I recently posted a suggestion on Google+ that one viewer
didn't care much for, so he posted a comment which simply said: ISHYGDDT!
When I first saw it, I thought it was in another language,
but upon further review I realized it was in TEXTING format. For those who
don't know what that is, it's the new short-form of English people use to text
each other with on cell phones and other mobile communication devices.
Customarily, these types of text formats are usually only
used on mobile devices since only a certain number of characters can be sent per
text message. But, when you are posting or commenting on websites or blogs you do
not have the same space restrictions, so I couldn't understand why the comment
was written in that fashion. Perhaps the person uses text-talk so often that it
was simply force of habit. In any case, I had no idea what it meant so I
Googled it.
ISHYGDDT means,
"I seriously hope you guys don't do
this!"
Since I am someone who doesn't text, I would never have
known what those letters stood for today, if I hadn't Googled it. It's a scary
thing though. Nowadays there are so many of these texting-type words out there,
they seem to be overtaking usage of proper English. Words are shortened, abbreviated,
are acronyms or letters mixed with numbers... The list goes on.
The problem is, this new-age English will eventually muddle
communication to the point where people will need to look up (or Google) the
abbreviations and acronyms to understand the message or information being
relayed to them.
I cringe every time I read a message from my 15-year-old
grand-daughter who uses these TEXTING-type words diligently. I find myself
reading the message over and over again trying to understand what she's saying.
It's so frustrating. And it's not only the texting form of English she's using.
Some of the slang words she uses I need to Google as well. Here are just a few
examples of slang words being used by the younger generation today:
Flop: A flop is when a planned event doesn't end up happening. A
flopper is someone who often cancels last minute.
Epic Fail: Now
if a fail is a fail in life, then an epic fail is a fail of giant proportions.
An epic fail can also refer to a task that is meant to be easy, but still
wasn't carried out properly.
Lipdub: A
lipdub may not be as common among all teens, but a lot of libdubs have been
popping up on the Internet. Essentially, a lipdub is a music video done in one
take with a variety of people singing along.
Pwned: No, this
is not a typo. Pwned is spelled with a "p" and is pronounced 'owned.'
History suggests it originated in an online game called "Warcraft,"
where a map designer misspelled "owned." (Just look how close
"p" and "o" are on your keyboard). When the computer beat a
player, it was supposed to say, "has been owned." Being owned means
someone just proved you wrong, but it could also be positive. If you did well
on a test, guess what? You pwned that test.
Pos: If you ever
happen to look over your son or daughter's shoulder while they are on instant
message sites or Facebook and you see "pos," it refers to: parents
over shoulder.
And those are just a few, there are many, many more. It's so
confusing that I asked my grand-daughter to use 'real English' because I don't
understand most of what she's trying to say to me in texting-type format with
the inclusion of new slang.
I don't believe I'll ever get used to this text-type of
English or these new slang words—not that I want to either. I'm quite happy to
continue communicating in the best way yet known to mankind, proper English.