As a parent, you want to know what your child is involved in. And nowadays, that includes all sorts of online activities, like instant messaging and MySpace. Instant messaging has quickly become a very important activity for kids of this generation. They love it. Kids have even devised their own lingo to decrease the time it takes to type and read on instant messages. This lingo involves dozens of acronyms. And as a parent, who is not terribly involved in the instant/text messaging extravaganza, you may not be aware of all the acronyms and what they mean. This is why you should continue reading this article; you will learn what IM (instant message) acronyms are and which ones, as a parent, you should know.
First of all, let’s talk about what you should know IM acronyms. As a parent, you most definitely want to know what your child is up to. You want to know what they’ve been doing, who they’re talking to and what they’re talking about. But if you can’t decipher acronyms used in instant messaging, you won’t be able to do those things. Also, sometimes kids get involved with people through the Internet that you may not want to them to be talking to. You may not know them. Your child might not even know them. But it’s very easy to disguise yourself on instant messaging. This is another reason why it’s so important that you, the parent, know what your child is talking about. You need to be involved so that no unfortunate events occur.
Now, here’s a list of common acronyms used in instant and text messaging. You would be wise to learn most of them. Luckily, they can be fairly self-explanatory.
AAMOF= as a matter of fact
BBFN= bye bye for now
BFN= bye for now
BTW= by the way
BRB= be right back
BYKT= but you knew that
CMIIW= correct me if I’m wrong EOL end of lecture
CUL= see you later
FAQ= frequently asked question(s)
FITB= fill in the blank
FWIW= for what it’s worth
FYI= for your information
GG or G2G= got to go
GL= good luck
GMTA= great minds think alike
GR8= great
GRA= go right ahead
HAND= have a nice day
HTH= hope this helps
IAC= in any case
IAE= in any event
ICL= in Christian love
IDK= I don’t know
IMCO= in my considered opinion
IMHO= in my humble opinion
IMNSHO= in my not so humble opinion
IMO= in my opinion
IMS= I’m sorry
IOW= in other words
JIC= just in case
JK= just kidding
LOL= lots of luck or laughing out loud
MGB= may God bless
NRN= no reply necessary
OIC= oh, I see
OTOH= on the other hand
OTP= on the phone
QT= cutie
ROF= rolling on the floor
ROFL= rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFL= rolling on the floor laughing
RSN= real soon now
SITD= still in the dark
TIA= thanks in advance
TIC= tongue in cheek
TTYL= talk to you later
TYVM= thank you very much
WB= welcome back
WFM= works for me
WKD= weekend