexia
#deb – Depression
#sue –Suicide
#svv – Self-harming behaviour
#thinsp –Thinspiration
9 – A parent is watching
420 – Marijuana
ASL – Age, sex, location
CD9 – Parents are around
Crow – Cannabis
CU46 – See you for sex
Daddy – A partner with influence/power or affection
Down in the DM – Plans for a sexual hook-up in social media/texts
F2F or FTF – Face to face
FWB – Friends with benefits
FYEO – For your eyes only
GNOC – Get naked on camera
Hooking up – Having sex
“I know a way you can earn money fast” – Possible attempt to get photos/webcam access or blackmail info
“I know someone who can get you a modelling job” – Possible attempt to ask for photos/flatter
IRL – In real life
IWSN – I want sex now
“Let’s go private” – Leaving public chatroom for private messaging
LMIRL – Let’s meet in real life
KPC – Keep parents clueless
Merked – Really drunk/beaten up/told off
MIRL – Meeting in real life
Molly – Ecstasy/MDMA (or a person named Molly)
MOOS – Member of the opposite sex
MOS – Mum over shoulder
Moving to (someone) – Approaching aggressively or romantically
Netflix ‘n Chill – Meeting under pretense of watching Netflix, but actually for sex
NIFOC – Naked in front of computer
NSFL – Not safe for life
NSFW – Not safe for work
P911 or P999 – Parents are watching
POS – Parents over shoulder
Pre-ing – Pre-drinking
RU/18 – Are you over 18?
Sket – Insulting term towards girls
Smash – Casual sex
Swipe right – Tinder term of approval
Thirsty – Desperate for something
Trolling – Fooling someone; often abusive online
Wavey – Drunk or high
“Where’s your computer in your house?” – Potentially checking if parents are around
“Who/What’s your favorite band/designer/film/gear?” – Possible attempt to gather info for gifts
Wired – Drug-induced paranoia
WYRN – What’s your real name?
“You are the love of my life” – Potential emotional manipulation
“You seem sad. Tell me what’s bothering you” – Potential attempt to gather personal info
Zerg – To gang up on someone
Keep an eye on
4eae – Forever and ever
AND – Any day now
Af – As f**k
Aired – Ignoring someone
“Are you parring me?” –Are you disrespecting me?
B – Babe (friend)
Bae – Term of endearment (before anyone else)
Basic – Lacking originality
Begfriend – Someone who sucks up to others
BFN – Bye for now
BOL – Be on later
Bookie – Weird or disgusting
Booted – Left behind or dumped
Butters – Ugly person
“Bye Felicia” – Dismissive phrase to tell someone to go away
Curve – Reject someone romantically
Dime – Extremely good looking person
DM – Direct message
Ghost – Completely ignoring someone (ghosting)
GLHF – Good luck, have fun
HT or H/T – Heard through
HAK – Hugs and kisses
IANAL – I am not a lawyer
ILY or ILU – I love you
IU2U – It’s up to you
IYKWIM – If you know what I mean
J4F – Just for fun
JIC – Just in case
J/K – Just kidding
Kicked – Left behind
Low key – Not wanting something widely known
NAGI – Not a good idea
OH – Overheard
PAP – Post a picture
Peng or tidy – Really attractive
Preeing – Looking at someone online (Facebook stalking)
PTB – Please text back
QQ – Crying
RL – Real life
Salty – Bitter about something
Ship – Relationship admiration
Sip tea – Mind your own business
Skurt – Go away or leave
Slept – Knock someone out
Slipping – Messing up
Stacked – Muscly, toned
Swag – Confidence or fancy clothes
SWAK – Sealed with a kiss
SWYP – So what’s your problem?
TBR – To be rude
Throw shade – Give a nasty look or comment
TIME – Tears in my eyes
TMB – Tweet me back
VSF – Very sad face
WTH or WTF – What the heck?
WTPA – Where’s the party at?
WYCM – Will you call me?
WYSIWYG – What you see is what you get
YGM – You’ve got mail
YOLO – You only live once
Fun
:3 –Cat face emoticon (cute/odd/coy)
2day – Today
Acc – Actually
AFAIK – As far as I know
AFK – Away from keyboard
ATM – At the moment
B4 – Before
Baffed – Confused
Banter – Fun chat
Bare/Bear – Really, really
B/C – Because
BF or GF – Boyfriend or girlfriend
Blates – Obviously
Blessed – Nice person
Boots – Used to mean ‘very’ or ‘a lot’
BRB – Be right back
Bromance – Close friendship between two boys
Bruh – Casual “bro”
BTW – By the way
Buck me – Give me
Buff – Attractive
“Can’t even” – Expression of exasperation
CBA – Can’t be bothered
Cray – Crazy
Cuz – Friend
Dench – Fantastic/cool
Dope – Really cool
DWBH – Don’t worry be happy
Fail – Something goes wrong
Fam – Close friends
FB – Facebook
Feels – Feelings
FF – Follow Friday
Fierce – Looking amazing
FOMO – Fear of missing out
FTL – For the loss
FTW – For the win
FWIW – For what it’s worth
FYI – For your information
G – A friend (boy to boy)
Gassed – Happy
GOAT – Greatest of all time
GR8 – Great
GTG – Got to go
Gucci – Good/cool
HAND – Have a nice day
Hella – Really
HTH – Hope this helps
Hundo P – 100% sure
IDEK – I don’t even know
IDK – I don’t know
IIRC – If I remember correctly
IK – I know
IKR – I know, right?
Ill – Fantastic/cool
IMHO – In my honest opinion
IMO – In my opinion
“Is everything” – Great/important
“It’s lit” – Cool/awesome
“I’m weak” – That was funny
Jarring – Annoying
Jokes – Really funny
JSYK – Just so you know
K or KK – Okay
Legend – Very cool person
LMAO or LMBO – Laughing my arse/butt off
LMK – Let me know
Lol – Laugh out loud
MM – Music Monday
MSM – Mainstream media
NM – Never mind
NMU – Not much, you?
NP – No problem
NTS – Note to self
Obvi – Obviously
OMG – Oh my God
On fleek –On point/executed well
ORLY – Oh really?
OTP – Fictional couple meant to be together
Peak – Unfortunate
Pls or plz – Please
PPL – People
RAK – Random act of kindness
ROFL – Rolling on the floor laughing
RT – Retweet
RUOK – Are you okay?
Skl –School
Safe – Reliable/good person
SSDD – Same stuff, different day
Savage – Cool
Sick – Fantastic/cool
Slay – Doing really well
Squad – Friend group
SMH – Shaking my head
Snatched – Same as “on fleek”
SRSLY – Seriously
Straight fire – Hot/trendy
Swear – Serious?
TBH – To be honest
TIA – Thanks in advance
TMI – Too much information
TMRW – Tomorrow
Truss – I agree
TTYL – Talk to you later
Turnt – Excited/lit
TY or TU – Thank you
Ur – Your/you’re
V –Very
YAS – Enthusiastic “yes”
“You da real MVP” – Thanks for doing something important
YW – You’re welcome
Wag1/Wagwan – What’s up?
WB – Welcome back
Woke – Highly aware of social issues
ZOMG – Oh my God
