50 Sexting/Texting Terms and 7 Snapchat Tips Every Parent Should Know

Teens may be naive about the permanence of photos they send using the popular social media application Snapchat. (Photo by Ildar Sagdejev via Wikipedia/Creative Commons)

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Social media apps are ever changing and it’s hard for parents to keep up on the codes teens use to keep them in the dark about they’re saying as their fingertips furiously tap the touch screens on their smartphones and tablets.

Earlier this year, we told you about 50 texting and sexting terms your kids really don’t want you to know. The American Academy of Pediatrics found texting and sexting are a “normal” part of adolescent sexual development, but that doesn’t mean parents shouldn’t worry.

And their worries shouldn’t be limited to the messages kids are sending back and forth on their phones.

Snapchat, an application for iPhones, iPads and Android phones, allows subscribers to quickly send photos that quickly expire, increasing the temptation of teens to send embarrassing photos. The photos disappear, but that doesn’t stop the person on the receiving end from quickly grabbing a screenshot and circulating the photo beyond its intended audience.

Snapchat does notify the sender if the person receiving it takes a screengrab, but there’s a fairly common workaround. A receiver could use a digital camera to take the screenshot, and the photo that supposedly disappeared could be saved on someone else’s device,

That’s Problem No. 1 with Snapchat, according to the parenting website fatherhood.com

Problem No. 2 concerns parents who may be – and experts say, should be – monitoring their teens’ social media use. The photos and messages disappear, so there’s no record that they ever existed.

Problem No. 3: Because photos supposedly evaporate instantly, teens may be more inclined to engage in sexting because they think the risk is lower their photos will be shared on the Internet.

Problem No. 4: Snapchat and Facebook both claim photos can be permanently deleted. Forensics experts have poked holes in that promise, though, and have said photos can be retrieved from smartphones and other devices. And guess what? “You don’t necessarily need crazy forensic tools that allow you … to access the information,” Andrea London, of the forensics firm Stroz Friedberg, told Mashable.

Problem No. 5: Snapchat owns royalty rights to every “Snap,” or photo message, that users send. According to the application terms of use, Snapchat retains “”nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such user content in connection with the services, subject to your use of privacy settings in the services to control who can see your user content.”

Problem No. 6: You may need a lawyer. In accordance with the terms of use, users accept responsibility for activity occurring while they’re logged into the application. In one case, reported by the familyshare.com website, a 15-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl exchanged explicit photos, which the boy saved and his mother discovered. The families involved addressed and resolved the situation, but because the girl was 14, the boy could have faced child pornography charges and, if convicted, been forced to register as a sex offender.

Problem No. 7: Snapchat can become a runaway train if you don’t talk to your kids about the risks associated with the use. “Parents who allow their children to have SnapChat need to have a real, live, one-on-one chat … about the risks associated with the false sense of security that SnapChat may provide,” fatherhood.com said.

Now, back to the “old school” social media worries.

Here’s the list of 50 terms a Denver television station tested – and stumped – several parents to determine if they could crack the codes their children use when they’re texting or sending online messages on their phones.

A detective with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office told Denver television station KMGH that parents may be missing some red flags “because they don’t know the lingo or the language.”

Here’s a list of commonly used terms:

1. 8 – it means ate, can also refer to oral sex
2. 9 – Parent watching
3. 99 – Parent gone
4. 1337 – Elite, leet or L337
5. 143 – I love you
6. 1174 – the meeting place, meet at
7. 420 – Marijuana
8. 459 – I love you
9. 53X – Sex
10. ADR – Address
11. AEAP – As Early As Possible
12. ALAP – As Late As Possible
13. ASL – Age/Sex/Location
14. BROKEN – hung over from alcohol
15. CD9 – Code 9 (parents are around)
16. C-P – Sleepy
17. F2F – Face-to-Face
18. GNOC – Get Naked On Cam
19. GYPO – Get Your Pants Off
20. HAK – Hugs And Kisses
21. ILU – I Love You
22. IWSN – I Want Sex Now
23. KOTL – Kiss On The Lips
24. KFY or K4Y – Kiss For You
25. KPC – Keeping Parents Clueless
26. LMIRL – Let’s Meet In Real Life
27. MOOS – Member Of The Opposite Sex
28. MOSS – Member Of The Same Sex
29. MorF – Male or Female
30. MOS – Mom Over Shoulder
31. MPFB – My Personal F*** Buddy
32. NALOPKT – Not A Lot Of People Know That
33. NIFOC – Nude In Front Of The Computer
34. NMU – Not Much, You?
35. P911 – Parent Alert
36. PAL – Parents Are Listening -or- Peace And Love
37. PAW – Parents Are Watching
38. PIR – Parent In Room
39. POS – Parent Over Shoulder or Piece Of Sh**
40. pron – Porn
41. Q2C – Quick To Cum
42. RU/18 – Are You Over 18?
43. RUMORF – Are You Male OR Female?
44. RUH – Are You Horny?
45. S2R – Send To Receive
46. SorG – Straight or Gay
47. TDTM – Talk Dirty To Me
48. WUF – Where You From
49. WYCM – Will You Call Me?
50. WYRN – What’s Your Real Name?

Related:

• Teen’s Nude Selfie Turns Into 5-Year Nightmare
• Sexting and Kids: Should Advent of ‘Sexting’ Prompt Legal Reform?
• 5 Teens in Rochester Sexting Scandal Referred to Juvenile Court
• 50 Texting Terms Kids Don’t Want Parents to Know
• Hundreds of Nude Photos Bomb Teen with New Smartphone