I did not grow up with a cell phone in hand, or even with a computer for that matter. When I was in highschool, we still had a class called "Typewriting", and I remember lugging my enormous typewriter to college, with a year's supply of White Out.
Most of my generation is computer literate, but we are split between those of us who "text" and "IM" (instant message), and those of us who do not. Now, those of us who are the "do not-ers", are even further behind, as far more people younger than us are now texting, IMing, twittering, pinging, and who knows what else! There is even a new term for all of this electronic communication overload, called "BlackBuried" ("slang for being inundated and exhausted trying to be on top of all your email 24/7 with your handheld mobile device", according to NetLingo).
I have not felt left out of this texting craze until I was emailing a friend, and she used an acronym that I needed to look up in an Urban Dictionary to find it's meaning. I thought this was funny...I wasn't trying a new fancy way of communicating, but the texting world has now infiltrated the email world. It is now time that I know some common acronyms to keep up with communication.
An online resource that I wanted to share with parents is called Net Lingo, and there is a Top 50 Acronyms Every Parent Should Know that children and teens are using in their text messages and other online communication. These acronyms are shocking; they are geared toward topics of sexuality and drugs, but is important to know their meaning.
Less shocking are more general Text Messaging Shorthand definitions that are helpful to know, as well as Acronyms by Alphabetical order.
So, what did my 30-something friend use as an acronym, that I needed to look up? It was embarrassing, KWIM? (know what I mean)