"txt" redirects here. For other uses see TXT.

SMS language or Textese (also known as txtese chatspeak txt txtspk txtk txto texting language txt lingo SMSish or txt talk) is a term for the abbreviations and slang most commonly used due to the necessary brevity of mobile phone text messaging in particular the widespread SMS (short message service) communication protocol. SMS language is also common on the Internet including in email and instant messaging. It can be likened to a rebus using pictures and single letters or numbers to represent whole words (e.g. "i <3 u" which uses the pictogram of a heart for love and the letter u replaces you).

For words that have no common abbreviation users most commonly remove the vowels from a word and the reader is required to interpret a string of consonants by re-adding the vowels (e.g. dictionary becomes dctnry and keyboard becomes kybrd). The reader must interpret the abbreviated words depending on the context in which it is used as there are many examples of words or phrases that use the same abbreviations (e.g. lol could mean laugh out loud or lots of love and cryn could mean crayon or cryin(g)). So if someone says ttyl lol they probably mean talk to you later lots of love not talk to you later laugh out loud and if someone says omg lol they probably mean oh my god laugh out loud not oh my god lots of love. Context is key when interpreting textese and it is precisely this shortfall that critics cite as a reason not to use it (although the English language in general like most other languages has many words that have different meanings in different contexts). SMS language does not always obey or follow standard grammar and additionally the words used are not usually found in standard dictionaries or recognized by language academies.

The advent of predictive text input and smartphones featuring full QWERTY keyboards may contribute to a reduction in the use of SMS language although this has not yet been noted.

The objective of SMS language is to use the least number of characters needed to convey a comprehensible message also as many telecommunication companies have an SMS character limit another benefit of SMS language is to reduce the character count of a message hence punctuation grammar and capitalization are largely ignored.

The dialect has a few hieroglyphs (codes comprehensible to initiates) and a range of face symbols.1 According to a study though it is faster to write it takes more time to read than normal English.2 According to research done by Dr. Nanagh Kemp of University of Tasmania the evolution of textese is inherently coupled to a strong grasp of grammar and phonetics.3 Contents 1 History 2 Criticism 3 Frequency of use 4 Use in school exams 5 Vocabulary 5.1 Single letters can replace words 5.2 Single digits can replace words 5.3 A single letter or digit can replace a syllable 5.4 Combinations of the above can shorten a single or multiple words 5.5 Common initialisms 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links History

SMS language is similar to that used by those sending telegraphs that charged by the word. People wanting to save money began shortening their messages to pay a smaller amount. This technique is unlikely to have been carried over into the later technology like papers and cellular phones due to the timeframe between the end of common use of telegraph systems and the introduction of mobile phone and internet chat technology.

SMS language is a nascent dialect of English that subverts letters and numbers to produce ultra-concise words and sentiments.4 The invention of mobile phone messages may be considered as its source although elliptical styles of writing date back to at least the days of telegraphese. There are no standard rules for writing SMS languages and a lot of words can also be shortened such as "text" being shortened into "txt." Words can also be combined with numbers to make them shorter such as "later" which changes into "l8r" using the numeral "8" for its phonetic pronunciation. Textese seeks to use the fewest number of letters and helps in dealing with space constraints of text messaging although the advent of texting clearly came from a desire to type less and to communicate more quickly than one can manage without such shortcuts.

It is similar to Internet slang and Telex speak and has evolved from the shorthand use in Internet chat rooms to accommodate the small number of characters allowed (early SMS permitted only 160 characters and some carriers charge messages by the number of characters sent) and as a convenient language for the small keyboards on mobile phones. Criticism

