# txt spk **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 3, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581 "2011-05-03T16:01:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/21 "2011-05-03T19:12:46Z")
> [@mauxlicious](#): > > I agree with your sentiments and I do text without abbreviations. > > I attribute my aversion to txt spk to my age. I’m 34 and figure I’m young enough to be an adopter of technology but old enough to still place my conventional understandings of language, and how it should be represented by symbols, on new mediums. Agreed. I also type out emails as if I were writing a letter (business and personal) because I think it’s the same as sending someone a letter, only a different medium. Just because it’s electamatronical doesn’t mean I’m going to start typing like my cat jumped on the keyboard. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/22 "2011-05-03T19:37:20Z")
I always try to type full words too. But when texting, I wonder if it’s not better to match the other person’s style a little. I suppose it depends on how bad their style is, and how much I feel like I’m compromising my values. I’m fine with typing “u” for “you”, but I feel like a jackass typing “2morrow.” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/23 "2011-05-03T19:53:41Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > There are websites that let you do that. Tell it the phone number you want to text to, and the person’s carrier, and it’ll issue you an e-mail address. From this end it looks like I’m just e-mailing. From the other person’s end it looks like texting. That’s nothing new. Your (text-receiving) phone has always had an email address. You don’t need a website. You just need to find out the domain name. It’s usually something like this: 1[AREACODE][PHONENUMBER]@phonecompany.sms.net In fact, around 1998 I started to try to get colleagues to send me email as text messages when I was in the field. But they just couldn’t wrap their minds around the idea. **Omar Little** ’s"WTF" was probably because if you wait til you’re at your computer to send a text you’ve kind of defeated the whole purpose. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/24 "2011-05-03T20:07:13Z")
I use Google Voice to send a lot of text messages. And I nvr abrv8 wrds. However, the messages end up being kind of lengthy. Google Voice lets me know how many messages it will take if you send it. You get 1, 2 or “really”. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/25 "2011-05-03T20:28:37Z")
Brace yourselves, my twenty-something kids recently expressed their annoyance at their friends using textspeak in face to face conversations. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/26 "2011-05-03T20:31:17Z")
I blame Noah Webster. Really. Before Webster there wasn’t really “one right way” to spell and write things. As long as your audience understood you, you could express yourself in lots of different ways. This was more chaotic, of course, with even published newspapers doing things like alternating the spelling of words between columns or editors. Webster, who may well have been an Obsessive(not compulsive, just obsessive), wanted to [free the US of British Culture](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster). > [@](#): > > Webster’s book taught children how to read, spell, and pronounce words. It was the most popular American book of its time; by 1837 it had sold 15 million copies, and some 60 million by 1890—reaching the majority of young students in the nation’s first century. Its royalty of a half-cent per copy was enough to sustain Webster in his other endeavors. It also helped create the popular contests known as spelling bees. > > Slowly, edition by edition, Webster changed the spelling of words, making them “Americanized.” He chose s over c in words like defense, he changed the re to er in words like center, and he dropped one of the Ls in traveler. At first he kept the u in words like colour or favour but dropped it in later editions. He also changed “tongue” to “tung”—an innovation that never caught on. Were it not for this particular, peculiar, and obsessive person, the concept of one right way to spell might not really exist. So when I see people communicating in a way which doesn’t match Webster’s vision, which most people have internalized, it feeds that little corner of my heart which is an anarchist and yearns 2 b fre. Njy, S ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/27 "2011-05-03T20:40:46Z")
Ok, I’ll ask here since it’s REALLY been bugging me. There is this (new?) trend of writing words and adding multiple duplicates of the final letter. I don’t know anyone personally who does this, I’ve only seen it on lamebook. Examples: > **[Lamebook » Stormie Weather Ahead…](https://lamebook.com/stormie-weather-ahead/)** > > The Original - Funny Facebook Statuses, Fails, LOLs and More. > **[Lamebook » Meet Marti](https://lamebook.com/meet-marti/)** > > The Original - Funny Facebook Statuses, Fails, LOLs and More. What is with that?! It would make it take a lot longer to type a message. I just don’t get it. Does anyone understand this? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/28 "2011-05-03T20:58:21Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > **Omar Little** ’s"WTF" was probably because if you wait til you’re at your computer to send a text you’ve kind of defeated the whole purpose. Ah, OK. I don’t text because it’s hard for me and I don’t like it. But some of my friends only like to communicate that way. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/29 "2011-05-04T04:35:32Z")
Text speak will soon be an artifact of the 90s and 00s owing to predict-a-text smartphones and, to a lesser extent, voice recognition. I have an android OS phone, and I would have to go out of my way to use antiquated text abbreviations. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/30 "2011-05-04T05:03:20Z")
