On-line Teen Speak

Speaking in coded language has been used for years by teenagers trying to hide something, or communicating in their own way. The sudden growth of the online world allowed for more terms to appear and spread more quickly, creating a more universal, viral, version of the teen slang that’s been around for years.

Not all of these terms are exclusively used online - they’re as likely to appear in spoken conversation as well as on social media messaging.

These terms come and go, becoming out of date or appearing out of nowhere quickly, and some expressions that are cool in one part of the country may be considered outdated in another.

In response to huge national interest, we’ve updated our online teen speak article to include some slang words and acronyms that have proved popular recently:

'g' - a friend (boy to boy - originally from 'gangsta')
acc - actually
IK - I know
truss - I agree (from trust)
skl - school
fierce – looking amazing/ incredible
bromance – close friendship between, as you have probably already guessed, two boys.

'ship - short word for relationship
on fleek – on point / executed really well
to ‘ghost’ someone – to completely ignore someone suddenly – ghosting someone can be a nasty way to break up with someone else.
basic – generally negative term – can mean boring as much as it can mean clumsy/careless/gross
bare, also spelled ‘bear’ – an alternative way of saying ‘really really’ or ‘a lot’ - e.g. “that is bare cool!’
hella - really
blates - obviously
Ur - your
peak - unfortunate
cuz - friend (from cousin)
booted - left behind/dumped (as in ‘I was booted’)
kicked - same meaning as 'booted'
moving to (someone) - approaching, either aggressively or romantically
gassed - happy
wag1 (or wagwan) - what’s up?
preeing - looking at someone online also known as 'facebook stalking'
'pre'-ing - pre-drinking
ill (or sick) - fantastic, cool ‘That gig was sick!’
dench - synonym of ‘sick’
cba  - can’t be bothered
merked - can mean really drunk/intoxicated/beaten up or even getting found out/told off
to be down/pumped for something - to be excited to do something
molly - term for ecstasy/MDMA
cray - shortened version of crazy
stacked - built, really muscly/well-built/toned
peng/tidy - really attractive
blessed - nice (person)
safe - reliable/good (person)
aired - ignored (someone)
swear - are you serious?
rolling - going
baffed - confused
slipping - messing up (as in ‘get caught slipping’)
'b' - babe (but can be just a friend)
jokes - really funny e.g. 'that book is so jokes!’
fail - exclaiming ‘fail’ has become fairly popular with teens of late, and is fairly self-explanatory
yolo - you only live once!
swag - confidence or fancy clothes/jewellery
dope - really cool/awesome

These are some terms that used to be current and may still be used now and then - teens all over the country have their own slang which are changing all the time:
 
    ASL - age, sex, location (could mean your child is using an anonymous chat room)
    CD9 - Code 9 (meaning parents are around)
    GNOC - get naked on camera
    KPC - keep parents clueless
    IRL - in real life. See also:
    MIRL - meeting in real life
    LMIRL - let's meet in real life (fine if it's their friends)
    IWSN - I want sex now
    MOOS - member of the opposite sex
    P911/P999 - parent alert
    PAW - parents are watching
    POS/MOS - parents over shoulder/mum over shoulder
    RU/18 - are you over 18?
    WYRN - what's your real name?
    Zerg - to gang up on someone
    420 - marijuana

Classics you might use too:

    LOL – Laugh out loud
    BRB – Be right back
    GTG – Got to go
    WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get