Most parents are familiar with so-called initialisms like LOL (laugh out loud) or perhaps BRB (be right back).
But if your son is on his smartphone and you’re within close proximity, he might use a text code like MOS (“mom over shoulder”). And many codes are not as innocent as OMG. If someone texts your daughter GNOC, it means “get naked on cam.”
As a mother of three young boys in this techy era, this honestly scares me. And it should also scare you, especially if your teenager has a smartphone.
Code for bullying, sex and more
An initialism is an abbreviation consisting of initial letters pronounced separately that form a phrase or sentence.
But some text initialisms can double as code for bullying, drugs, sex and more, including suicidal thoughts. They can hint to serious issues teens face.
Tech company Bark.us, which tracks and collects data on social networks relating to risky behaviors among teens, compiled a list of initialisms that parents should be aware of. Here are 20 of them:
KYS: kill yourself
KMS: kill myself
KPC: keeping parents clueless
DOC: drug of choice
CD9: parents are around
POS: parents over shoulder
MOS: mom over shoulder
99: parents are gone
53X: sex
8: oral sex
FWB: friends with benefits
FYEO: for your eyes only
WTTP: want to trade photos
KFY or K4Y: kiss for you
ADR: what’s your address
420: marijuana
GNOC: get naked on cam
IWSN: I want sex now
Netflix and chill: getting together and hooking up
PAL: parents are listening