Whenever my boys come home with a new buzz word or saying, I instantly feel like a dinosaur.
Whether it is ‘noob’ or ‘epic fail’ (all said with a huge dose of attitude!) the linguistic chasm between us just seems to get wider.
But when it comes to kids’ online vocab, I am a big believer in developing a full understanding! As parents it is our job to protect our kids both online and offline. So ensuring you have a full understanding of what your kids are doing and saying online is imperative.
It is no secret that kids are using a complex series of acronyms to communicate with each other online. So, in the interests of fostering a greater understanding (and ensuring you have a bit of ‘tech cred’), here is a list of the most commonly used slang and its meaning:
LOL – Laugh Out Loud (not lots of love)
POTS – Parents Over Shoulder
CD9 – Code 9 which means parents are about
KPC – Keeping Parents Clueless
PAW – Parents Are Watching
POP – Parents On Prowl
ROFL – Rolling On The Floor Laughing
1,2,3,4,5 – Typing the numerals 1 to 5 means parent are reading the screen
NMU – Not Much, You?
BRB – Be Right Back
IDK – I Don’t Know
ASL – Age, Sex, Location
Has anyone noticed a theme? Yes – lots of effort goes into ensuring that ‘us parents’ are not able to view our teens’ online activity! In a recent study entitled The Secret Life of Teens by McAfee it was shown that 67% of Australian teens aged 13-19 said their parents do not know everything they do online.
Mmmm! So next time you are shoulder surfing your teen, look out for the Internet slang – it may just help you understand your teen a little bit more.
Till next time.
Alex