If one of your kids gets up from the kitchen table and says “BRB,” don’t despair. He or she will “be right back.”

And, if you tell a joke and the response is “LOL,” that’s a good sign. It means, “laughing out loud.” ROFL is even better: “rolling on the floor laughing,” and there’s no greater compliment than “BWL” for “bursting with laugher.”

In case you haven’t noticed, your kids are speaking a new language. It probably won’t count as a language requirement when they apply for college, but it does help them communicate with other kids via chat rooms and instant message programs. And they’ll probably continue to use it in college and maybe even in the workforce.

Chat room SLANG is rapidly becoming a way for kids to communicate both online and off. The initials “WB” used to stand for Warner Brothers. But Warner Brothers is now part of AOL Time Warner, which owns the online service that millions of teenagers use to WB (welcome back) their friends when they return to a chat room. They probably typed GFN when they left (“gone for now”).

But if they’re just having a snack or plan to return soon they can get the word out with a simple AFK “away from the keyboard.”

Does your son or daughter have a BF or a GF? If so, they’ve probably exchanged an online *K* and *H* (kiss and hug). If they were to break up, at least one of them would be CID (crying in distance). You’ve guessed, I’m sure, the B stands for Boy, the G stands for Girl and the F for friend.

Speaking of “f”, there are plenty of online ways to say the “f” word, but they somehow don’t seem so vulgar when expressed as “WTF” or “FTS.” Translation to come later, but your kids can fill you in provided you promise not to punish them for using a naughty word.

It’s pretty common for kids to check each other out when they’re online, which could result in the prompt “A/S/L/” for age, sex and location. If your kids get such a query, please remind them not be specific with the “L” part of the answer. You don’t want them disclosing details that could give away their exact whereabouts.

Even with the use of initials, you can’t always say everything there is to say on a subject in single message, but you don’t need to spend a lot of time explaining that. Just type “CNP” for continued in next post or follow it up with an “EMSG” -- e-mail message.

Then there are all those emoticons like :-) for happy. And :-( for sad.

But kids don’t always chat by computer. Sometimes they exchange messages via numeric pagers or cell phones equipped with SMS (short message service). And there’s a special language for that, too. 143 means “I love you” and 360 means “I love you back.” And “1040” means, “you owe me big time.” Other messages you may see are: 1776 for “you’re revolting,” 747 means “let’s fly,” and 86 stands for “you’re finished.”

Then there’s the language spoken when kids want to talk rough or sound big and important. Some of these words are not what we consider to be in good taste, but they say them just the same. Many of these terms focus in on sexual activity or drug use. These are words that parents need to be especially aware of so they can be on the alert for a threat or actual danger to their kids.

Within these pages you will find words and meanings of words. Hopefully, they will be of great value as you learn your child’s secret language.