Are you a parent of a tween or teen texting or messaging using Snapchat, Instagram and other social media channels or messenger services? You may not be entirely aware of what some of the codes they are using actually mean. How many of these 127 secret teen codes do you know?

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Some codes that are used to communicate via text or other messaging services might have sexual content that you might not be aware of because of the abbreviation being used.

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Secret Teen Codes Explained

Here’s a list of 127 secret acronyms to help. I recognised a few off the list but there were quite a few surprises to me on there!

1. 143 – I love you
2. 182 – I hate you
3. 2DAY – Today
4. 420 – Marijuana
5. 459 – I love you
6. 4EAE – For ever and ever
7. 53X – Sex
8. 8 – Oral sex
9. AND – Any day now
10. ADR – Address
11. AEAP – As early as possible
12. AFAIK – As far as I know
13. AFK – Away from keyboard
14. ALAP – As late as possible
15. ASL – Age/sex/location
16. ATM – At the moment
17. BFN – Bye for now
18. BOL – Be on later
19. BRB – Be right back
20. Broken – Hungover
21. BTW – By the way
22. CD9 – Code 9 parents are around
23. CTN– Can’t talk now
24. CU46 – See you for sex
25. DOC – Drug of Choice
26. DWBH – Don’t worry, be happy
27. F2F or FTF – Face to face
28. FWB – Friends with benefits
29. FYEO – For your eyes only
30. GAL – Get a life
31. GB – Goodbye
32. GLHF – Good luck, have fun
33. GNOC – Get naked on cam
34. GTG – Got to go
35. GYPO – Get your pants off
36. HAK – Hugs and kisses
37. HAND – Have a nice day
38. HTH – Hope this helps / Happy to help
39. HW – Homework
40. IDK – I don’t know
41. IIRC – If I remember correctly
42. IKR – I know, right?
43. ILU – I love you
44. ILY – I love you
45. IM – Instant message
46. IMHO – In my honest opinion / In my humble opinion
47. IMO – In my opinion
48. IPN – I’m posting naked
49. IRL – In real life
50. IU2U – It’s up to you
51. IWSN – I want sex now
52. IYKWIM – If you know what I mean
53. J/K – Just kidding
54. J4F – Just for fun
55. JIC – Just in case
56. JSYK – Just so you know
57. KFY – Kiss for you
58. KMS – Kill myself
59. KOTL – Kiss On The Lips
60. KPC – Keeping parents clueless
61. KYS – Kill yourself
62. L8 – Late
63. LH6 – Let’s have sex
64. LMBO – Laughing my butt off
65. LMIRL – Let’s meet in real life
66. LMK – Let me know
67. LOL – Laugh out loud
68. LSR – Loser
69. MIRL – Meet in real life
70. MOS – Mom over shoulder
71. NAGI – Not a good idea
72. NALOPKT – Not a lot of people know that
73. NIFOC– Nude in front of computer
74. NM – Never mind
75. NMU – Not much, you?
76. NP – No problem
77. NTS – Note to self
78. OIC – Oh I see
79. OMG – Oh my God
80. ORLY – Oh, really?
81. OT – Off topic
82. OTP – On the phone
83. P911 – Parent alert
84. P999 – Parent alert
85. PAL – Parents are Listening
86. PAW – Parents are watching
87. PCM – Please call me
88. PIR – Parent in room
89. PLS or PLZ– Please
90. POS – Parents over shoulder
91. PPL – People
92. PRON – Porn
93. PTB – Please text back
94. QQ – Crying
95. RAK– Random act of kindness
96. RL – Real life
97. ROFL – Rolling on the floor laughing
98. RT – Retweet
99. RU/18 – Are you over 18?
100. RUMORF – are you male or female?
101. RUOK – Are you okay?
102. SMH – Shaking my head
103. SOS – Someone over shoulder
104. SRSLY– Seriously
105. SSDD – Same stuff, different day
106. SWAK – Sealed with a kiss
107. SWYP– So, what’s your problem?
108. SYS – See you soon
109. TBC – To be continued
110. TDTM – Talk dirty to me
111. TIME – Tears in my eyes
112. TMI – Too much information
113. TMRW – Tomorrow
114. TTYL – Talk to you later
115. TY or TU – Thank you
116. VSF – Very sad face
117. WB – Welcome back
118. WTH – What the hell?
119. WTPA – Where the party at?
120. WTTP – Want to trade pictures?
121. WYCM – Will you call me?
122. WYRN – What’s Your Real Name
123. YGM– You’ve got mail
124. YOLO– You only live once
125. YW – You’re welcome
126. ZERG – To gang up on someone
127. ZOMG – Oh my God (sarcastic)

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Tips for parents of tweens/teens

• Make sure you are involved in your child’s life online as well as offline but be aware that teenagers don’t always want to open up.
• Try to have an open and honest discussion about keeping safe online.
• Don’t be concerned that your teen is using coded language that can’t be understood by parents, it’s not necessarily something to be overly concerned about.
• Keep communication lines open and build trust with your child so that they feel comfortable coming to you if they are worried about something.
• Reassure them that you won’t be angry at them. Children need reassurance that if an unsolicited approach or something making them feel vulnerable happens, they have someone to turn to.
• Be aware that older teens are entitled to privacy and try to get a balance between knowing what they are doing and allowing them that privacy.

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