Text talk

Oh, how much do I hope that the current affectation of using text-talk will pass? I understand how such things as “m8” for “mate” and “LOL” for either “laughing out loud” or “lots of love” developed in the days when text messages cost a lot of cash and were laborious to write. Nowadays though, all phones have predictive text messaging and texts are much cheaper to send. There is thus little need for these affectations and there’s no need or excuse whatever when using a keyboard.

Sadly, I note a tendency to use these things even when using a keyboard to send emails. There is positively no excuse whatever for “neway” in place of “anyway”. This is especially as it took me some time to realise it meant N.E.way rather than new-way. “LOL” seems to have taken the place of exclamation marks, the latter having been so acutely overused that they no longer had any meaning to less articulate teenagers (and the middle aged attempting against all the odds and the evidence to appear still young).

I really do loathe this. I know I’m a miserable bastard, but I truly loathe it.

I have also noticed that text-talker types are prone to having their phone speakers play tinny music in public places. Said people are also likely to choose the Morse sms (… -- …) as their sms alert tone. Invariably, anybody who selects that tone also selects it at maximum volume. It’s a hallmark of idiocy.

If I reply to any messages sent to me using this form of nonsense, I shall do so employing my own derivative code. I shall, for example, spell mate as m-eight. Hopefully, this will greight on the nerves of text talking types as much as their bullshit patois gr8s on mine.