Slowly, but surely, the Internet has become the most prominent part of our society. It is probable that you don’t even realize it, but nearly everything you do, see, watch, or hear is related to the online world in one way or another.
To understand everything about the Internet and its associated terms, we need to have high mental speed, creativity, and baggage, and those are traits most commonly associated with the youth. For some reason, adults and the elderly are not as adept as implementing Internet slang as our current generation is.
For parents, it is critical to have a hold on Internet slang, so we will provide a primer for you. You don’t want to invade your son’s or daughter’s privacy, but it is crucial for you to know what your kids are up to when they connect to the web. You may be surprised at how many terms and abbreviations exist in the digital environment.
The Internet language
Internet slang is something that parents need to be familiarized with. It goes from phrases, abbreviations, sentences with double meanings, and codes to emojis. The trendiest development on digital communications is shortening or abbreviating words.
That type of slang, or adapted language, is often used in public chat forums, SMS texting, messaging applications, and VoIP services. The intentions can vary, from speeding up communications to code talking to preserve the privacy of the conversation.
For parents, they need to identify possible red flags because the Internet slang may be closely related to potentially dangerous or illegal activity. They need to be up-to-date with the latest abbreviations, phrases, and even emoji combinations.
Abbreviations
Abbreviations can shorten words that are morally or socially not acceptable. In other occasions, they are used to shorten up words. For example, here are some common ones that users implement:
- LOL (Laughing Out Loud)
- OMG (Oh My God)
- WTF (What The F***?)
- PAL (Parents Are Listening)
- WTTP (Want To Trade Pictures?)
- IWSN (I Want Sex Now)
- ASL – Age/Sex/Location
- BMS – Breaks My Scale, implemented to rate someone
- FBOI – F**K Boy; A Guy Just Looking For Sex
- FWB – Friends With Benefits
- FYEO – For your eyes only
- GNOC – Get naked on camera
- GYPO – Get Your Pants Off
- KMS – Kill Myself
- KPC – Keeping parents clueless
- KYS – Kill Yourself
- LMIRL – Let’s Meet In Real Life
- MOS – Mom over shoulder
- NIFOC – Nude in front of computer
- P999 – Parent Alert
- PAL – Parents are listening
- PAW – Parents are watching
- PIR – Parent in room
- POS – Parents over shoulder
- RU/18 – Are you over 18?
- SOS – Someone over shoulder
- STFU – “Shut the f**k up
- TDTM – Talk Dirty To Me
- TF – The F**k
- Thot – That hoe over there
- WTTP: Want to trade pictures?
- WUF – Where You From?
- WYRN – What’s your real name?
Phrases with double meaning
Internet slang now includes phrases with a double meaning that may seem inoffensive, but they are written as code that only the sender and receiver will understand. Here are some notable examples:
- 1174 – Meet at a party
- 182 – I hate you
- 420 – Marijuana
- Thirsty – Desperate for attention, usually the sexual kind
- CD9 – Parents are around
- CU46 – See You For Sex
- Netflix and Chill – Getting together and hooking up
- Dabbing –Cannabis
- Smash – Casual sex
- Juul – Type of e-cigarette that is small and discreet
Leetspeak
It is a form of numbers and symbol combination in which the elements substitute letters that look very similar. For example, the “4” can act as an A, and the “0” can substitute the letter “O.” Its use may be tied to gaming, pirating, porn, and hacking. Examples are:
- H4x (hacks or hacking)
- Pr0n (porn)
Emojis
While the use of emojis isn’t new, right now there are hundreds of them, even more than those you have grown accustomed to. Internet slang dictates that the combination of two or more can acquire meaning in a conversation.
For example, the eggplant emoji is often used to refer to a penis, the peach one can be a butt, and three drops designed to relate to sweat or even tears can mean the act of ejaculation. Creativity at its best.
Why people use Internet slang?
Most kids and adolescents use Internet slang to promote a “cool” image or to hide their content and conversations from their parents. However, if the latter figure out a way to understand the language, they may protect them from themselves.
Internet slang can be used for:
- Sexting: it means sending messages with sexual connotations.
- Discussing private events and content protection
- Illegal downloading and torrenting
- Drugs commerce
- Signaling mental health issues
How can you protect your children’s online privacy
Open communication channels: Everything starts with communication. Your kids need to know that they can trust you, especially in such a pivotal time of their live and social development. However, you need to let them know the possible consequences of their acts online.
Stay up-to-date: If you know the latest terms, abbreviations, specialized language, codes, and meaning of “spicy” phrases, you will be able to protect your kid’s privacy more smoothly.
Help them configure their privacy settings: a fantastic lesson for both the present and the future is teaching your children the meaning of privacy and configuring settings to protect their digital assets, conversations, and interactions from a young age.
Use a VPN: Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are excellent online resources to maintain data privacy and security at all levels. They reroute traffic and location information to remote servers, away from the claws of Internet Service Providers, hackers, cybercriminals, governmental surveillance, censorship, online advertising, and more.
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In conclusion, it is essential for parents to understand Internet slang. It is a way to provide safety and privacy to their children, protecting them from the potential dangers of some dubious activities and shady services that may become accessible to them at a very early age.
