” Long, explanatory speech is out the window and abbreviations are the new full-words”
In today’s fast moving tech-world, grammar, as we know it, has taken on new meaning. A new language has evolved across all cultures – the language of texting. Long, explanatory speech is out the window and abbreviations are the new full-words; not to mention the absence of punctuation marks.
Short Message Service (SMS) or text, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Skype Messenger, and BBM (for those who won’t let go) are just a few mobile applications that have changed the way we express our thoughts and ideas, and have impacted our speech and formal communication.
In conversation with a good friend of mine, she sent me a message saying, “TTYL.” Ready to drop knowledge, I responded, “You have spelt your word incorrectly, so I’m not sure what you are saying.” She replied, “No, it is an abbreviation for ‘talk to you later’.” I was shocked, and the knowledge was actually dropped on me. It was then I realized I may not be as young as I thought.
Since then I have seen where abbreviations in mobile communication have become the norm.
People are not just abbreviating words or phrases, they are abbreviating the abbreviations and even full sentences: IWLTHDWYT (I would like to have dinner with you tonight) is a case in point. There are just so many texting abbreviations, a dictionary is needed for them. See how many you know from the list below:
LOL (laughing out loud), FYI (for your information), DWL (dying with laughter/dead wid laaf), ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), 4YEO/FYEO (for your eyes only), AAMOF (as a matter of fact), NOYB (none of your business), L8R (later), BTW (by the way), BRB (be right back), BFF (best friends forever), and the list goes on.
What is even more mind-blowing, is the ability to send an entire idea using only emoticons or emojis (pictographs). For example, would you be able to interpret that means ‘my phone is dying’, imagine using only emojis to tell an entire story; Impressive!
It’s great that we can condense ideas into a few letters or images and quickly transmit them to others within seconds, thanks to modern technology.
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