The other day a friend from long ago sent me a text message, and I did what I do when I get those things: I panicked. I don't speak this language. I am without a single clue about what to do. Nevertheless, for the sake of an old friend, I tried.
I was literally all thumbs as I stepped into that strange world where words aren't what I think they are but what they look like, which is pretty much nothing.
I was a texting failure, I admit. I wrote in complete, punctuated sentences. I gasped my last after two terse sentences, and died a humble death with: "Text is nuts."
I suppose smoke signals, one-if-by-land-two-if-by-sea were, and Morse Code were nuts in their day, too. So I figured I might as well stretch a bit and learn something. Here's the total of my knowledge of text:
1. Atlingo2word.com, translates a message from text to plain English.
2. Netlingo.com is an extensive list of text terms. Netlingo brought me the following.
3. Who know this @TEOTD could be as poetic as it is--"at the end of the day."
4. I would not have imagined this combination of letters could express impatience and a bit of condescension: AWGTHTGTHA--"are we going to have to go through this again?"
5. @TEOTD we can ATWD --agree that we disagree--and put to rest the question AWGTHTGTHA.
6. BARB is nobody I know and nothing I understand--Buy Abroad But Rent in Britain. Can anyone out there help this naive child?
7. BHIMBGO--bloody hell I must be getting old--is one I can relate to now and again.
8. How about the ever so casual BTWITIAILW/U--by the way, I think I am in love with you? Does that thrill your heart? It made me think of some Patridge Family songs from the early days of cable TV.
9. Sometimes context counts, as with BYOW--Build Your Own Website or Bring Your Own Wine.
10. WWJD is of course What Would Jesus Do? But not everybody goes that road, for some the question is
11. WWSD--What Would Satan Do?
12. For all the cranky text words, there are plenty of lovely ones: WUWHIMA--wish you were here in my arms. (Although it seems you could walk to your beloved and be there by the time you're done typing.)
13. That's enough for now, so GTGLYS--Got To Go Love Ya So.
(P.S. Check out this YouTube video clip from a Jay Leno show--Morse beats text! Thanks to Paul for the heads up on that one.)
More at Thursday Thirteen
I was literally all thumbs as I stepped into that strange world where words aren't what I think they are but what they look like, which is pretty much nothing.
I was a texting failure, I admit. I wrote in complete, punctuated sentences. I gasped my last after two terse sentences, and died a humble death with: "Text is nuts."
I suppose smoke signals, one-if-by-land-two-if-by-sea were, and Morse Code were nuts in their day, too. So I figured I might as well stretch a bit and learn something. Here's the total of my knowledge of text:
1. Atlingo2word.com, translates a message from text to plain English.
2. Netlingo.com is an extensive list of text terms. Netlingo brought me the following.
3. Who know this @TEOTD could be as poetic as it is--"at the end of the day."
4. I would not have imagined this combination of letters could express impatience and a bit of condescension: AWGTHTGTHA--"are we going to have to go through this again?"
5. @TEOTD we can ATWD --agree that we disagree--and put to rest the question AWGTHTGTHA.
6. BARB is nobody I know and nothing I understand--Buy Abroad But Rent in Britain. Can anyone out there help this naive child?
7. BHIMBGO--bloody hell I must be getting old--is one I can relate to now and again.
8. How about the ever so casual BTWITIAILW/U--by the way, I think I am in love with you? Does that thrill your heart? It made me think of some Patridge Family songs from the early days of cable TV.
9. Sometimes context counts, as with BYOW--Build Your Own Website or Bring Your Own Wine.
10. WWJD is of course What Would Jesus Do? But not everybody goes that road, for some the question is
11. WWSD--What Would Satan Do?
12. For all the cranky text words, there are plenty of lovely ones: WUWHIMA--wish you were here in my arms. (Although it seems you could walk to your beloved and be there by the time you're done typing.)