wah wah wah I’m being left behind by technology Heads up, they’re not using textspeak because they’re dumb or to piss you off. They’re using it because it’s a medium which they use to communicate with their other friends who can, bear with me here, understand it too. Sure, it would be great if they would pay more attention to whom they are sending the messages too but life would be great if a lot of things happened more my way. (I had to explain the word scintillate to a 30 year old the other day so this is not a young people problem. It’s an expanded vocabulary problem.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/31 "2011-05-04T07:02:27Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > No, it is easy. In fact, it’s easier - it just takes a little longer. Instead of having to translate what you want to convey into some near-incoherent bit of gibberish, you simply take an extra 45 seconds and just type what you want to convey. It has the added benefit of greatly increasing the chances of your recipient actually reading \*and \*understanding \*and \*responding to it. No it is not easy. I went from a phone with a keyboard to one with T9 only and regretted it. Believe it or not, for me a QWERTY layout is faster and more intuitive than remembering which number key has which letters on it. If I still had my T9 phone, id typ lik ths 2. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/32 "2011-05-04T11:11:31Z")
Spelling correctly or not, I just don’t get the allure of texting. Yes, I’m older and grew up without all the technology, but what slays me is that texting is a pain. You have to stop what you’re doing, look at the keyboard, type back and then wait. As soon as you go back to what you’re doing, _ding_ding\* Lather, rinse, repeat. There was a reason the phone was invented people! It’s a heckuva lot easier to talk on that than type. It’s really a backwards communication in a sense. My job involves computer work and if I’m working, there are tasks I can perform while on the phone. Either I put the phone on my shoulder or I put it on speakerphone and I’m hands free. Same with driving. I can’t stop and text every five seconds, but I can put the phone on speaker and chat while I continue my trip. And when you’re texting, people seem to expect an immediate response as in a real time conversation, rather than like email, when the expectation is you’ll respond when you see it and have time to respond. And as an editor, txtspk drvs me crzy. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/33 "2011-05-04T11:21:05Z")
> [@Salem](#): > > Spelling correctly or not, I just don’t get the allure of texting. Yes, I’m older and grew up without all the technology, but what slays me is that texting is a pain. You have to stop what you’re doing, look at the keyboard, type back and then wait. As soon as you go back to what you’re doing, _ding_ding\* Lather, rinse, repeat. There was a reason the phone was invented people! It’s a heckuva lot easier to talk on that than type. It’s really a backwards communication in a sense. > > My job involves computer work and if I’m working, there are tasks I can perform while on the phone. Either I put the phone on my shoulder or I put it on speakerphone and I’m hands free. Same with driving. I can’t stop and text every five seconds, but I can put the phone on speaker and chat while I continue my trip. And when you’re texting, people seem to expect an immediate response as in a real time conversation, rather than like email, when the expectation is you’ll respond when you see it and have time to respond. > And as an editor, txtspk drvs me crzy. Texting is useful because of what it isn’t: a conversation. There’s no need for the ingrained etiquette and protocol of a chat. I can just send “get a gallon of milk” an not have to ask “how’s your day” or explain myself further, or even be open to questions or other topics. It’s the impersonal touch that counts. Multiple back-and-forth texts can get inane quickly though. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/34 "2011-05-04T11:37:27Z")
I don’t understand why people still do this. Since the advent of predictive text - which was, what, 10 years ago? - it takes far longer to type “2moro” than it does to type “tomorrow”, because “2moro” isn’t in the dictionary, and just as long to type “u” as it does to type “you” (at least on my phone, the first option for a single press of 8 is “t”, then “v”, then “u”). Also, phones automatically insert capital letters where appropriate, so why do so many messages come in all lower case? It seems like people are taking _more_ time over composing their messages in an attempt to look less formal. > [@Salem](#): > > Spelling correctly or not, I just don’t get the allure of texting. Yes, I’m older and grew up without all the technology, but what slays me is that texting is a pain. You have to stop what you’re doing, look at the keyboard, type back and then wait. As soon as you go back to what you’re doing, _ding_ding\* Lather, rinse, repeat. There was a reason the phone was invented people! It’s a heckuva lot easier to talk on that than type. It’s really a backwards communication in a sense. No! That’s the whole point! With a text, you **don’t** have to stop what you’re doing and respond **now** , you can just mentally note: “Oh, I’ve got a text, I’ll deal with that when I have a moment.” If somebody rings you, you do have to stop what you’re doing and talk to them, and probably much of the conversation will be pointless. Texts are the perfect modern method of communication, for me. You don’t have conversations with them, you just ask for information and receive it back when convenient. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/35 "2011-05-04T11:47:12Z")