Welsh journalist and television reporter John Humphrys has criticized SMS language as "wrecking our language." The author cites ambiguous examples such as "lol" which may mean "laughing out loud" "lots of love" or "little old lady" depending on the context in which it is used. Humphrys describes emoticons and textese as "irritating" and essentially lazy behaviors and surmises that "sloppy" habits gained while using textese will result in students' growing ignorance of proper grammar and punctuation.5 David Crystal has countered the claims that SMS has a deleterious effect on language with numerous scholarly studies. The findings are summarized in his book Txtng: the Gr8 Db8. Despite scholarly research to the contrary the popular notion that text messaging is damaging to the linguistic development of young people and to the English language itself persists.6 Frequency of use In one American study researchers found that less than 20% of messages used SMS language. Looking at his own texting history the study's author linguist David Crystal noted just 10% of his messages used SMS language.7 Use in school exams There have been some reports in the media of children using SMS language for essays in school. For example: 16 August 2002: Examiner's warning over exams culture. BBC. 4 March 2003: Is txt mightier than the word. BBC. November 2006: The New Zealand Qualifications Authority discourages the use of text abbreviations after suggesting that they may be used in certain subjects provided they clearly show the required understanding. NZQA Press statement 1 Vocabulary Single letters can replace words be becomes b see or sea becomes c okay becomes k or kk are becomes r you becomes u your becomes ur why becomes y oh becomes o we becomes v the becomes d da or teh at becomes @ Single digits can replace words ate becomes 8 for becomes 4 to too becomes 2 won becomes 1 A single letter or digit can replace a syllable ate becomes 8 so: great becomes gr8 late becomes l8 mate becomes m8 wait becomes w8 hate becomes h8 date becomes d8 fate becomes f8 gate becomes g8 bait becomes b8 rate becomes r8 foreign becomes 4n thank you becomes 10q thnq night becomes ni8 or 98 later becomes l8r or l8a create becomes cr8 skate becomes sk8 skater becomes sk8r tomorrow becomes 2mro or "2moro" today becomes 2day or 2da for or fore becomes 4 so: from becomes 4m before becomes (combining both of the above) b4 therefore becomes thr4 forget becomes 4get once becomes 1ce and becomes & nd"n" have becomes hv ve Combinations of the above can shorten a single or multiple words Your and You're become ur" wonderful becomes 1drfl someone becomes sum1 no one becomes no1 any one become ne1 see you becomes c u for you becomes 4u easy becomes ez ec enjoy becomes njoy adieu becomes +u Common initialisms This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2011) Word or phrase Initialism(s) Almost chuckled ac As far as I know afaik As soon as possible asap At the moment atm All the time att Away from keyboard afk Be right back brb By the way btw Continue... or continued... c.... Can't be bothered cbb Falling over laughing fol Don't worry dw For the win ftw For your Information fyi Fuck my life fml Get out go Go g Golly Gee Wilikers GGW Got to go -or- Good to go (Military) g2g -or- gtg Going to sleep gts -or- g2s I don't care idc I don't know idk I hate you ihy -or- i</3u -or- -143 I love you ily -or- i<3u -or- 143 In my humble/honest opinion imho In my opinion imo I know right ikr Just kidding -or- Joking jk Laughing out loud lol Laugh to myself ltm Laughing my ass off lmao Laughing quietly to myself LQTM Mildly amused ma No fucking idea nfi Of course ofc8 Oh my god/gosh omg On the phone otp Pretending to laugh out of courtesy ploc Rolling on (the) floor laughing rotfl Shut the fuck up stfu Sorry sry Stay sexy ss Take care tc Talk to you later ttyl Totally ttly Thanks thx To be honest tbh Too long;Didn't read tl;dr What have you done whyd -or- whud What the fuck/what the hell wtf/wth See also Internet slang Cupertino effect English language spelling reform Newspeak Sexting Cyberculture Tironian notes scribal abbreviations and ligatures: Roman and medieval abbreviations used to save space on manuscripts and epigraphs Notes New Statesman Reuters.com Messaging 2.0 Newsweek.com John Humphrys (2007-09-24). "I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language". Associated Newspapers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html. Retrieved 2009-05-26.  University Press blog Crystal David (5 July 2008). "2b or not 2b". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/jul/05/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview. Retrieved 25 March 2011.  "Urban Dictionary entry for "ofc"". 2010-09-08. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.phptermOFC. Retrieved 2010-09-08.  References Rai Himanshu (30 October 2005). "Thumbs Up!". New Straits Times. http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/new-straits-times/mi8016/is20051030/thumbs/ain44310325/tagcontent;col1. Retrieved 25 March 2011.  Further reading Crystal David; McLachlan Edward (2008). Txtng: the Gr8 Db8. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957133-8.  External links Look up txt in Wiktionary the free dictionary. txtk.net's National Texting Registry v d eInstant messaging Protocols (comparison) XMPP (Jingle  GWFP)  IMPP  .NET Messenger Service  Skype protocol  SIMPLE  Yahoo! Messenger Protocol  Zephyr  OSCAR  MSNP  TOC/TOC2  IRC See also Mobile instant messaging  Status message  Buddy profile  Contact list  Instant message service center  Instant messaging manager  Presence information  Chatterbot  IM bot  Internet Relay Chat  File sharing  Voice over IP  Webcam  Videoconferencing  Backchannel  Videophone  SMS language  Emoticon  Chat log Clients by protocol (comparison) Single protocol AIM  Baidu Hi  BlackBerry Messenger  FaceTime  Fetion  Gadu-Gadu  ICQ  IMVU  Lotus Sametime  NateOn  Qnext  Skype  Tencent QQ  VZOchat  Yahoo! Messenger Multi-protocol Adium  Ayttm  BitlBee  Centericq  Digsby  eBuddy  Empathy  Fire  fring  iChat  Jitsi  Kopete  Mail.ru Agent  Meebo  Miranda IM  Microsoft Lync  Palringo  Pidgin  Trillian  QIP 2010  Xfire XMPP (Jabber) Bombus  Facebook Chat  Gabber  Gajim  Gizmo5  Google Talk  JWChat  Psi  Tkabber .NET Messenger aMSN  emesene  Microsoft Messenger for Mac  Windows Live Messenger  Windows Messenger v d eInternet dialects 3arabizi (Arabic)  Alay (Indonesia)  Brain-disabled characters (Chinese)  Denglisch  Fingilish (Persian)  Greeklish  Internet slang  Jejemon (Philippines)  Leet ("1337")  Lolspeak / LOLspeak / Kitteh  Martian language (Chinese)  Padonkaffsky jargon (Russian)  Translit  Volapuk See also English internet slang (at Wiktionary)  SMS language