What does IYKYK mean? Popular internet slang term explained

One of the many different acronyms that have come from social media is IYKYK. But with so many different acronyms to keep track of, it can be difficult to keep track of the meaning.

Platforms like Twitter and TikTok have popularized several new slang terms and acronyms, such as “moots”, “mid” and “FYP”. But with so many of them these days it can be hard to keep up if you’re out of the loop.

One term that is particularly popular on social media is the acronym “IYKYK”, which can be written both capitalized and non-capitalized.

While this term isn’t new on the internet, it has recently gained popularity on social media platforms, leading to people being confused with its meaning.

IYKYK meaning explained

IYKYK is an acronym that stands for “If you know, you know.” It essentially refers to a reference or throwback that only certain people will get, though that group of people depends entirely on the context.

The term is often used when people are making references to anything from TV shows to memories from people’s childhood and may be written as part of a sentence, on its own, or as a hashtag.

Some trends on TikTok even used the phrase in videos meant to intentionally confuse people who are out of the loop, by talking about or doing something nonsensical.

For example, they might post a photo or a video of themselves doing something random without any context and then writing “IYKYK” to make it more secretive.

So essentially, if you see the term “IYKYK” alongside something you don’t understand, the chances are you aren’t the target audience for the post.

If there are other words people are using on social media, TikTok in particular, that you don’t know the meaning of, you can check out our slang guide here.