13 Important Teen Texting Terms Decoded For Middle-Aged Parents

When your kid texts '143,' should you be alarmed?
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Periodically, mid-lifers need a short refresher course in texting slang. How else do you know what your teens are telling you? Your answer to that question was probably IDK, amirite?

Help is on the way:

1. IDK means I don’t know.

In the same vein, IK stands for “I know.”

2. Amirite is shorthand for “am I right?”

We aren’t quite sure how that’s any faster to thumb-type but you do shave a few characters off. As for meaning, the texter is seeking affirmation or agreement.

3. NISM? means “need I say more?”

4. RME is short for “rolling my eyes.”

5. QQ4U is “quick question for you.”

6. XYZ is short for “examine your zipper.”

7. NMR is “not my responsibility.”

We hope to never see 6 and 7 in the same thread.

8. KMP means “keep me posted.”

And no, not posted in this sense.

Michaela Begsteiger via Getty Images

9. 637 means “always and forever.”

This comes from the number of letters in each word and has stumped many a parent before you.

10. 143 stands for “I love you.”

Same letter-counting deal as above.

11. 39 means “thank you.”

Not same letter-counting deal as above. We feel you, parents. This is confusing stuff, amirite?

12. CWTCU is “can’t wait to see you.”

The letter C sometimes shows up representing “see.”

13. HIFW is “how I felt when.”

Followed by an event and generally a reaction GIF. An example:

“HIFW I realized today is Friday.”

Before You Go

54 Times Moms Ruled The Texting World

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