RAISING DIGITAL KIDS Be Informed
— by Mike Daugherty The words and phrases listed below
are something that all parents should
know. They are not necessarily bad;
however, some of these deal with dating
which could be concerning depending
on the age of your child.
● Basic - Typically used as a criti-
cism, this refers to a person who
only likes things that are popular
or trendy.
● Benching - This means someone is
being put on the sideline while a
person explores their other roman-
tic options.
● Curve - Curving means to shut
down or reject a person’s expres-
sion of interest in you.
Speaking the Language of Generation Z
T
he very first text message
was sent 26 years ago. To-
day, almost 26 billion text
messages flow across the networks ev-
ery single day. iPhones and popular apps
such as Facebook Messenger use an up-
dated format called Rich Communica-
tion Services. Messages sent on those
platforms don’t count as actual text mes-
sages. When we add in the counts for
those services, the total number of mes-
sages per day jumps to 171 billion mes-
sages per day. These short, quick mes-
sages have become the preferred method
of communication for many adults, but
even more so, with our children.
Generation Z thrives on a constant
stream of communication through their
mobile device. Subsequently, they have
developed their own slang words made
up of acronyms and phrases to describe
their interactions with the world. Slang
is not a new concept though. Every gen-
eration has developed its own unique
style of conversation. The most impor-
tant aspect to keep in mind is that the
crazy words and acronyms your kids are
using were not created as a way to keep
adults out of the loop. It is about this
generation finding their identity.
24 WNY Family April 2019
Modern slang can be a bit more
confusing than that of previous groups.
Parents almost need to be bilingual to
understand it. It is impossible to capture
all the jargon in use in a single column.
I’ve created a list of the more popular
terms and sorted them based on their
level of concern for a parent.
Be Happy
The terms listed here are friendly
or comical. There is nothing to be wor-
ried about if you see these show up in a
text message, online comment, or virtual
conversation.
● 4eae - For Ever and Ever
● IKR – I know right?
● IYKWIM – If you know what I
mean
● NMU – Not much, you?
● On fleek – On point or to do some-
thing very well
● RAK – Random Act of Kindness
● Slay – Doing really well or “kill-
ing it”
● Truss – I agree
● Woke – Highly Aware of Social Is-
sues
● YAS – Enthusiastic Version of Yes
● Deeplike - When someone goes
on a social network and likes/fa-
vorites posts from several weeks
or months back. The notifications
of those like and favorites let the
original poster know that some-
one has been looking through their
photos, etc.
● Ghost - When all communication
with a friend, or more likely, a
love interest suddenly stops (as if
the person was now a ghost). This
is usually because the other party
doesn’t want to take things to the
next level and would prefer to stop
talking rather than directly state
the disinterest.
● Haunt - When a person who
ghosted you begins to reappear in
your life.
● IANAL – I am not a lawyer
● Thirsty – being desperate for
something. This can often refer to
someone wanting sex.
● PTB – Please text back
● QQ – To cry or crying
Be Aware
This last set of slang should be con-
sidered red flags. These words refer to
sex, drugs, and other activities that po-
tentially problematic for young adults.
● 53X - Sex. The 5 looks like an S,
the 3 like an E.