Learning how to respond to IDM in text comes down to whether the conversation requires definitive closure or further input. When someone passes decision-making power back to you, treat it as authorization to make the call.
If you proposed multiple dining options and received "idm," respond by making the final selection without reopening debate: "Cool, let's do Thai at 7:30 then." This eliminates conversational dead ends. It respects their stated lack of preference and keeps plans moving forward.
If you suspect the sender typed "idm" out of reluctance or politeness rather than genuine comfort, test the waters with an easy out: "Are you sure? We can easily reschedule if you're tired." This gives them space to state an actual preference without making the exchange feel confrontational. In professional or semi-formal messaging channels like Slack or Teams, replacing abbreviations with explicit phrases like "Sounds good to me" or "No objection on my end" eliminates ambiguity entirely.
