I was watching the news either last night or few nights ago and that is where I first found out how some teachers are concerned about the detrimental effects of text messaging.
Some believe it could lead to bad grammar and overall bad language skills, while others are of the opinion that it won’t be so bad because you’re still reading and using your mind to communicate.
In any case, the news article online had this test for the new abbreviated words. I thought I’d share just for the heck of it to see how many of you are actually familiar with the text messaging language.
Although I send and receive anywhere between 175-250+ text messages per month, I certainly failed the test. I hardly knew any of the abbreviations.
Try it out for fun.
A3
(Anytime, anywhere, anyplace.)
AEAP
(As early as possible)
ATM
(At the moment)
B4N or BFN
(Bye for now)
BLNT
(Better luck next time)
BBS
(Be back soon)
BM&Y
(Between me and you)
BTDT
(Been there, done that)
CUL8R
(See you later)
CYA
(See ya)
FICCL
(Frankly, I couldn’t care less)
HAGN
(Have a good night)
IDTS
(I don’t think so)
IIRC
(If I remember correctly)
ILBL8
(I’ll be late)
IYKWIM
(If you know what I mean)
LOL
(Laughing out loud)
MTFBWU
(May the Force be with you)
NBD
(No big deal)
NE1
(Anyone)
OO
(Over and out)
ROTL
(Rolling on the floor laughing)
ROTFLUS
(Rolling on the floor laughing, unable to stop)
SIT
(Stay in touch)
T+
(Think positive)
UGTBK
(You’ve got to be kidding)
WOMBAT
(Waste of money, brains and time)
Some literary scholars and media outlets have gone so far as to translate famous works of literature into text message-speak.
See if you can decipher the following examples of classic and pop culture expressions:
“twas A1 of tmes, twas D worst of tmes”
(“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities)
“2B|^2B”
(“To be or not to be”, Shakespeare’s Hamlet.)
“Poems R mAd by f%lz lIk me,
bt onlE God cn mAk a trE.”
(“Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree,” Joyce Kilmer’s “Trees”)
“twas beauty iced 666”
(“It was beauty killed the beast,” from the movie ‘King Kong’)
“O I bleev n yday”
(“Oh I believe in yesterday”, from “Yesterday” by the Beatles)
“jst wen U thawt it wz sAf 2 go bak n d H2O”
(“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water,” the tagline from the movie Jaws.)
Taken from: Can You Pass The “Text Message” Test?
