Baffling TikTok Slang: What Does DTN Mean?

Some of the abbreviations, acronyms, and slang terms used on TikTok are easy to decipher, particularly if you’ve been active on social media platforms for years. “POV” (point of view), “ASL” (age, sex, location), and “W” (a win) won’t stump most people new to the app.

Many others will be familiar to anyone who has kids (or pays attention to the language used in popular movies or streaming shows featuring young characters). “Rizz” (a word that can be loosely defined as charisma), “delulu” (short for delusional), and “cheugy” (cringy) are common in Gen A vocabulary and are everyday references used in TikTok videos.

Then there are the ones that have to be explained to most TikTok users new to the app. “DTN” is one of them — and it can have two very different meanings, neither of which is obvious.

What Does “DTN” Mean on TikTok?

The most common use of “DTN” on TikTok and a few other platforms is as an abbreviation meaning “Don’t Trust Nobody” or “Don’t Trust No One.” A variation you may also see is “DTN4L,” meaning “Don’t Trust No One For Life.”

The phrase is said to have originated in Black online communities and spread across social media from there. It’s most often seen in TikTok content created by people who believe they’ve been wronged or betrayed by someone they were dating or were close to. You may see the acronym used in conjunction with “DTB” (“Don’t Trust Bitches” or “Don’t Trust Boys”).

Once “DTN” debuted on TikTok, it started trending quickly and remains a mainstay in the app’s vernacular. The hashtag #DTN has had hundreds of millions of views, and #DTN4L isn’t far behind.

If that definition of “DTN” doesn’t fit the context of a TikTok post you’ve seen, there’s another possibility. Some use the acronym to mean “Down to Netflix,” meaning ready to chill and hang out while watching TV, rather than going out and partying. When used in this way, “DTN” can describe either a person’s mood or, when followed by a “?”, be an invitation to a low-key date.

As is often the case on TikTok, it pays to watch an entire video, or read an entire description or DM, before jumping to conclusions. It could be embarrassing to assume that someone is pouring their heart out about what their former TL (true love) did to them — when they just want to get together to watch the latest Netflix show.