“Btw, ma, atm idk wat tym il be home.”
“Afaik, r rehersl wil end at 7 but tbh im nt sure.”
If you struggle on a regular basis deciphering your kids’ text messages, you have two choices. You either require them to steer clear of abbreviations at least when they text you, or you learn the language of texting, also known as textspeak. Or more appropriately, txtspk.
If you plan on going with the first option, we must warn you that it won’t be easy for your kids. It’s not that today’s youth are a rebellious bunch who frown on established norms of proper spelling. It’s just that typing in txtspk has become so habitual, so deeply ingrained in their systems that punching in completely spelled out words on their mobile phones would actually be a major adjustment for them, another burden in their already problem-filled young lives. “I have to deal with pimples, a boyfriend who keeps looking at all the pretty girls, a math teacher who terrorizes us, and now you’re asking me to text in complete words??”
Fortunately, you still have the second option. And the good news is, it’s not that hard once you get the hang of it. But first, some background information.
The origins. Txtspk made its first appearance in the late 1990s, when cellphones became affordable and exploded into the mainstream market. The early models featured the cumbersome press-2-once-to-type-”a”-twice-to-type-”b”-and-thrice-to-type-”c” texting process. This, coupled with the character limit imposed by telcos, made txtspk a necessity. “Ur” took the place of “your” and “you’re,” “dis” meant “this,” and “il” meant “I’ll.” Some txpsk entries even combined letters and numerals to form words, for example, “gr8” for “great” and “b4” for “before.”
As the cellular revolution went into full swing in the early 2000s, phone manufacturers introduced the predictive texting feature, which now allowed users to type in complete words in fewer keystrokes. About the same time, telcos like Globe expanded the maximum allowable number of characters per text message, and even introduced the extra-length message feature, which allowed subscribers to type single texts equivalent to two or three texts in length (billed as two or three texts, of course). Later, phones equipped with Qwerty keypads made it even easier to type complete words.
Still, the use of txtspk continued. Many users, mostly youngsters, chose to disable their phones’ predictive feature, and kept within the per-text character limit. Cost-consciousness? Probably not. It was more likely force of habit. The thinking seemed to be, “I’ve been doing it this way and my friends and I understand each other just fine, so why change things?”
And more abbreviations. As do most languages, txtspk soon evolved. Just when the purists were getting used to the ubiquitous “b4,” “ur” and “il,” along came abbreviations of entire phrases. Some of the earlier entries to this category of txtspk include NP for “no problem,” IDK for “I don’t know” and IMHO for “in my honest (or humble) opinion.” Over the years, the list of phrase abbreviations got longer and longer, much to the consternation of the purists. ATM no longer meant just automated teller machine. It came to mean “at the moment.” And you think WB stands for Warner Bros? In txtspk it means “welcome back.”
Learning the language. The thought of using txtspk abbreviations may be about as appealing to you as a root canal procedure, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least learn what they mean. Below is a list of some of the more commonly used items. We suggest you cut this out and use it as a handy reference for the next time you see these in your kids’ messages.
[NOTE: Some of these abbreviations actually date back to the pre-cellphone days, but not surprisingly found their way into txtspk.]
ABBREVIATION MEANING
ADN Any day now
AFAIK As far as I know
ATM At the moment
B4 Before
BF/ GF Boyfriend / Girlfriend
BFN Bye for now
BRB Be right back
BTW By the way
DWBH Don’t worry, be happy
F2F or FTF Face to face
FB Facebook
FWIK From what I know
FWIW For what it’s worth
FYI For your information
GLHF Good luck, have fun
GR8 Great
HAK Hugs and kisses
HAND Have a nice day
HTH Hope this helps / Happy to help
IDC I don’t care
IDK I don’t know
IIRC If I remember correctly
IKR I know, right?
IMHO In my honest opinion / In my
humble opinion
IRL In real life (as opposed to in
cyberspace)
IU2U It’s up to you
IYKWIM If you know what I mean
JK Just kidding
J4F Just for fun
JIC Just in case
JSYK Just so you know
K or KK Okay
LMAO Laughing my ass off
LMK Let me know
LOL Laughing out loud
NAGI Not a good idea
NM Never mind
NMU Not much, you?
NP No problem
NRN No reply necessary
NTS Note to self
OH Overheard
OMG Oh my God
PPL People
PTB Please text back
RL Real life
ROFL Rolling on the floor laughing
RUOK Are you okay?
SMH Shaking my head
SRSLY Seriously
SSDD Same stuff, different day
SWYP So what’s your problem?
TBH To be honest
TIA Thanks in advance
TTYL Talk to you later
TY Thank you
WB Welcome back
WTH What the heck?
WYCM Will you call me?
YW You’re welcome