Tuesday, April 24, 2012

URGR8

For the A-Z Blog challenge, I will be addressing some of life's big questions. Perhaps together we can find the answers to many heretofore unsolvable mysteries.




is for U

As in you. 

When did we lose 75% of the letters in the alphabet?




URH = you are hot
UOK  = you ok?
UTM = you tell me
URA* = you are a star

I know I'm old fashioned. And maybe it has something to do with the fact that I'm an author and spend a gazillion hours editing, but it bugs me. 

I'll admit to an occasional LOL. But if I try to take short cuts on a text, it itches my spine and I always end up going back and fixing it. Texting OCD.

Before the days of the full keyboard phones, I can see why texting shortcuts were helpful. 

So, here's the test. Can you identify the following phrases:

THX
SOMY
ROFL
NE1
BOOMS
AFAIK
.02
BOSMKL
VBS
WAJ
POS (not the one that starts with piece of ... )  :)

and the bonus question: 459


I'll post the answers with tomorrow's blog.

Tomorrow's Question
The Bad Guys Win Again
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13 comments:

  1. Brooke @ Silver LiningApril 24, 2012 at 6:59 AM

    <3 this. 2 gr8.

    ReplyDelete
  2. gayleneApril 24, 2012 at 8:13 AM

    I'm an old fuddy-duddy writer and I don't LOL. My kids love that new disney channel song TTYLXOX. Where's language headed...

    ReplyDelete
  3. stuApril 24, 2012 at 10:09 AM

    It's worth pointing out that this actually has some ancient antecedents. Latin, for example, was consistently abbreviated by both the Romans and medieval writers, so that Roman inscriptions look a lot like early text speak.

    ReplyDelete
  4. farawayeyesApril 24, 2012 at 10:19 AM

    Holy carp! I'm a texting edjit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. S. L. HennessyApril 24, 2012 at 10:39 AM

    It sort of scares me, as a writer, to see the English language chopped down to the bone like that!

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  6. Carrie-AnneApril 24, 2012 at 10:47 AM

    I've sometimes helped my mom, a community college English teacher, with her student papers, and once, quite some years back, I found a paper that seriously used "LOL." I've often wondered if this generation of text-speak young people uses those abbreviations and Internet terms on job applications and the like. I usually only use the most common, like BTW, IRL, and FYI.

    On your list, I recognize ROFL, THX, AFAIK, and POS (assuming POS in this case means the same thing I think it does). My least-favorite abbreviations are the ones many women use for their husbands and kids. You can take me out back and shoot me if I EVER refer to a husband as a "DH" or any future kids as a "DS," "DD," "DC," or "LO."

    ReplyDelete
  7. AltheaApril 24, 2012 at 10:56 AM

    Ermm....thanks...rolling on the floor laughing...anyone...I can't get any more! I hate text language soooo much!!x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Madeline Mora-SummonteApril 24, 2012 at 11:10 AM

    Now I feel even older than I usually do. Sigh.

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  9. Cherie ReichApril 24, 2012 at 5:19 PM

    Yeah, I don't think I got most of those. I'm all for writing it out for the most part, beyond the occasional LOL and U and R.

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  10. Jaye Robin BrownApril 24, 2012 at 7:21 PM

    I know 420 but not 459 - better ask my students.

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  11. Cindy DwyerApril 24, 2012 at 7:37 PM

    Too funny. I've resisted texting and shortcuts too, but I've been caving...

    ReplyDelete
  12. Rob and LisaApril 24, 2012 at 11:06 PM

    I am a teacher and am always amazed when a student turns in a formal essay with texting abbreviations. U is the most common one, but it's uncanny how this language has invaded every aspect of their language use.

    Lisa
    http://livethemoment09.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. a.eyeApril 25, 2012 at 10:19 AM

    I have some students who write like this on papers they turn in in school!!! WTF?

    ReplyDelete

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