Talking the Talk with Tweens and Teens

thort Id wrt an RTcL bout txt lingo n d mor I read ^ on it, d mor I wz taken bac by hw clevA itz bt @ d same tym hw it hs iced thN en lang. txt lingo S somit wich hs nearly taken ovr d en lang. Tweens/teens r tlkN n codes we paretns fnd hrd 2 undRst& n d mor we try 2 undRst& it d mor %-) we gt.

So, what on earth does all this mean? (mind you if the links underneath come up it should be easy to read)

Well if you were a teenager, you may have a chance at understanding what I just wrote. On the off chance you don’t have one around while you are reading this, here is the translation of the above text talk.

‘I thought I would write an article about text lingo and the more I read up on it, the more I was taken back by how clever it is but at the same time how it has killed then English language. Text lingo is something which has nearly taken over the English language. Tweens/teens are talking in codes we parents find hard to understand and the more we try to understand it the more confused we get.’

Although I think the way kids electronically talk today is extremely clever, I do think it is killing the English language. Schools are accepting it exams and term papers, kids are forgetting when they write in a school text to a text message and It has gotten a little out of hand. I also think that it has left parents feeling anxious and suspicious over why this is happening and to the extent that it is. Like I said, I think it is extremely clever, I really do. They can cut down words quite a lot, however, in the text I use there are only 3 words different and the lingo would have taken me more time to read than the plain English. But that’s me, I’m over the hill in a teens eyes anyway.

We use text slang here on minti such as, lol, lmao, rotf, brb. We accept it and most embrace it, so why is there so much concern over this new wave of text language? I believe that it has to do with the fact we can no longer understand what our teens are talking about. We question why they code their words beyond our understanding and wonder what on earth they are hiding and when we discover the meaning behind a few of them, well that raises a few more concerns.

In all honesty, my kids haven’t heard all of the slang that is around and I do believe that not all children use it, but a large percentage does. If you find that your tween/teen is talking in this way and using something that looks like code, don’t straight away jump the gun and think that they are up to something – look into it, it may just be harmless and for those times you are really suspicious and not able to shake your concern, you can always look it up and have a read up on all the text, msn and email text used today.

I have included some text slang that I found and depending on the age of the child using it, it can be disturbing. As a parent it pays to understand what our kids are saying – and this is no exception. Don’t be made to stand out in the cold when it comes to understanding this form of language, make a choice in having a look and learning it. It is after all yet another step in understanding our child fully.

Example of Text Slang

• p911 - parent emergency (parent near)
• pbb - parent behind back
• pcrs - Parents can read slang
• ph34r – fear
• phat - pretty hot and tasty
• pir - parents in room
• piw - Parent is watching
• plom - parents looking over me - parents looking over my back - parent looking over my shoulder
• plom - parents looking over me - parents looking over my back - parent looking over my shoulder
• jumping the couch - acting strange

You could also check out this site here or even this site here for more.

Best of Luck

OB