What does iykyk mean?

Have you come across the abbreviation iykyk in a comment column on TikTok, Instagram or Reddit? We’ll tell you what this combination of letters is all about!

If you know, you know!

The abbreviation iykyk stands for If you know, you know – which may sound just as cryptic to you. A look at how this phrase is used will give you an idea of what it means: You will usually find comments with iykyk under memes or posts whose content is not obvious at first glance. The phrase indicates an insider joke or insider knowledge – only those with this knowledge can understand the content.

This is not really innovative. Insider jokes and corresponding references existed long before the Internet. In a way, the abbreviation is the equivalent of the “If you know what I mean…” that’s shouted across school playgrounds. It is now also widely used as a hashtag.

Where does iykyk come from?

It is no longer possible to determine exactly when the abbreviation was first used. What is known, however, is that it appeared in the Urban Dictionary in 2016. This is an online dictionary that explains slang expressions, abbreviations and idioms. By observing Twitter, TikTok and Instagram, it can also be shown that the abbreviation iykyk began to be used frequently in German-language posts around 2019.

Is the abbreviation still popular today?

If you follow the hashtag on TikTok or Twitter, you will see that it is still widely used. However, its use has decreased slightly compared to its peak around 2020. Nevertheless, it is still fair to say that it is a popular term, at least on certain social media platforms.