Texting Terms Used by Teens

By Kathy Gleason
Teens sometimes seem to speak a different language than their teens.
Teens sometimes seem to speak a different language than their teens.

Teens sometimes have a language all their own, whether speaking or texting. Whether you want to understand texting terms used by teens to be able to text your child in his language or because you want to understand what teens are saying to friends, teens use many common texting phrases. Keep in mind, however, that texting terms and slang change frequently, according to Generate-QR-Codes.org.

Extremely Common Terms

Some of the most common texting phrases might already be familiar to you. For instance, SMH means shaking my head, denoting confusion or surprise about something that's been said. LOL is laugh out loud, and ROFL is the more extreme version of that -- rolling on floor laughing. ASAP is as soon as possible. BRB is be right back, when someone has to stop texting for a bit. BF or GF is boyfriend and girlfriend. H is for hug. THX represents thanks and NP is no problem.

Terms Parents Should Be Aware Of

Because teens sometimes use texting for sexual purposes or to plan sneaking around without their parent's knowledge, be on the lookout for terms that can be a sign your teen is up to trouble. For instance, ASLP stands for age, sex, location and picture, meaning someone is asking your teen to send those things. BYOB means bring your own bottle and can be a sign alcohol will be present. CD9 means code 9, parents are around. HSWM is have sex with me and KPC is keep parents clueless.

General Texting Language

Basically, texting slang is made in one of two ways. Some abbreviations are made by using the first letter of each word in a phrase, such as LOL for laugh out loud. Other times, it's just a condensed version of one word. For instance, bcuz is the shortened version of because.

Punctuation and Moods

As frustrating as this can be to adults, teens often incorporate little punctuation into their texts, if any. The only time you're likely to see any punctuation marks, in fact, is in emoticons, which are little faces made up of different punctuation marks. These convey mood, although several of the most common are a smiley face, frown face and a face that is somewhere between those two, commonly known as the undecided face.

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