Do you use abbreviations, emoticons or *talk* etc?

[SherLOCKED221]

While posting do you have a preference?

 

Do you use emoticons, abbreviations or that thing *speech*?

 

Is there one way you hate?

 

Are there some abbreviations you don't understand or refuse to use?

 

I personally hate LOL, ROFLOL and the like. I also hate how people add suffixes to them such as LOLing, how can you be laugh out louding? It's just as bad as saying ATM Machine...(Automatic Teller Machine Machine???!!!)

[Another thing is Stargate SG1-SG1 stands for Stargate 1 so that means the show is called Stargate Stargate 1???!!!)

 

I'll use the odd emoticon if I'm feeling in the mood and I overuse *this* but I am not some girly teen who dots her T's with hearts.

I don't mean to rant right now and I am not targeting anyone but I find I am curious of what us Sherlock fans think of this phenomenon.

I know our Sherlock has been known to use the odd abbreviation to save time but I find it very hard to believe he would ever end a message with smiley faces! Or LOL!

[Carol the Dabbler]

In the most recent episode of Elementary, Sherlock was making extensive use of the internet abbreviations, because he considered them to be an efficient new language. But I agree, that doesn't sound like the Sherlock Sherlock. (Though I can imagine him using a smiley face -- very sarcastically!)

 

I occasionally find myself using a few of the more common abbreviations, like BTW. I understand a few more (and am reasonably fond of ROTFLMAO), but I am a fair touch typist, and find it easier and quicker to just type the whole thing out. Besides, then I won't risk confusing any newbies, so I think it's a bit more polite.

 

I think emoticons are pretty self-explanatory, though, and can help to clarify an otherwise-ambiguous statement -- so I do use those, albeit somewhat sparingly.

 

I'm reasonably certain that using asterisks as "quote marks" to signify non-speech sounds/actions (e.g., *burp*) actually predates the internet by at least a decade or two. At least, it seems like I've been using them that way for ages. Again, it seems pretty self-explanatory, and can save some circuitous language. (The usage does seem to have expanded lately, to include phrases and even sentences, rather than just single words.)

[Undead Medic]

I personally hate "Text Talk" or "Text Speech" at the best of times, but on forums, where there is no character limit I loathe it. Hence why I wrote this line into the forum rules:

 

Posts are to be made in plain English, users are asked to refrain from using "Text Talk" (L8r, ppl, u, etc) L33t speak, ALL CAPS, AlTcApS and any other incomprehensible Internet "Languages"

Abbreviations have their place, in SMS communication, and on Twitter and the like, but for me using them when there is no real reason, IE no character limitation, is just plain lazy.

 

I have no problem with emoticons, or the occasional LOL or LMAO or ROFL, but when you have to spend half an hour decoding needless abbreviation it becomes a real pain.

 

I personally hate LOL, ROFLOL and the like. I also hate how people add suffixes to them such as LOLing, how can you be laugh out louding? It's just as bad as saying ATM Machine...(Automatic Teller Machine Machine???!!!)

Or indeed PIN Number. (Personal Identification Number Number) completely superfluous.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... Abbreviations have their place, ... but for me using them when there is no real reason, IE no character limitation, is just plain lazy. ....when you have to spend half an hour decoding needless abbreviation it becomes a real pain.

 

... especially when (in addition to no character limit) there's a real keyboard

available!

 

However -- I have one friend who habitually writes his emails entirely in text-style abbreviations, despite being teased about it by several of us. In all other respects, he seems to be a reasonable sort of person. This has got me to thinking a bit, and I'm wondering whether my objections are perhaps a bit elitist.

 

As I mentioned, I'm a fair touch typist, so it's no problem for me to type the whole thing out. In fact, I find it easier to do so because I don't need to figure out what the abbreviation would be. For someone who's not even very good at hunting and pecking, though, abbreviations could be a read godsend. And if that person is already familiar with the common abbreviations from texting with their kids (as I'm guessing is the case with my friend), then they wouldn't even need to think them through the way I would.

 

I'm also a good reader, accustomed to skimming right along unless I hit an unfamiliar word. So of course I find text-talk difficult to read, because it's all unfamiliar "words"! For someone who's a poor reader, though, and needs to "decipher" standard English, the phonetic abbreviations would pose no extra difficulty, and -- being shorter -- might actually be easier to read.

 

So I do make an exception in the case of that one friend, because the alternative is apparently not hearing from him at all.

[SherLOCKED221]

Even in TEXT messages I use full English, although I leave out the *laughs* thing to save room.

Other than twitter (although I'm not on Twitter) I've never seen a text limit. I'm curious, what other communicating sites have a text limit?

 

(I guess you might be right about the fact that abbreviations are easier for non-native English speakers Carol)

[aely]

There used to be a character limit on text messages back in the 1990s - I got my first mobile back in 1998 I think, though it could have been the year earlier. I use some abbreviations, possibly more now with my current phone as it is such a pain to use proper grammar and punctuation with it in comparison with my previous one. I prefer to use 'proper' English though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

... I use some abbreviations, possibly more now with my current phone as it is such a pain to use proper grammar and punctuation with it in comparison with my previous one....

 

I think that's true of a lot of people (including my friend). If a phone is difficult to "type" on, they'll abbreviate.

 

I have no trouble understanding my friend's speech, by the way -- but it's a pain decoding his emails!

[SherLOCKED221]

I do prefer proper english and use it as much as possible, although my spelling is horrible.