13. That's enough for now, so GTGLYS--Got To Go Love Ya So.
(P.S. Check out this YouTube video clip from a Jay Leno show--Morse beats text! Thanks to Paul for the heads up on that one.)
More at Thursday Thirteen
55 Comments
I am a horrible texter.
ReplyDeleteI am all about proper spelling and punctuation in my texts. It is laborious and time consuming. I just usually call...
ReplyDeleteTM
You should see the speed at which my daughter can text to her friends. It's crazy, but she tells me it's cheaper to text than phone. Go fig. I think I'll stick with the computer and phone. Happy T13!
ReplyDelete#12....ya, okay. If you say so. [kidding]
ReplyDeleteHope to see you visit with me soon if you can stop by.
Great idea for TT! Mine's up too Hope you can drop by... Happy TT!
ReplyDeleteI hate texting. Its hard to do when you don't know all the abbreviations. My daughter is a texting master. LOL!
ReplyDeleteI love that you didn't just erase it like SOME PEOPLE (me) would do. I hate that text thing - pick up the phone or send me an email. crips.
ReplyDeleteDon't feel bad. I know absolutely nothing when it comes to texting. I watch my teenage cousin do this and I feel like an old lady. Sounds like you know a lot more than me. LOL! Great TT.
ReplyDeleteLOL...now thats funny. I remember when I first started typing IM's on the computer. I thought LOL meant lots of love...heeheehee. Happy TT:)
ReplyDeleteI watched the Jan Leno video clip - pretty funny. I don't do texting. If I did, I'd end up doing complete sentences probably. And use words that I really say.
ReplyDeleteI only text my husband and we just use regular old English when we do.
ReplyDeleteGah! I thought I was on top of this text-speak. Clearly not!
ReplyDeleteSan, gtfo2h...this post is too good...that's one we'd actually say in college...get the f--- out of here! Oh, and it's O-squared thank you, in plain English. (smile) OMG!
ReplyDeleteLOLOL - Thanks for cracking the code. Happy TT.
ReplyDeletelol i haven't heard of nearly any of those!
ReplyDeleteI text all the time, but never use those. It makes my head hurt to try to figure them out.
ReplyDeleteHappy TT! Thanks for stopping by!
OMG That was so fun! How do the kids remember all these abbreviations? Or do they? IDK. I guess it's just part of pop culture. ROFLMFAO! G2G.
ReplyDeleteWait- Buy Abroad? I don't get it. You're much better at this than I am.
ReplyDeleteI do not text. But I do feel enlightened now!
ReplyDeleteThe links will come in handy!
ReplyDeleteROFL, texting kicks my rear... But my 14 year old can make a whole paragraph (and doesn't use quite as extensive short cuts as shown here) in about ten seconds.
ReplyDelete:P
I actually took shorthand in highschool but have forgotten how to do it (unfortunately). It would come in handy for notetaking. I'm a nontexter but at least I can type without looking.
ReplyDeleteWow! This is insane!!! I never knew that something like this existed. I do know about text speak which people use here... They drop out consonants in a word and don't use punctuations. That annoyed me... This drives me nuts!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is the reason I don't text at all. It's a foreign language that I'm just too old to learn! Whenever I try to text anyone, I have to use punctuation and spell everything right - it takes just too long to write anything.
ReplyDeleteHappy TT!
I only know TGIF (thanks god it's friday) lol !
ReplyDeleteDare I admit I did my first text 3 weeks ago?
ReplyDeleteSJR
The Pink Flamingo
http://thepinkflamingo.blogharbor.com/blog
Loved numbers 9 and 11. You're right -- context IS everything! Thanks for visiting my TT.
ReplyDeleteYou crack me up! I am not a texting person either. It would have taken me an hour to text this post.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. When I text I mostly do complete sentences as well. I will throw in a 2 (to) every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I used to use this kind of language in a calendar/journal I kept in high school, wonder if I could figure out what I wrote by using the decoder thing.
Happy TT
I don't much like texting. But I liked this TT.
