By now, texting acronyms like LOL and OMG are pretty pervasive in pop culture; my daughter knew them in preschool, you hear them from the least hip anchors on TV morning shows, and heck, your own parents probably have texted you an LOL at some point. But when you’re the parent of a tween or teen, and you’re keeping careful track of who – and what – they’re texting, it’s good to be able dig a little deeper. Here, 99 texting acronyms and expressions that every parent should know. It’s not complete by any means, but it’s a start.
Of course, lots of text speak will vary by region or even school or peer group. This is really just to help you understand that this kind of language exists in the first place. And yes, there will be completely new ones by the time you have these memorized. Wily kids.
Related: Should I secretly spy on my teen using a tracking app? Reader Q&A
GENERAL TEXTINGÂ ACRONYMS BEYOND THE VERY BASICS
143Â Â Â Â Â I love you
1432Â Â Â Â I love you too
ATMÂ Â Â Â At The moment
gerd     Abbreviation for ermagerd (Oh my God)
GR8Â Â Â Â Â Great
CMB Â Â Â Â Call Me Back
CUNS Â Â Â See You In School
F2FÂ Â Â Â Â Face to Face
FOAF Â Â Â Friend Of A Friend
FML Â Â Â Â Â F*** My Life
FTW      For The Win
GTGÂ Â Â Â Â Â Got to Go
GTFO Â Â Â Get the F* Out
HAK Â Â Â Â Hugs and Kisses
HMU Â Â Â Hit Me Up
IKRÂ Â Â Â Â I Know, Right?
IDC Â Â Â Â Â I Don’t Care
IDK Â Â Â Â I don’t Know
ITA/D Â Â I Totally Agree/Disagree
IRLÂ Â Â Â Â In real life
J/KÂ Â Â Â Â Just Kidding
KK Â Â Â Â Â Okay
KWIMÂ Â Know what I mean?
L&RÂ Â Â Â Love and respect
mmk    Mmm…okay
MEGO   My Eyes are Glazing Over
MYTÂ Â Â Â Meet You There
NAGI    Not A Good Idea
NBD    No Big Deal
NGHÂ Â Â Â Not Gonna Happen
NMP    Not My Problem
NSFW   Not Safe for Work
NSFL    Not Safe for Life
NTIMÂ Â Â Â Not That It Matters
N00BÂ Â Â Newbie
OATUSÂ Â On a totally unrelated subject
O RLYÂ Â Oh, really?
P&C Â Â Â Â Private and Confidential
PITAÂ Â Â Â Pain in the A**
REHI Â Â Â Hi, again
RUOK    Are You OK?
QQ Â Â Â Â Â Â Crying (often humorously)
SFSGÂ Â Â Â So Far So Good
SLT     Something Like That
SOL Â Â Â Â Sh** Out of Luck
SUPÂ Â Â Â What’s up?
UOK Â Â Â Â Are you okay?
4QÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â F*** You
VCDA Â Â Â Vaya Con Dios, Amigo
VSFÂ Â Â Â Â Very Sad Face
WDYMÂ What Do You Mean?
WFM   Works For Me
WRUD  What Are You Doing?
WTGÂ Â Â Â Way To Go!
W00TÂ Â Â Hooray!
WTHÂ Â Â Â What The Hell?
XOXOZZZ Hugs, kisses, sweet dreams
ZOMGÂ Â Â Â Oh my God
Related: 10 questions parents should ask when writing a cell phone contract for kids
TEXTING ACRONYMS ABOUT THOSE PESKY PARENTS
AITRÂ Â Â Â Adult in the Room
303Â Â Â Â Â Mom
M/POSÂ Â Mom/Parents over shoulder
PIRÂ Â Â Â Â Parent in Room
PALÂ Â Â Â Â Parents are Listening
PAWÂ Â Â Â Parents are Watching
CD9Â Â Â Â Â Parents around/Code 9
PAÂ / PA911Â Â Parent Alert
9Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Parent Watching
99Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Parent Gone
Related: How to talk to teens and tweens about using tech safely
TEXTING ACRONYMS ABOUT SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS
53XÂ Â Â Â Â Sex
?^Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Want to Hook Up?
ASLPÂ Â Â Â (What is your) Age/Sex/Location/Picture? (Also ASL)
CU46 Â Â Â Â See You For Sex
DYHAB/GÂ Â Do You Have A Boyfriend/Girlfriend?
