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If you’re of a certain age (like me), you’ll
remember when operating a computer required you to enter a series of
cryptic text commands while looking at a monochrome screen.
Mercifully, developers soon decided that there had to be an easier way
for the general public to operate a computer, and Mac and Windows were
born. Pointing to a picture on a full-colour screen is vastly
easier and more enjoyable than typing text. But brace
yourself: the bad old days may be upon us again!
YBS 2 know that if ur a n00b 2 txting, u-l b ttly confused!
SWIM? SSEWBA. IMHO, we need more txt msg 411. LOL!
Translation: You’ll be sorry to know that if you’re a
newbie to texting, you’ll be totally confused! See what I
mean? Someday soon, everything will be acronyms. In my
humble opinion, we need more text message information. (Laughing
out loud)!
Chat sites have been around for quite a long time, and texting via cell
phones has gained massive popularity in the last several years.
Although the “standards” differ slightly between chat and
text, many of the acronyms and abbreviations are universal.
If you’re just getting started, or if you’ve received an
incomprehensible text message and you’re not sure whether
you’ve been complimented or insulted, here are a couple of
websites that offer helpful translations: http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php and http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp.
Once you’ve figured out the abbreviations, you’ll also want
to take note of the fine points of texting etiquette. It’s
important to know that ALL CAPITAL letters are only used for
acronyms. Any other text in all caps means that you’re
yelling, which is very rude indeed (as are some of the acronyms, but
that’s another story). LOL!
These shortened messages are spiced up with “emoticons”,
which are text combinations that are used to convey emotion. The
sideways “smiley face” :-) is probably the most
familiar. A whole range of emotion can be expressed using the
text at http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations_02.asp.
Text message abbreviations are becoming so widespread that some parents
and educators fear that our kids are losing the ability to spell
correctly. Who knows, maybe these shortened forms will become
absorbed as a natural evolution of our language. I have to
wonder, though, whether going back to typing cryptic commands on a
monochrome screen can really be progress. ;-)
I’ll be PDH (pretty darn happy) if I can still understand most of
the written language by the time I die. I’d hate to become
so “illiterate” that my attempts to communicate in writing
leave the younger generations ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing).
But for now, if your kids text “420” (marijuana /
let’s get high) or “P911” (parents coming into room
alert), you now have the translation tools to beat them at their own
game. On the other hand, if they text you “831”,
“143”, “459”, or “<3333”, sit
back and smile, because they’re saying “I love
you”. Maybe there's some good in these abbreviations after all!
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By: Diane Henders, Bright Ideas Personalized
Learning Inc. Bright Ideas Personalized Learning Inc. is a
Calgary-based mobile computer training company that provides on-demand,
cost-effective training to corporations and individuals. For more
information about this topic, or to schedule a training session, please
call (403) 269-2347.
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