I wonder how many SA teens that were a part of the dial-up generation logged onto anonymous chat rooms to pass the time. I remember doing it during exams when I was supposed to be studying. Of course, the lingo was a little more basic then. ASL was the beginning of it all, the most basic acronym for every introduction: age, sex, location.

Fast forward 10 years and the ease of accessing anything online has given rise to a much broader language and wider usage than before. And parents are – and should be – worried.

But the UK’s Department for Education is there to help you. They have developed an online guide for parents in the hopes of educating them on the life of their teens. Aptly titled Parent Info, the site attempts to provide insight into the daily lives of teenagers, including anorexia, bullying and general guides to being safe. They also have a little guide decoding teen’s online chats.

• ASL – age, sex, location (could mean your child is using an anonymous chat room)
• CD9 – Code 9 (meaning parents are around)
• GNOC – get naked on camera
• KPC – keep parents clueless
• IRL – in real life.
• MIRL – meeting in real life
• LMIRL – let’s meet in real life (fine if it’s their friends)
• IWSN – I want sex now
• MOOS – member of the opposite sex
• P911/P999 – parent alert
• PAW – parents are watching
• POS/MOS – parents over shoulder/mum over shoulder
• RU/18 – are you over 18?
• WYRN – what’s your real name?
• Zerg – to gang up on someone
• 420 – marijuana

The guide is based on an article “The Top 50 Acronyms Every Parent Should Know” and highlights the important ones – generally concerned with sex, bullying and, well, smoking weed. There are also a few alerts that warn of parent’s various presence possibilities – from being in the room, to standing at the PC. But teens aren’t stupid and I’m sure once their parents finally get down with the lingo, it will change. Here’s one: DTF instead of IWSN. It’s way smoother.

[source: telegraph]