A, Bae, C’s: Top Teen Terms Decoded

It seems like in addition to the never-ending influx of new technology and social networks being introduced, there are more and more ways to communicate on these platforms. Teenagers are largely driving communication trends – creating brand new slang words or using existing words in ways that their parents have never heard before. While monitoring your teen’s various accounts or conversation history, you may stumble upon a word or phrase that goes right over your head. Have no fear – ASKfm today released a list of the top slang words and acronyms seen on its platform by teens, along with their corresponding definitions. Read on to get familiar with the latest teen terminology (and to be prepared to fully embarrass your kid as you flaunt your new knowledge of “Netflix and chill” in front of their friends).

The top 20 terms in ASKfm’s Teen Slang Dictionary include:

PAP

  • Acronym meaning “post a picture”

Bad

  • Just like the olden days of parents’ yore, bad still means good but it has shifted slightly and means something even more positive like hot

Ship

  • Short for relationship

:3

  • A symbol meant to represent the cat face made by anime characters when they say something clever, sarcastic, or comment on something cute

IDEK

  • Acronym for “I don’t even know…”

IKR

  • Acronym meaning “I know, right?”

OOTD

  • Acronym for “outfit of the day;” commonly used to prompt someone to post a picture of their current outfit or to share your current outfit with friends/followers

SMH

  • Acronym for “shaking my head;” in reference to something distasteful

Dime

  • The highest rating on a scale of 1-10; used to share approval or express how good something is

THOT

  • Acronym meaning “that ho over there;” used to describe females with a promiscuous reputation

Netflix and chill

  • Code for hooking up or a “booty call”

Savage

  • Used to describe something that is hardcore or extreme, in a good way

AF

  • Acronym “as f***” used to express the severity of something (e.g. hot AF)

TBR

  • Acronym for “to be rude;” usually said before the person shares their true – and harsh – feelings

Peep

  • Can refer either to friends (your people), or to look at/listen to (e.g. peep this)

Slept

  • Can refer to hitting someone hard enough to knock them out, missing out on something awesome, or to be extremely high

GOAT

  • Acronym for “greatest of all time”

No chill

  • Used to describe someone who is being irrational

Likers get rate

  • A phrase that implies the original poster will rank anyone that likes/comments/answers a post, typically around how cool they are perceived to be or how they look; also used to incent followers to like posts to get something (usually indicated in the post) in return

 ?☕

  • Based off a popular meme of Kermit the Frog drinking a cup of tea, teens use this emoji combo to sarcastically imply “but that’s none of my business” or “I’m just saying”