Teen Text Translation

You probably know a bit of your kid’s texting slang – TTYL – talk to you later. But do you know what A-BOOT means?

Most parents have learned to figure out some of those classic text abbreviations – POS means parent over shoulder. But that’s just the tip of the slang iceberg. There are thousands of terms and abbreviations out there that would be really hard to decipher for most of us – and some of them are downright scary. For example, A-BOOT means someone under the influence of drugs, and most of the sexting slang can’t even be defined here.

Text slang has been elevated to a language all its own – with countless encrypted words being used. If you come across text messages that appear to be jumbled letters and symbols, there’s a good chance someone has got something hide. The good news is there are several text translators and decoders available online. Noslang.com is a good resource for parents with a translation device and some terms and phrases to watch for.