"Yeah" why???????

The first texted K I got was from my husband. I go one better: when he sends me a text to inform me of something, e.g. that he'll be late, I just reply by sending a blank text which means "OK, got your message".

If I reply at all.

I then used K in a reply to a message from Minibags, again just to let her know the message was received. Apparently it's an insult to teenagers. Pish! says I. It's a straightforward, minimalist reply, though not as minimalist as a blank text, I have to admit. Apparently other people's mums send screeds. My response to that is: "I'm not other people's mums".

For the first few years of my owning a mobile phone, it wasn't usually switched on. It was for emergencies such as when my back 'went' and I couldn't move when I was in the loft. DD2 once sent me a text asking: "Is your phone ever on?" When I found the message, I replied: "No ". My phone's always on now, if only because it's my cooking timer, though I switch it to silent at night.

People didn't take offence at the minimalism of telegrams, did they? Texts are just modern day telegrams, though usually less urgent.

I once sent Mr P a blank text to show that I wasn't talking to him

I have a friend who can't text . If I text her she just presses reply so I know she has received it.

I have a friend who texts in 'telegram' speak and uses no full stops. It takes her about 20 minutes to compose a 20 word text. I usually get the gist but most are, initially, incomprehensible

Haha! I'm not quite that bad, marmight. Taking twenty minutes over twenty words is kind of defeating the purpose of texting, which is often about speed of communication

exactly Bags but cost wise probably cheaper than phoning as when she does it lasts for hours.........

DS texts Yup, not yeah. Same thing though, innit?

It's cool man, gotta get down with the kids yeah, like, innit

I prefer to text D and my friend who's a midwife and works shifts as I never know when they can take a call. A text can be read at their convenience.
To me that's the main advantage of texting.