DTH Â Â Â Â Â Down To Hang (I’m up for getting together)
FWBÂ Â Â Â Â Â Friends With Benefits
GNOC     Get Naked on Camera
I&IÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Intercourse &Â Inebriation
IPNÂ Â Â Â Â Â I’m Posting Naked
LH6Â Â Â Â Â Â Let’s Have Sex
LJBF Â Â Â Â Let’s just be friends
LMIRLÂ Â Let’s Meet In Real Life
LYLAB/S Love You Like A Brother/Sister
NSA Â Â Â Â No Strings Attached
RU/18    Are You Over 18?
WTTP Â Â Â Want To Trade Pictures?
 *Note that most sexual Internet abbreviations  are derived from dating sites and message boards. You’re more likely to see them on apps like Tinder than on texts to friends.Â
TEXTING ACRONYMS: THE SECRET Â LIFE OF TEENS
1174    The meeting place for  a party
420Â Â Â Â Â Marijuana
BYAMÂ Â Â Between You and Me
4YEOÂ Â Â For Your Eyes Only
CRAFTÂ Â Can’t Remember a F’ing Thing
CICYHW Â Can I Copy Your Homework?
DADT Â Â Â Don’t Ask Don’t Tell
DOC Â Â Â Â Â Drug Of Choice
SOBTÂ Â Â Â Stressed Out Big Time
TWDÂ Â Â Â Texting While Driving
WTPAÂ Â Â Where’s The Party At?
%\ Â Â Â Â Â Â Hangover
#-) Â Â Â Â Exhausted, partied all night
%*}Â Â Â Inebriated
BYAM, this is GR8! As a non-tech 303, I love the insider 411, KWIM? W2G!
That MOD
(Okay we made up an acronym for Made Our Day.)
Perfect.
this is not what teenagers say lmao
This is very helpful and informative. Thank you!
FTFY – fixed that for you
Liz,
10Q for this comprehensive list.
It’s amazing that an entirely new language has grown up around social media.
I will definitely be passing this on to my Baby Boomer followers.
hey teens, guess what? 420 is not a secret!! We will know that one!
GERBRA = getting laid
DTF – Down To F**k
Parents beware, I learned this one the hard way from my daughter the other day:
DTA – Down to Anal
Okay, but more often than not I see it as DFA or D4A, but admit there are dialectic differences in some of these…
W00t is gamer slang for we own the other team. 😛
FTW does not mean “For the win” – it means F*#$ the World
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Most common usage “Guy” is For the Win. Unless, evidently, you are in a biker gang?
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=FTW
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/f/f/What-Is-FTW-for-the-Win.htm – Eds
YOLO = You Only Live Once
WOM = Word of Mouth
IDGF/IDGAF = I Don’t Give a F***
MCM = Man Crush Monday (Instagram thing)
WCW = Woman Crush Wednesday (Instagram)
LA2D = Let’s Agree to Disagree
Ed: As an internet “guru” doing it from b4 there was a web and sons in the trade – well connected – IDGAF about what the urban dictionary says – ask a hundred teens that WTF! Means and it’ll be What the F#ck! for 98 of them.
I see it used quite frequently, in context, and use it myself, of course YMMV.
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Dave, we agree on WTF. Use it ourselves often. The discussion was about FTW – or For the Win. But hey, YMMV 🙂 – Eds
Great article though, even I saw one I didn’t already know.
As a teen, I’ve only seen 3 of these used with out sarcasm. We will always be ahead of adults. That’s how it has always been, that’s how it will always be.
Cant wait for the day you are an adult, Rachel.
But seriously, I’m an adult and most of these look like the acronyms used over 10 years ago on AIM and message boards.
Ok god i have to say it. Im a sixteen year old girl and we use maybe a tenth of those. Me and my friends were seriously shocked and laughing our asses off (or lmao-ing) because this was so ridiculous. Ok so for example – can i copy your homework? We dont care. We will flat out ask: can i copy your homework. If a two kids wanna hang out, they will say: hey lets hang out. Not some big secret k?
Yeah.. I’m 18 and as a teenager I can honestly say that we don’t text like this. Especially the “parent” section. Less than half of these are used. However, I can say that I totally understand why a parent would feel like they need these. This world is changing, and not for the better.
I’m pretty sure most of these were made up by some mom. Never in my life have I heard of most of these acronyms.
These are all made up. I know this for fact, because I just put them in front of 30 teens. Not one response.
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As we said, slang of any kind will vary by state, by region, and even by school. So yes! They were all made up…by someone. Who is using them. We’re sure that in Canada, where you are, you have your own abbreviations.