AFAIK, ATM, FWIW, IMHO, IYKWIM, it is NAGI, FYI, to do this F2F. But, BTW, TIL, with TIME, you can have TMI; TL;DR. BTAIM, WTH? JSYK, IIRC, TBH, NAP. SRSLY. ITR, HTH, IOW, MTFBWY. SWYP?
Did we follow that opening sentence? Or have we already determined to contact the editor and make a complaint? Welcome to ‘Textspeak’ (and ask a teenager)!
While many of us may struggle to understand such ‘language’, it should be noted that it is nothing new, really.
For years we have been doing this – we have been using initials for a long time – many of us may have referred to our teachers by their initials but now it is even sports stars (AB De V, CR7).
We have been using abbreviations, e.g., i.e. for centuries. We have been using acronyms for a long time too (OAP, ATM, LCD, PIN, HIV – no problem understanding those).
We have had television programmes from ‘TW3’ (‘That Was The Week That Was’, from way back when) to ‘CSI: NY’ more recently.
If we know the ‘language’, it is easy to understand – similarly, if we know cricket, we will know what ABDeV stands for (and LBW), but if we do not follow cricket then we will be left very much in the dark.
Equally, if we start off on the wrong line of thinking we will encounter some embarrassing, even humorous, consequences, like the story of an English teacher who before going on holiday to Austria wrote to the local priest to find out if there was a WC where she would stay, ("WC", Water Closet, being the polite term for a toilet), but the priest thought WC stood for a "Wesleyan Chapel".
His response made interesting reading in the light of her request!
"I am delighted to inform you that the WC is situated only 2 miles from the cottage you rented, and is capable of seating up to 250 people with standing room for another 100 people.
The WC only opens on Wednesdays and Sundays and I hope this will not inconvenience you if you are used to going more regularly. I would highly recommend that you visit the WC on Sundays, as there is always an organ accompaniment.
With such huge pipes, the sound quality is truly excellent and even the softest sounds can be heard audibly by everyone.
My wife, who is rather delicate, can't attend as often as she would like. It has been six months since her last visit which pains her greatly.
I shall be delighted to reserve a seat for you next to me during your visit.”
The humour, of course, may be found in what is defined as “double entendre” (basically ‘two meanings’).
Misunderstanding or failing to understand acronyms, textspeak, can be embarrassing.
In a similar way to an acronym being misinterpreted, ‘Textspeak’ could also cause potential problems, as well as humour.
So, is correct spelling important (or even necessary)?
Many readers will be familiar with a popular wide-reaching example that has been circulating on social media for a long time.
“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe”.
Most of us will follow the stated argument, despite the dreadful spelling, that the key thing is for the first and last letters of each word to be in the correct place – it does not seem to matter about the other letters.
So, what is wrong with textspeak? Are people just lazy by using it? Why must it all be textbook stuff?
As we have seen, textspeak and textbook is all about context.
Yes, textspeak may be useful in our hurried world in texts but it is not helpful in our formal world of communication.
Those people who struggle with spelling may love textspeak, though they are comforted and assisted in our modern world by spellchecks and autocorrect on – however, beware predictive text!
Textspeak is, in truth, like emojis (which we considered previously), another language to be learned.
But just as emotional intelligence is much more important than emoji intelligence, so we might declare that academic intelligence remains more important than textspeak intelligence.
As a kind friend explained to this writer, “Rn ik u r ofc v cnfsd rt?” (and very graciously translated) “Right now, I know you are of course very confused, right?”
She was right! We must just make sure we are speaking the same language. No more FOMO because YOLO.
Textbook not textspeak, please.