[Undead Medic]

I do loathe the use of "ur" in place of "Your"

[aely]

I do loathe the use of "ur" in place of "Your"

 

Me too, with bells on. I don't mind BTW, AFAIK, IIRC and those sorts of things but cu, ur and stuff like that make me irritated. I think it's because an abbreviation is just that - an abbreviation - and not a wilful typo. I don't mind unintentional typos, we all make those!

 

Before I got my current phone, which makes life difficult because of the way it's put together, my text messages had proper spelling, grammar and punctuation - I don't bother so much with the punctuation now as getting capital letters and stuff in the right place on my current phone is such a pain!

 

The only good thing about my phone is that I can actually use it as a phone as it works with my hearing aids. Precious few other phones do at a volume that is useful for me.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I don't even have texting on my cell phone -- but if I had to choose between A) hearing the person on the other end of the phone and proper capitalization and punctuation -- well, hey, that's a no-brainer!

[SherLOCKED221]

I don't mind BTW, AFAIK, IIRC and those sorts of things

Maybe it just shows how much I avoid abbreviations but other than BTW (by the way) I have no idea what AFAIK and IIRC stand for! This is another reason I don't like text talk! *laughs*

[aely]

AFAIK - as far as I know

IIRC - if I remember correctly

 

The other one I use is IMO - in my opinion. Some of my friends use ION - in other news - but as it makes me think of charged particles/molecules I generally don't because I get distracted by graphical representations of reactions in my head.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks, aely, I didn't know those two, either. I do know (and am sometimes tempted to use, but generally restrain myself) BTW, IMO (or IMHO), several variations on LOL, and perhaps a few others. Sometimes I can figure them out from context.

 

The question in my mind is, why should I be expected to be familiar with a long (and apparently ever-expanding) list of cryptic abbreviations? I have a sneaking suspicion that (in addition to being easy to type and "cool") they constitute a sort of quasi-secret language, used to discourage members of the non-in-crowd from participating.

[SherLOCKED221]

Agreed.

Another suspicion I have is that this non-in-crowd are usally parents. And although I'm not a teen or a parent I find this a little disconcerting.

I'm naturally suspicious.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I am likewise neither a teen nor a parent at present -- but when I was a teen, the parents were irritated by our slang, music, etc. Apparently, every generation tries to have its own subculture. It's just that this time, we're on the receiving end!

 

I was amused by a huge billboard I spotted by the highway today, advertising an upcoming feature on a local tv station's news program -- "Crack the Teen Texting Code."

[Undead Medic]

Shouldn't it have read "Crk the t33n txtng cde"?

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Shouldn't it have read "Crk the t33n txtng cde"?

"the"? What kind of stupid word is "the"?

 

... I don't mind BTW, AFAIK, IIRC and those sorts of things but cu, ur and stuff like that make me irritated....

Either one can take some effort to figure out, but the former type, initials, can be roughly impossible to decipher unless the meaning is pretty obvious from context, whereas the latter, phonetic type usually explains itself as soon as you read it aloud. So if I had to choose one to be somewhat less annoyed with, I guess it'd be the phonetic.

 

I've seen other types in addition to those -- one being the numerals-for-letters thing (such as "t33n" above). Other than being a feeble attempt at a secret code, what is the point of that? As mentioned earlier, I'm not personally familiar with texting -- do numerals take fewer keystrokes than letters on some phones?

 

Then there's the "people" thing (which actually uses extra letters, so I suspect it's from some environment other than texting). I've seen it used several times on this forum, and am hoping that someone can explain it (or at least supply some background). Apparently any word that shares a few letters with the word "people" -- e.g., "apple" or "applause" -- gets "people" embedded in it -- e.g., something like "apeople" or "apeoplause." Does this have some actual significance?

 

Added:  That last turned out to be a quirk of the forum software.  It was assuming that any occurrence of the string "ppl" was text-talk for the word "people" -- and was "fixing" it!

 

[Undead Medic]

"the"? What kind of stupid word is "the"?

 

Oops, maybe it should have been teh?

 

[SherLOCKED221]

*laughs*

Oh god sometimes I do feel like I'm cracking some secret code! Although feeble, it is still annoying and takes too long! I have better things to do...

[aely]

I think I like abbreviations as my life is cluttered with them so I'm used to them - there are so many in science and health professions. People however can't write proper English even when they're supposed to (you should see some of the things that get written in our paperwork) so phonetic spellings annoy me.

 

Thing is abbreviations can mean so many things... take PDA, I can think of 3 meanings off the top of my head, 2 of them medical and PID is even worse (3 medical meanings and 3 others I can think of). We even have an abbreviation for abbreviations in nursing... we call them TLAs "three letter abbreviations".

[SherLOCKED221]

So confusing!

 

That’s why I tend to hate abbreviations (You can understand medicals abbreviations though, who can constantly say Deoxyribonucleic Acid? DNA is faster!)

[aely]

I can say Deoxyribonucleic Acid pretty fast, but then I have the molecular structure of Theobromine tattoed on my back. Theobromine is one of the mood enhancing chemicals present in chocolate.

 

I was also brought up as RC so I needed to be able to say things like "I don't believe in Transubstantiation" without falling over the words.

[SherLOCKED221]

Still they save time, especially for us.

Plus I'm one of those people who suck at tongue twisters!

[aely]

Oh, bloody tongue twisters - I'm rubbish at them. Give me a nice bunch of scientific words to muddle through and I'm quite happy, tongue twisters? I've fallen over myself before I've even started.

 

My test for how drunk I am involves trying to say antidisestablishmentarianism without stumbling...