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Do you often wonder what IKR means? If this abbreviation puzzles you too then welcome to the club. It’s not your fault if you don’t understand it because it wasn’t really an authentic phrase of the English dictionary since the start.
However, often people tend to make the language even trickier with self-made contractions and slang. Since the age of the internet especially, a long list of slangs came into existence for chats and one-to-one texts.
The entire purpose of slang and abbreviations like IKR is to incorporate upbeat, lighthearted, and fun elements into conversations. Many adopt these in their speech and text just to sound chic and hip while others simply don’t like staying out of trends.
Whatever your reason for wanting to learn about IKR, we have tons of information on it for you here. Keep reading!
The full form of the abbreviation IKR is ‘I know, right?’
It is basically rhetoric that indicates your agreement with what another person is saying, their observation, or opinion. Since the use of the internet spread and social media platforms became the norm, several abbreviations have come into existence. For example, we still use PS, or Post Scriptum, meaning to emphasize a point, add a bit of a charm, etc.
They have now become a concrete part of our spoken and written language. Moreover, they’re now so popular that even professional people use these slang and abbreviations as an alternative to the authentic ones.
For instance, we see more people using IKR instead of responding with ‘yes’ or ‘I know’ these days.
Moreover, it’s not only the agreement with another’s opinion that IKR conveys but also depicts a sense of relief.
For example, feeling reassured that the other also share the same opinions and thoughts as yours.
There is no tricky rule to use IKR and you can insert it in your speech when you feel it sounds appropriate.
For instance, if someone says, “I hate how people disrespect others”, you can respond by saying, “IKR? I would never tolerate disrespectful behavior in my presence, whatsoever!”
The advantage of social media or internet slang and abbreviations is that no tricky grammar rules apply to them. You can use them as you please, but only make sure the sentence as a whole sounds correct.
It’s important to remember that despite being an informal abbreviation, IKR is a loaded phrase. What we’re trying to imply here is that the abbreviation not only conveys your wholehearted agreement but also your relief at the same beliefs.
Hence, when using it, be very sure of what you want to convey to the other and how much you want to commit to a cause. If you don’t really agree or share the same thought as the other, you shouldn’t use this abbreviation at all in response.
There’s another flexibility people enjoy with initialism like these, and that is not having to worry about punctuation or capitalization. Therefore, you will also see many people writing ‘ikr’ instead of ‘IKR’ and that would still mean the same.
Here is a surprising fact for you: IKR has been in existence since the 1990s. Was that before you were born? For many, this abbreviation may be relatively new but in truth, IKR has been around for more than thirty years now. Whew!
If you talk to the 90s generation, they’ll tell you that they associate IKR with the stereotypical ‘Valley Girl’.
However, it wasn’t until the ‘Mean Girls’ movie in 2004 that this abbreviation truly became popular far and wide.
2004 was also the time when internet and social media use was gaining momentum across the world. Hence, abbreviations for almost everything was coming into existence.
Finally, in 2005 the urban dictionary accepted IKR and even its definition was similar to a quote from Mean Girls.
Google was not too quick to hop on to the bandwagon just yet though. It took its time and finally gave the abbreviation IKR the spotlight in 2009. Since then, this abbreviation has become a mainstay in our vocabulary.
IKR is no longer a movie quote or a slang of the stereotypical Valley Girl. Today, IKR is a part of the urban dictionary and Google accepts it too.
Moreover, IKR is a useful initialism that people commonly use whenever they wish to express strong agreement with others.
We know the abbreviation does not stem from a noble origin but like most others that have surfaced since the internet, it helps with quick communication.
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