ReplyDeleteLove your post! I'm a real novice on the netbreviations, but I do know the answer to #10. WWJD? FROG!! (Fully Rely On God)
ReplyDeleteCome by and see my trip to the lake.
BTW, I've been following you around the TT circuit and I love your new picture.
lol I hate texting too. I get 'net lingo, but not text lingo.
ReplyDeleteThanks for clearing up a few! :)
For me is almost seems sacrilege to not punctuate and spell correctly. I have no clue what any of the texting shortcuts mean except the few I've seen on commercials! Neat post.
ReplyDeleteI used to text like mad now I haven't used my cell in ages, and I do not mind. Great TT this week, and I am back in full swing so I can comment YEAH. Oh my TT is posted.
ReplyDeleteI can't keep up with all of these... but I still leave messagers for Jane with "S.W.A.L.K." on them..
ReplyDeleteTom
Wow - I got quite an education here! When I text, I use the complete words (except in very well know cases, such as "u" for "You" and "BTW" for "by the way"). Otherwise I get all confused, the other person gets confused, and I end up having to text a lot more just to explain!
ReplyDeletePeace - D
What a kick. I was clueless on all of these. Here's an alternate to add to the list. When my husband retired, he changed LOL to mean "Lad of Leisure". The braggert!! Oh well, I shall be a "Lass of Leisure" in two more years.
ReplyDeleteI am not a texter. Honestly, I find them a bit annoying. Sorry, was I showing my age there?
ReplyDeleteNo doubt about it---this is the new foreign language and IMBGO!
ReplyDeleteI can't text! It's hard! Fun TT!
ReplyDeleteWWJD is for now and always followed by "for a Klondike Bar" in my mind thanks to a shirt I saw!
ReplyDeleteHappy TT!
I am physically incapable of texting without punctuation and complete sentences. You would love the t-shirt my daughter is wearing these days:
ReplyDeleteSend Texts Not Troops
Cute TT! Didn't know many of those, but do love texting. It's just more convenient and less disruptive sometimes. Nice to drop an OMW to my daughter as I head out to pick her up from the mall or an ETA? to my husband when wondering when to start dinner. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm okay with Acronyms, which is why my husband constantly asks me the meanings of the ones he encounters. I don't use them to text very often, though. The most I do is use 2 for "to," 4 for "for," and "u" for you. This is mostly due to laziness on my part. Loved the video!
ReplyDeleteBYOB or BYOW are the the only ones I knew! Whew
ReplyDeleteI now love texting this 49 year old is not 'great' but have soooo much more contact w/ my sons
ReplyDeleteWow. That's a lot of knowledge in your TT. I can't text at all except lol.
ReplyDeleteHappy TT!
Oh dear.
ReplyDeleteI haven't quite mastered online chats yet. I don't believe I'll try to learn texting.
I have to agree with you, texting just stresses me out. If I text the husband I do it from work at an actual website where I'm typing in the words from a real keyboard, so that doesn't count. I got a new phone, that specifically accomodates my e-mail account, so you really just won't find me texting, it's crazy! The husband's son got a talking to when we found out that 300+ messages were each sent and received, not by him, but by his room mate who was using his phone on the sly. THAT was an expensive lesson!
ReplyDeletei don't get text lingo either. i text in complete words and sentences.
ReplyDeleteTexting hurts my brain.
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge of the lingo doesn't go much further than ROFLMAO (rolling on the floor laughing my @ss off) and LOL.
ReplyDeleteFunny TT.
Hehe, thanks for the laugh! I am SO with you on this one, I thought I was the height of hip 'n happening when I managed to text the odd gr8 or c u 2moro!
ReplyDeleteIt is a foreign as another language to me.!!!:-)
ReplyDeleteI have SUCH a hard time text messaging...I only do it when absolutely necessary, and it's an extremely slow process for me. My 21 year old daughter, however, could do it in her sleep.
ReplyDeleteGreat TT!
Thanks for being here.