● 9 / P911 / P999 / CD9 / MOS - All of these are used to let
the person they are messaging know that a parent or adult
is near. It serves as a warning to not say anything inappro-
priate.
● ASL - Age, sex, location. This is often used when some-
one is new to a conversation or chat room. Other users
will ask “ASL?” as a way to better understand the context
of who is chatting. This information can easily be used by
predators to coerce, convince, or threaten a child. Teens
and young adults should know that sharing your age, sex,
and location online is recipe for disaster.
● CU46 – See you for sex
● F2F / FTF - Face to face. This infers that two people need
to meet up to see each other.
● GNOC / NIFOC - Get naked on camera or naked in front
of camera.
● IRL / MIRL / LMIRL - This refers to in real life or meet-
ing up in real life.
● IWSN – I want sex now
● KPC – Keep Parents Clueless
● Turnt - Looking to get drunk or high
● Wavey - To be drunk or high
● WYRN – What’s Your Real Name? We’ve looked at over-
sharing information online in the past. Here’s another ex-
ample of where an innocent conversation can turn toward
trouble. See ASL above.
Advice
Tread lightly when it comes to teenage slang. In the event
you see a concerning message, talk with your child about it be-
fore overreacting. The words described in this column can give
you insight into your teen’s life as well as the context to help
you have a conversation about what you saw or read. Talk with
your child, assess the situation, and determine your next steps
once you have had time to process everything.
As I mentioned, this is just a small collection of the larger
vocabulary used by members of Generation Z. Parents who
want to learn more can google search “slang parents should
know 2019” to find similar lists online. UrbanDictionary.com
is an excellent resource if you need to look up a specific word
or phrase. Be warned that Urban Dictionary contains quite a bit
of NSFW (Not Safe for Work) content so be careful when and
where you choose to look something up.
Mike Daugherty is a husband, father of three young children,
author, speaker, Google Innovator, and possible Starbucks ad-
dict. He is a certified educational technology leader who has
served in a variety of roles through his eighteen-year career in
public education. Currently, Mike is the Director of Technol-
ogy for the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village School district in
Northeast Ohio. As an IT director he has developed creative,
well thought out solutions that positively impact teaching and
learning.
April 2019 WNY Family 25