SMS language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
SMS language or Textese (also known as chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, texting language or txt talk) is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging, though its use is common on the internet, including e-mail and instant messaging. It can be likened to a rebus, which uses pictures and single letters, or numbers to represent whole words (e.g, "i <3 u" which uses the pictogram of a heart for "love", and the letter "u" replaces "you").
For words which have no common abbreviation, txtese users most commonly remove the vowels from a word, and the reader is forced to interpret a string of consonants by re-adding the vowels (e.g., "dictionary" becomes "dctnry", or "keyboard" becomes "kybrd"). The reader must interpret the abbreviated words depending on the context in which it is used, as there are many examples of words or phrases which use the same abbreviations (e.g., "lol" could mean "laugh out loud" or "lots of love", and "cryn" could mean "crayon" or "crying"). So if someone says "ttyl, lol" they probably mean "talk to you later, lots of love" not "talk to you later, laugh out loud"; and if someone says "omg, lol" they probably mean "oh my god, laugh out loud" not "oh my god, lots of love". Context is key when interpreting txtese, and it is precisely this shortfall which critics of txtese cite as a reason not to use it.
The advent of predictive text input and smartphones featuring full QWERTY keyboards may contribute to a reduction in its use. This type of language does not always obey or follow standard grammar; furthermore, the words used in the writing system are not found in standard dictionaries or recognized by language academies.
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[edit] Significance
The objective of textese is to use the fewest number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message. Hence, punctuation, grammar, and capitalization are largely ignored.
The dialect has a few hieroglyphs (codes comprehensible to initiates) and a range of face symbols.[1] According to a study, though it is faster to write it takes more time to read than normal English.[2] According to research done by Dr Nanagh Kemp of University of Tasmania, the evolution of ‘textese’ is inherently coupled to a strong grasp of grammar and phonetics.[3]
[edit] History
Textese is a nascent dialect of English that subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra-concise words and sentiments.[4] The invention of mobile phone messages may be considered as its source, although elliptical styles of writing dating back to at least the days of telegraphese. There are no standard rules for writing SMS languages, and a lot of words can also be shortened, such as "text" then turns into "txt". Words can also be combined with numbers to make them shorter, such as "later" turns into "l8r". Its speed in which they can be written and helps in using fewest number of letters, and helps in dealing with space constraints of text messaging.
It is similar to Internet slang and Telex speak, and has evolved from the shorthand use in Internet chatrooms to accommodate the small number of characters allowed (early SMS permitted only 160 characters and some carriers charge messages by the number of characters sent), and as a convenient language for the small keyboards on mobile phones.
[edit] Criticism
Welsh journalist and television reporter John Humphrys has criticized txtese as "wrecking our language". The author cites ambiguous examples such as "lol" which may mean "laughing out loud" or "lots of love", depending on the context in which it is used. Humphrys describes emoticons and txtese as "irritating" and essentially lazy behaviors, and surmises that "sloppy" habits gained while using txtese will result in student's growing ignorance of proper grammar and punctuation.[5]
[edit] Frequency of use
In one American study, researchers found that less than 20% of messages used SMS language. Looking at his own texting history, the study's author, linguist David Crystal, noted just 10% of his messages used SMS language.[6]
[edit] The use of txt in school exams
There have been some reports in the media of children using SMS language for essays in school:
- (16 August 2002). “Examiner's warning over exams culture”. BBC.
- (4 March 2003). “Is txt mightier than the word?”. BBC.
- November 2006. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority discourages the use of text abbreviations after suggesting that they may be used in certain subjects provided they clearly show the required understanding. NZQA Press statement [1]
[edit] Vocabulary
[edit] Single letters can replace words
- be becomes b
- see becomes c
- are becomes r
- you becomes u
- why becomes y
- okay becomes k
[edit] Single digits can replace words
- ate becomes 8
- for becomes 4
- to or too becomes 2
- one or won becomes 1
[edit] A single letter or digit can replace a syllable
- ate becomes 8, so:
- great becomes gr8
- mate becomes m8
- wait becomes w8
- later becomes l8r or l8a
- skate becomes sk8
- skater becomes sk8r
- tomorrow becomes 2mro
- for or fore becomes 4, so:
- before becomes (combining both of the above) b4
- therefore becomes thr4
- once becomes 1ce
