I should have held on to the decoder ring that I got from the bottom of the Capt Crunch box when I was kid. Little did I know it may be helpful in the future.
I read a bunch of e-mails and web postings every day. I am beginning to notice more and more abbreviations all the time being used. And I am getting better at quickly decoded them. Since I do not own a cell phone or text I do not get a lot of practice with the new lingo. I realize that language and its function changes over time. I would hate to still being using the prose that Shakespeare did in his time. I had a hard enough time trying to translate it in high school and college. I know the text code is used to save time and space. I wish I had known in school that in the future all points would have to be conveyed in 120 characters or less. I wish in school I was better able to predict the future. The teachers telling you to have a good job in the future you need to be prepared. All that real world preparedness they shoved down your throat and telling you that you need to able to write out long papers to prove your point. I wish I had a Crystal Ball to look into the future. I would have said something like this.
“Twitter says that is all bullshit. You have at most 120 characters in the future. NOT words. And all references will be hyperlinks to someone else’s work because they were willing to type more than me.”
“The Essay question will be something archeologists find in the ruins.”
My teachers would have denied my prediction by sending me to the principal’s office.
I have no problem with the change. I do have a problem where and when it is used. It should be used for text messaging, IM’s and e-mails. However, you should express the whole idea out when the person you are communicating with is in the SAME room as you. This happened to me once. I told a joke to my friend. He responded by saying, “LOL”. How about this? Try actually laughing out loud. I can hear laughter. I don’t need it coded.
Imagine going to see a comedian and after every joke the crowd yelled “LOL!” I am pretty sure he or she would have no problem replying, “What the fuck?”
If you said, “LMAO” you may have to prove it to the comedian. “RFLMAO” and now you are in double jeopardy with the comedian.
And because of this coded language there will be future generations of people showing up to gates of St. Peter in afterlife. There first response will be…”OMG”.
I will laugh if the response is “WTF”.
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I found this link and thought of your post.
http://failbooking.com/2010/01/18/funny-facebook-failsdont-laugh-shes-won-the-irish-lottery-twice/
That posted, the use of Twitter and Texting has changed the lifecycles of business. I send more things to my boss in a text message than in email or vmail. Tools like SalesforceCRM and others are even adding internal social networking software so coworkers can communicate that way.
WTF? Indeed but consider the possibilities, OMG!
I read your link. No one should use a new “code” until it is official approved or explained by another party. And that party should not be a government agency. Too much red tape and cost there to be effective for anyone.
I have to disagree that the government should be the entity that reviews, revises and approves the new code. The exact reason is that I will be dead long prior to any mandated implementation of the code and will be able to care less about it than I don’t now. As for cell phones and twitter; I have a cell phone and it is my only phone, it is also one that has a full keyboard. That is a feature that serves two purposes, the first being that I don’t know all the codes and the second is that it pisses people off when you don’t use the code. What could be better than pissing people off? I don’t Tweet, I don’t know how, nor care to learn.
I agree if government came involved with so called “codes” then no one would be able to communicate at all with each other. The paperwork alone would be a nightmare.
I am saying I wish people who would be aware of where they are and who they are talking to. And then act approiately.