Text Message Abbreviations

[Jazzy]

I don't know if it's just me or not but it really bugs me when people use text message abbreviations when posting on a forum. Half the time, I have no clue what the person is even trying to say. I often go to this site: http://www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php to decipher what the heck they're talking about.



Does this bother you too?

 

[Evil Eye]

Nah, it doesn't really bother me. Shouldn't be overdone, of course, but I read 'em as the full phrase anyway.

 

[Katatonia]

... =\ I just say ETA, BRB, TLDR, FTW, WTF, and BTW usually.

 

[Jazzy]

Unfortunately, as an Administrator I have to waste my time looking these abbreviations up. I have no clue if the person posting them is insulting other members. Call me dumb if you want but I do not know what most of these damn abbreviations mean.

 

[DrLeftover]

I have gotten emails from people at work, discussing work things, occasionally with legal or contractual implications, which were so badly worded, complete with shorthand abreviations (not recognized acronyms for well known services or features), misused words (their/there/they're, half/have/has, too/to/two, and so on), and other errors from people who WERE NOT using their phone to send the message but sitting at a laptop or desktop work station, that I had to write back to them and ask them to call me to explain what they were trying to say.



There is no reason for that.



I don't know nor care if it is simple ignorance, illiteracy, or just apathy, but in one case it contributed to a public service facility being out of service for an extra day because the message reporting the problem with their telephone system being down was unintelligible.

 

[DrLeftover]

Unfortunately, as an Administrator I have to waste my time looking these abbreviations up. I have no clue if the person posting them is insulting other members. Call me dumb if you want but I do not know what most of these damn abbreviations mean.

(NOTE TO SELF: add this to list for reasons to NEVER be an admin or mod on anything.)

 

[Sinon]

People who write in such a way irritate me. I've found that when I try to write in the same manner, it takes me a lot longer than it does to just write the entire words/phrases. Even when texting I use full words, because that way nothing I say can be misconstrued.

 

[Fatal Dawn]

Nah, it doesn't really bother me. Shouldn't be overdone, of course, but I read 'em as the full phrase anyway.

Agree with you. It's not really that bad of a thing if it's simple abbreviations that everyone in the 21st century should know (like the ones Rob listed).





I hardly find people that go overboard with abbreviations..

 

[The Dragon Master]

I don't mind when it's used occasionally, but not all the time. People who use it all the time, should be put into a corner and beaten with a dictionary until they start to use proper spelling.

 

[Katatonia]

Fine dadgummit I'll use normal words. >:U



..Y'all may not think dadgummit is normal but I can't help that. Just think of it as southern for damn it.

 

[Jazzy]

I didn't think of that. As a mod, I suppose I would also have to look it up if I didn't know what was being said. To that extent I would use the site you posted, but not for any other reason.

Sad that we have to waste our time on this when it's uncalled for. I had to look up BYFHO when a member said that to another member. Come to find out, it stood for Blow Your F**king Head Off. See what I mean by having to waste time looking something like this up???

 

[Raven]

I used to see this alot when I created my forum in the early 2000s but rarely see it these days.

 

[Bluezone777]

I hold blame to twitter for their retarded and vastly unnecessary character limit and cell phones for making texting so tedious that one would rather shorten every word down to the fewest amount of characters it could be while still being able to be understood instead of writing everything out as intended. The bad part is knowing people are transferring their habit of shortening everything down and bringing it to the world of forums. They then introduce the use of cell phones while on a forum which leads to our world of forums being flooded with such nonsense.



I fear the day when the English language will be reduced to a series of acronyms that no one remembers what they originally stood for anymore.

 

[Granger]

It gets annoying, but I know what they mean, so it's fine with me.

 

[K1234]

It doesn't really bother, but then again, i am familiar with pretty much all the abbreviations...

 

[hissae2]

It is annoying when overdone but I see no problem with seeing text talk occasionally. I sometimes use brb, idk, btw, and a few others, but I don't do it often. I typically use these abbreviations in instant messages such as skype, MSN, etc. And not on forums and certainly not in formal emails or anything like that.

 

[Evil Eye]

Why? Why should everyone know these abbreviations?

Well, ETA dates from 1939. I don't think you actually have to know the rest.