IYKYK stands for if you know, you know, meaning only insiders will get it. People add it to a photo, a meme or a hint about a shared experience that only their group will understand: classmates, colleagues, fans of a series. The caption deliberately explains nothing, and that's the point: whoever gets it feels like an insider. The tone is friendly and a little mysterious.
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photo/post caption + iykyk; inside joke + iykyk; if you know, you know (in speech)
- friday at the office, the printer's on fire again. iykyk
- that one teacher who said 'this will be on the test' before every single lesson, iykyk
- We ordered the burger from the secret menu again last night. If you know, you know.
What changed
First versionDear Ms Grant, yesterday's workshop was quite eventful, iykyk.
RevisionDear Ms Grant, yesterday's workshop was quite eventful, as you know.
IYKYK is a wink to insiders: those who were there get it, and everyone else can guess. In an email starting with Dear Ms Grant, it looks overfamiliar and strange, as if you're hinting at a secret. If the reader was at the workshop too, you can neutrally write as you know; if not, simply say what happened.
A similar phrase, you had to be there, is what people say when a story they've told didn't get a laugh: It was really funny, you had to be there. Iykyk is written in advance and with pleasure: the joke is meant for insiders only. Don't confuse it with ikr (I know, right?) either: that's how you agree with something the other person has just said. Chat abbreviations don't belong in an essay or in IELTS Speaking, but out loud you can say you had to be there.
Your turn
She posted a photo of the school canteen's famous grey soup with just one caption underneath: ___.
Show the answer
iykyk — Only people who ate that soup in the school canteen will get the photo, a classic hint for insiders: iykyk. Idk (I don't know) makes no sense as this caption: nobody is asking anything or having doubts.
Write a photo caption for your friends about something only they will understand. Use iykyk and name the place where the photo was taken.
back at that corner table at Luigi's, and yes, we ordered the cake again. iykyk
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