"Textspeak" ;

Which, of course, is just fine and dandy. No-one has to use textspeak.

I've refused to textspeak since the beginning.

I'm happy to say that the people who value my ability to write good English, also value my ability to take good English's piss once in a while .

Bags. I've only just found this topic and you've got company! I'm shoulder to shoulder with you.

Of course language develops and adapts it always has done. These abbreviations are for fast, throwaway texts. That's all.

They amuse me. I find them (usually) witty; gr8 = great is perfectly clear, and it's faster. It used to be cheaper too but that's changing.

I find "thx" more friendly, less stuffy than "thanks". Or maybe some might say that "thanks" is unacceptable, it should be "thank you". Certainly when I was at primary school in the early 1950s, "thanks" was seen as an unacceptable Americanism. Are we resistant to all change, at all costs? I hope not. All that matters is clarity, getting your message across. That's my view

Funnily enough my younger son, now age 21, gave up all textspeak when he was about 15. Conscious decision by him. He disapproves, thinks it's sloppy and never uses it. I think he fears it'll disadvantage him if an employer ever spots him using it. Shame that the young are under such unnecessary additional pressures.

And me!

Amongst others Mamie.
I'm happy to say my life is not so rushed or frenetic that I do have time to write proper words especially to my friends and people I value.

I thought the "sad old dear" who thought LOL meant "lots of love" was David Cameron, Gracesmum?

Yes, it is! I missed the joke first time round. So used to seeing typos on GN, u c.

That's funny, Nellie!

Not all illiterate people are lazy.

As far as I am concerned its just plain lazy and illiterate! Do these regular uses actually know too write properly when they need to?

I don't object. I pick and choose. I do use U quite a lot, but would never use l8er - just as quick to type 'later'.

Mind you, modern phones with predictive text obviate the need for quite so much textspeak. Some is still useful though.

I have. On mountains, for instance, where the signal is not reliable.

Perhaps those who object have never needed to send a text in a hurry.

I've always thought that the reason for phrases such as "C U L8er" are used because they require fewer key strokes than writing the phrase in full. The result is quicker text responses. I always supposed that speed was the reason text speak developed. I suppose you could call it sloppy and lazy, but I can understand people feeling the need for it and enjoying it too. Texts are also limited as to characters, so shorthands can be advantageous in that respect too – you can get more into a message. If you only have an intermittent signal, for instance, sending one message is far better than spelling everything out long hand and having to send two or three.

Love the poem. Thanks.

"Only if the difficulty with text speak is felt to be one's aging brain. Some people have said they find text speak difficult to deal with. " (*Bags*)

This was not my point. I hate the way language is being bastardised by pandering to this sort of "shorthand". I find it sloppy and ill-educated. If I want to say "See you later" what is the problem with just using English, for heaven's sake? "CU L8er" seems plain stupid to me. And why should it be acceptable to use a phonetic version when there is a perfectly adequate vocabulary which most of us have been using for years? Where's the fun inmis-spelling a word?
Sad old dears trying to appear trendy have apparently been using LOL to mean "lots of love" (and why shouldn't it?) instead of "laugh out loud" which would appear to be necessary if the inherent humour in a statement is not obvious enough.

gracesmum, I quite agree with you about "text" used as a past tense. Of course it should be "texted" and it always annoys me to hear people saying it wrongly, let alone texting it. Let us go boldly forward with our grammatically correct texts, punctuated perfectly, and allow those who reply to us to do as they like. We know that a pedant's life is never easy!

Thank you, too, for the poem . I've seen it before, but had forgotten it, and enjoyed seeing it again.

I can understand it all right, but I must admit to feeling rather silly using it at my age when replying to a text from DD, for example. There again, some members have expressed dislike of the abbreviations used on this site, so perhaps it is just pedantry!

And are not text messages charged per character? Though one usually gets thousands of free text with most contracts...so that is no argument.

I really don't mind text talk; it's just another language development, and as long as we (English teachers) teach children to use whatever language is appropriate to the current occasion, what's the issue?

I am no good at it, though!

Only if the difficulty with text speak is felt to be one's aging brain. Some people have said they find text speak difficult to deal with. Brain games might help, that's all.

For me, text speak is just like a very simple code, so I don't feel any reason to object to it so long as it isn't used in formal documents. Actually, I think it's fun. It's for informal, quick messaging. Nobody has to use it who doesn't want to, but you may have to read it if other people use it. Seems sensible to be able to deal with it should it crop up.

No swet

'Lumosity training can improve memory, attention, and other cognitive areas.' Will it make us suddenly embrace textspeak?

I looked at it and it seemed to be offering help in things I think I already do perfectly adequately. I don't see what the connection is with articulate communication

This was around in the 40s and 50s - they used to advertise it in the tube trains - Speedwriting I think they called it. Supposedly a plain alphabetic version of shorthand - 'gt a gd job wth mo pa!' the ad said.