Netspeak and Internet Slang Words
Have you ever walked into a room and seen your child in an IM or text conversation, typing some kind of internet shorthand to his or her friends? Kids these days often used abbreviations to hide the meaning of their words from parents. These abbreviations and slang terms are called “netspeak”, which has become a 21st century slang lexicon all its own. There are even commercials poking fun of how your teenagers use code words to communicate.
So what are your children hiding from you using netspeak?
Well, don’t get too excited. Don’t assume your kids are hiding information from you in using netspeak. Netspeak is just the accepted way kids communicate. Given that cellphones and text items have keypads that are sometimes hard to manipulate even for the dexterous fingers of children, netspeak came about partly to make it easier to text friends, because there are fewer letters and buttons to touch. So Netspeak is a code language, but it’s a practical shorthand lingo, too.
But know that net speak can also hide the real jist of your child’s conversation from you, because children assume parents aren’t going to be hip to the latest internet abbreviation. Just to be certain your children aren’t talking about inappropriate subjects, learn a few of the most common netspeak abbreviations, so you’ll know next time exactly what your child’s conversations are about.
Netspeak and Other Coded Language
Underground cultures have probably used their own slang (sometimes called “cant”) since the beginning of time. The slaves of America had their own codewords their masters wouldn’t know, and this slang was carried over into the Age of Segregation. Today, this evolved slang can still be seen in hip hop lyrics and modern Ebonics.
Secret brotherhoods of the earlier times used slang to separate themselves and transmit information that authorities or outsiders wouldn’t know. This doesn’t always have to be illegal or immoral behavior they are trying to cover up. Sometimes slang was meant to keep the secrets of a guild or trade organization secret, to protect the group’s economic viability or monopoly of information.
Underground Culture and Slang Words
Counter-culture groups of the modern age, from surfers to biker gangs, have created their own slangs. of course, criminal groups have their own cant, from street gangs to mobsters afraid of wire taps.
With all of this in mind, children communicating on the internet have their own slang terms. This is in the wider net culture and isn’t used only by children, but netspeak is a shorthand that kids can use to speak without their parents necessarily knowing what the conversation is about. If a parent is in the computer room, teens can write to one another on emails, instant messages and text messages in a shorthand code that parents can’t understand.
For parents to better know what their children are typing and texting about, here is a list of netspeak terms and online slang that all parents should know. You might know a few of these already.
Netspeak – Internet Slang Terms Parents Should Know
These netspeak slang terms involve sex talk, dating talk and warnings that parents are in the room. If your kid is warning his or her friends that you’re in the room, they are probably conversing about some subject they don’t want you to know about.
- ASL(R P) – Age Sex Location with Race and Picture
- BF / GF – Boyfriend / Girlfriend
- CD9 – Code 9 – means parents are around
- GNOC – Get Naked on Cam (webcam)
- (L)MIRL – (Let’s) meet in real life
- MorF – Male or Female
- MOS – Mom Over Shoulder
- NIFOC – Naked in Front of Computer
- P911 – Parent Emergency
- PAW – Parents are Watching
- PIR – Parent In Room
- POS – Parent Over Shoulder
- PRON – Porn
- PRW – Parents Are Watching
- S2R – Send To Recieve (pictures)
- TDTM – Talk Dirty To Me
- Warez – Pirated Software
- WTF – What the Fuck?
Netspeak – Internet Terms Everyone Should Know
These are basic web terms that you may already know and you’ll certainly need to know to communicate online. Learn these and you won’t be left wondering what the heck your more savvy online friends are writing about.
- BRB – Be Right Back
- GTG – Got to Go
- IDK- I don’t know
- LOL – Laugh Out Loud
- Noob – Newbie, an insult to somebody who doesn’t know much about something.
- NMU – Not much, you?
- W/E – Whatever
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