[edit] Combinations of the above can shorten a single or multiple words
- Your and You're both become ur or yr
[edit] Common abbreviations
| Word or phrase | Abbreviation(s) |
|---|---|
| Account | acc or acct |
| Address | addy or add |
| And | n, an, nd, or & |
| Anticipate | ntcp8 |
| Age, sex, location | Asl or a/s/l |
| At the moment | atm |
| As far as I know | afaik |
| Awesome | or+ or orsm |
| Be right back | brb |
| Be back later | bbl |
| Be back soon | bbs |
| Because | cuz, bcuz, bcz, bcos, bc, cos, coz or bcoz |
| Best friend or Boyfriend | bf or b/f |
| Big fucking (or freakin') deal | bfd |
| Best friend(s) for life | bffl |
| Best friend(s) forever | bff or bffe |
| Between | btwn or b/w |
| Busting my brains laughing | bmbl |
| Butter | chizmo |
| By the way | btw |
| Can't be arsed | cba |
| Can't be fucked | cbf |
| Comment me back | cmb (usually used for social networking sites) |
| Could be keen (i.e. to go out) | cbk |
| Cousin | cuzin or cuz |
| Definitely | def or deffo |
| Don't | dnt |
| Don't worry | dw |
| Forever | 4eva or 4evr |
| For your information | fyi |
| Friend | frend or frnd |
| Fuck my life | fml |
| Fuck you | fuk u or f u |
| Get the fuck out | gtfo |
| Girlfriend | gf or g/f |
| Got to go | g2g or gtg |
| Great | gr8 |
| Have a nice day | H.A.N.D. |
| Have a good day | hagd |
| Hold on | hld on or h/o |
| Homework | hw, hwk or hmwk |
| How are you | hru |
| I can't remember | icr |
| I don't care | idc |
| I don't give a fuck | idgaf |
| I don't know | idk |
| I do what I want | idwiw |
| I know, right? | ikr |
| I love you | ily, luv u, ilu, luv ya, or i <3 u |
| If I recall correctly or If I remember correctly | iirc |
| In my opinion | imo |
| In my humble opinion | imho |
| Jokes | jks |
| Just for laughs | jfl |
| Just joking | jj |
| Just kidding | jk |
| Just to let you know | jtlyk or j2luk |
| Know | kno, knw or no |
| Kiss my teeth | kmt |
| Kiss my ass | kma |
| Later | l8r or l8a |
| Laugh out loud | lol |
| Lots of love | lol |
| Laughing my ass off | lmao |
| Laughing my fucking ass off | lmfao |
| Laughing quietly to myself | lqtm |
| Laugh out loud (multiple times) | lollies or lolz |
| Love | luv or <3 |
| Love you | ly, <3u, ilu or ily |
| Mate | m8 |
| Message (as in a text message) | msg |
| Never mind | nm or nvm (depending on context used, see also "not much" below) |
| No problem | np |
| No thank you | no tnk u, nty or no ty |
| Not much | nm (depending on context used, see also "never mind" above) |
| Obviously | ovvi, obv or obvs |
| Of course | ov cors or ofc |
| Oh My God | omg or (comically) zomg, romg, wamg, omgz |
| OK | k |
| Oh really? | o rly? |
| Parents over shoulder | pos |
| parents behind back | pbb |
| Peace | pc, pce, pece, or \/ (V sign) |
| People | ppl |
| Picture(s) | pic, pics or pix |
| Pissing myself laughing | pmsl |
| Please | plz, plez or pls |
| Probably | probz, prbly, prolly, proly, or prob |
| Really | rly |
| Reals | rlz |
| Right | rite |
| Rocking/Rock (metal hands) | \m/ |
| Rolling on the floor laughing | rofl or (comically) Roflcopter |
| Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off | roflmao or rotflmao |
| says | ses or sez |
| See you/see you later | cya, cu, or cya/cu l8er/l8a/l8r |
| Seriously | srsly |
| Shit outta luck | sol |
| Shut the fuck up | stfu |
| Something | sth, s/t, sumthin or summet |
| Son of a bitch | sob |
| Sorry | sry or soz |
| Talk to you later | ttyl or t2yl |
| Ta-ta for now | ttfn |
| Text | txt |
| Text back | txt bck or tb |
| Thanks | thanx, thx, tnx, 10Q, thnx or tnx |
| Thank you | ty or thnk u |
| Thank you very much | tyvm |
| The most ludicrous abbreviation ever | tmlae |
| Tomorrow | tom, 2moz, 2moro, 2mrw or 2mara |
| To be honest | tbh |
| Welcome back | wb |
| Weekend | wknd, w/end |
| Write back | wb |
| What | wat, wut, wht, whaz or wot |
| What you up to? | wuu2 |
| Whatever | w/e, wateva, watev, watevr,wtvr or w.e |
| What the fuck | wtf or wdf |
| What the hell | wth |
| Would | wud |
[edit] See also
 |
Look up txt in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2008/07/gr8-db8-crystal-texting-txtng
- ^ http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE4B90YA20081210?rpc=64
- ^ http://www.mobilemessaging2.com/2008/12/12/textese-mobility-and-the-evolution-of-language/
- ^ http://www.newsweek.com/id/150449
- ^ John Humphrys (2007-09-24). "I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language". Associated Newspapers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html. Retrieved on 2009-05-26.
- ^ Crystal, David (2008-07-05). "2b or not 2b?". Guardian Unlimited. http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/referenceandlanguages/story/0,,2289259,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-07-08.
- Rai, Himanshu (30 October 2005). “Thumbs Up!”. New Straits Times, p. F14.
[edit] Relevant literature
[edit] External links
- 2b or not 2b?
- David Crystal - Guardian Unlimited - 5 July 2008.
- This lengthy article talks about the rise of SMS messaging, the language used, precedents for abbreviated language in English and links to further contributions on the subject by Will Self and Lynne Truss.
- David Crystal - Guardian Unlimited - 5 July 2008.
- NationalTextingRegistry.us
- Urban Dictionary, for reference
