IM - the new shorthand

Roger Aylworth, in writing a tribute to his wife, college professor, Susan, said, "For about nine months a year she spends most of her waking hours helping young minds absorb the concept that the gibberish used to send text messages is not actually written English, and will not qualify as work-place communication." It's a sign of the times we live in. My mom didn't have to teach this to her English classes - she retired before this particular technology took over.
I don't actually text (too cheap to pay the extra $5 a month) but I sometimes IM so I have the opposite problem - I need to learn more of the lingo. Do schools now offer this form of Shorthand, now that Gregg's is out? I do know that perfectly good words are being dropped from the English dictionaries in favor of some new terms and even "junk" words (IMHO). Merriam-Webster last year added "fanboy" and "air quotes" for example. Click post title to see Save the Words. LOL

The downside of this "instant" communication is that sometimes we do/say something really dumb without giving it the thought we might have in a real letter or conversation. Fast can be dangerous - at least you can get into trouble faster! Also, without the body language and tone that comes with talking, messages can be misunderstood or misinterpreted easily. Also, remember that the conversation may be recorded or shared so be careful what you say and who you talk about. It could come back to bite you.

The other problem I've noticed is that kids are so accustomed to writing this way, they are transferring it into other areas, making them look pretty illiterate! I can see it now, job-seeker IMs the potential boss: "FYI, GMTA. FTF ASAP PLS. IMO Im 4 U. LTL, TX , YKW"

But my pet peeve - texting while driving. Phones are enough of a distraction; texting is completely unacceptable. There's no way to do that safely while operating a moving vehicle. It's also bad manners to do it while you're visiting with someone else, on a date, or trying to pay attention to your kids (they grow up way too fast; put the phone down!)

Here are some helps for the uninformed from about.com:

• AFAIK: As Far As I Know
• AKA: Also Known As
• ASAP: As Soon As Possible
• BAK: Back At Keyboard
• BBL: Be Back Later
• BCNU: Be Seeing You
• B4N: Bye For Now
• BRB: Be Right Back
• BTW: By The Way
• dn: Double Nil
• F2F: Face To Face
• FWIW: For What It's Worth
• FYA: For Your Amusement
• FYI: For Your Information
• gc: Good Cover
• GFY: Good For You
• gg: Good Game
• GGBB: Gotta Go Bye Bye
• GL: Good Luck
• GMTA: Great Minds Think Alike
• G2G: Got To Go
• GTGB: Got To Go Bye
• HAGD: Have a Good Day
• HAGE: Have a Good Evening
• HAGN: Have a Good Night
• hb: Hurry Back (Used after someone says 'BRB')
• ILU: Love You
• IDK: I Don't Know
• IM: Instant Message
• IM ME: Instant Message Me
• IMHO: In My Humble Opinion
• IMO In My Opinion
• INALB: I'm Not A Lawyer But
• IOH: I'm Outta Here
• IOW: In Other Words
• IRL: In Real Life
• ITS: I Told You So
• KIT: Keep In Touch
• LOL: Laughing Out Loud
• LTL: Lets Talk Later
• LTNC: Long Time No Chat
• LTNS: Long Time No See
• LU: Looking Up
• MAYB: Maybe
• NM: Nothing Much
• nnp: Nice Nil, Parner
• np: No Problem
• npp: No Problem, Parner
• NRN: No Reply Necessary
• NYO: Need Your Opinion
• p: Parner
• PDQ: Pretty Darn Quick
• PLS: Please
• PMFJI: Pardon Me For Jumping In
• POS: Parents Over Shoulder Change Subject
• POV: Point Of View
• ROTFL: Rolling On The Floor Laughing
• RSN: Real Soon Now
• RTFM: Read The Fascinating Manual
• sry: Sorry
• SRSLY: Seriously
• ss: So Sorry
• STFU: Shut The (Flip) Up
• TIA: Thanks In Advance
• TMI: Too Much Info
• TTFN: Ta Ta For Now
• TTYL: Talk To You Later
• TTYS: Talk To You Soon
• TU: Thank You
• TX: Thanks
• TY: Thank You
• TYVM: Thank You Very Much
• UKW: You Know Who
• U: You
• U2: You Too
• UW: You Wish
• WB: Welcome Back