> [@Mtgman](#): > > I blame Noah Webster. Really. Before Webster there wasn’t really “one right way” to spell and write things. As long as your audience understood you, you could express yourself in lots of different ways. This was more chaotic, of course, with even published newspapers doing things like alternating the spelling of words between columns or editors. Webster, who may well have been an Obsessive(not compulsive, just obsessive), wanted to [free the US of British Culture](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster).Were it not for this particular, peculiar, and obsessive person, the concept of one right way to spell might not really exist. > > So when I see people communicating in a way which doesn’t match Webster’s vision, which most people have internalized, it feeds that little corner of my heart which is an anarchist and yearns 2 b fre. > > Njy, > S Samuel Johnson would like a word with you. > **[A Dictionary of the English Language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Dictionary_of_the_English_Language)** > > A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, was published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson. It is among the most influential dictionaries in the history of the English language. > There was dissatisfaction with the dictionaries of the period, so in June 1746 a group of London booksellers contracted Johnson to write a dictionary for the sum of 1,500 guineas (£1,575), equivalent to about £310,000 in 2023. Johnson took seven years to complete th... ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/36 "2011-05-04T13:33:25Z")
Yeah, I don’t answer messages written in less than complete sentences. I’m stuck with T9 so if I can do it, the rest of you iPhone carrying bastards can do it too. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/37 "2011-05-04T13:52:13Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > No! That’s the whole point! With a text, you **don’t** have to stop what you’re doing and respond **now** , you can just mentally note: “Oh, I’ve got a text, I’ll deal with that when I have a moment.” If somebody rings you, you do have to stop what you’re doing and talk to them, and probably much of the conversation will be pointless. Texts are the perfect modern method of communication, for me. You don’t have conversations with them, you just ask for information and receive it back when convenient. and to **drastic\_quench** as well… Really? Cause the few people I text with use it as a conversational tool. What you’re saying makes sense and I could see the use in that. Almost like leaving a sticky note on someone’s desk. But my business partner (who is old like me, so I understand her) and both of my daughters, who are obviously younger, definitely use it as a substitute conversational tool. They text, I text back, they text again a few seconds later… you get the picture. It’s a total pain to have to keep going back to the phone and I’d just as soon talk to them. I know my younger daughter does it because she’s texting from class, so her need for silence is clear. And in that sense, if I really need something from her before she gets out of school, I can and do “drop her a note”. But it just doesn’t seem to always work like that. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/38 "2011-05-04T15:14:03Z")
> [@Salem](#): > > Really? Cause the few people I text with use it as a conversational tool. It can be both. At the same time, even. I’ve used it as a conversational tool where we’ll send each other 50 messages in an hour. But when I have to do other stuff, like sleep, the other person gets it. No one is around 24/7. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/39 "2011-05-04T16:18:34Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I don’t understand why people still do this. Since the advent of predictive text - which was, what, 10 years ago? - it takes far longer to type “2moro” than it does to type “tomorrow”, because “2moro” isn’t in the dictionary, and just as long to type “u” as it does to type “you” (at least on my phone, the first option for a single press of 8 is “t”, then “v”, then “u”). > > Also, phones automatically insert capital letters where appropriate, so why do so many messages come in all lower case? I don’t think everyone has predictive text, or knows that it can be turned on. Actually, I have it, but it annoys me so I turn it off. I’d rather just use QWERTY. Isn’t the main reason for “text speak” that you only have 150 characters? That’s what I thought. ---
**Author:** ![mauxlicious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@mauxlicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mauxlicious)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2011, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581/40 "2011-05-04T17:40:32Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I don’t think everyone has predictive text, or knows that it can be turned on. Actually, I have it, but it annoys me so I turn it off. I’d rather just use QWERTY. > > Isn’t the main reason for “text speak” that you only have 150 characters? That’s what I thought. Some phones do have character limits, like my girlfriend’s older Blackberry. If she sends me a longer text, she has to break it up into 2 or 3 different messages. I don’t mind because on my iPhone the text display screen makes the multiple messages easy, and basically continuous, to view. The weird thing is that if I send her a longer text (a message that would be multiples from her device) from my phone she gets it as one message. There’s a conspiracy in there somewhere! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/txt-spk/580581.md?page=3)