WITH its astounding rise in popularity since 2001, text messaging has been widely deplored as the ruin of teens, language and perhaps civilisation itself. Yet the reality is far less dire.
Thereâs no evidence that texting damages writing skills; on the contrary, academic studies â as well as creative phenomena such as text poetry â indicate that texters can actually be talented writers. In any case, texting isnât as innovative as you might think: abbreviations are hardly new and a highly text-associated word like âwotâ dates from 1829. Thanks to Crystal for dispelling the hysteria.
David Crystal has provided some examples of txtspk: can you guess what they mean (answers below)?
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Hereâs one to start you off: âtwz d bst of x, twz d wst of xâ
Answer: âIt was the best of times, it was the worst of timesâ â Charles Dickensâ A Tale of Two Cities
- (/)pnc, HHkrs GYd 2T glxE
- 1st amgst =
- dad@hvn, ur spshl
- ggggUK4gg
- LEmntry, my dEr wtson.
- 4scr + 7a ugo r 4fthrs brt 4th on this cn10nt a nu nAshn cnCvd in lbRT + ddc8d 2 th prop tht (evRE1) r crE8d =
- 2b? nt2b? = ???
- fr ur ii only
Think youâve worked them out? Here are the answers:
- ââDonât panicâ, Hitchhikerâs Guide to the Galaxyâ â Douglas Adams
- âFirst among equalsâ
- âOur Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy nameâ
- âA horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!â â Shakespeare, Richard III
- âElementary, my dear Watsonâ â attributed to Sherlock Holmes
- âFourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.â â Abraham Lincoln, the Gettysburg address
- âTo be or not to be, that is the questionâ â Shakespeare, Hamlet
- For Your Eyes Only â James Bond short story collection by Ian Fleming
Txtng: The Gr8 Db8
Oxford University Press
