Walking in the Valley A bi-weekly column, featuring one Christian's (a)musings on life's journey by Barbara Dahlgren

IMHO Column for the weeks of July 1-15, 2007

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IMHO (In my humble opinion) it’s time to face facts. Like it or not, text-speak is here to stay. Those of us with literary or literacy leanings may refuse to participate, but if we want to dialogue with “tweens,” teens or young adults we may have to ease out of our comfort zone. You might say, “AYTMTB (And you tell me this because…)?” I tell you this because text-speak is the hip, coded language today’s younger generation knows, embraces and accepts.

SMS (Short Message Services) were originally designed as text messaging systems for cell phones. Meant more for yuppies, this communication phenomenon segued into text-speak and attached itself to the “MyPod,” “MySpace” generation. ATM (At the moment) millions of “Baby Boomlets” are maneuvering their fat and bony fingers with lightening speed on tiny cell phone buttons to send encrypted messages to BF (best friends) and NE1 (anyone) they know. You see them doing this at meetings, in classrooms, on commuter trains, at the mall, and even secretly under the table at restaurants or at home when they feign to be having a conversation with someone else.

BTW (By the way) New Zealand’s high school officials caused quite a stir when they gave students permission to use text-speak in national exams. Pupils were instructed to make their answers as clear as possible. If the teacher couldn’t understand that Hamlet said “2 b, r nt 2 b, dat iz d Q…” they might not get an XLNT or GR8 on their papers.

Not to get OT (off topic), but schools aren’t the only ones realizing the importance of text-speak. Scientists are analyzing messages so police can use them as evidence in court. AYK (As you know) people have different styles, spelling or abbreviation habits. Several criminals have been nabbed because of variations they used in their messages. BYKT (But you knew that) – or maybe you didn’t. Also ZZZZ (boring) but interesting to note is that Calvin Klein launched his new CK IN2U fragrances 4 him and 4 her which “t argets a generation that is being defined by the freedom that technology created to connect with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world or in the virtual world!” OMG (Oh my gosh)!

ATST (At the same time) an Australian Christian group created a version of the Bible in text-speak. They want churchgoers to spread the Word via cell phone. Bible Society scripture director George Rodriguez said they stayed true to the Bible and didn’t alter the message in any way. JTLYK (Just to let you know) - it took his son Michael just six weeks to translate the Bible into text messages and design software making it compatible to mobile phones. I guess they wanted to KISS (keep it simple stupid). One has to wonder if some of the poetic nuances might be lost in the translation. QL (Quit laughing)! But you can CIO (check it out) yourself at www.biblesociety.com.au/smsbible. “In da Bginnin God cre8d…”

AFAIC (as far as I’m concerned) text-speak muddles the English language as we know it. Some may argue that with rules like “ ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’….” it was already muddled. As a former teacher I guess I’d have to give text-speak a D- (since we live in a ‘no one fails’ society) in spelling, but a B+ in creativity. There is merit in being able to express yourself with a minimum of simple, short words or abbreviations. TM (Trust me) – that’s more than I can say for corporate America where condensation of thought is a foreign concept. They use a myriad of correctly spelled words to say things no one understands. I’m not JK (just kidding) about this.

I don’t think we are ready to have English RIP (rest in peace), but we do live in an ever-changing society. As technology evolves, so does modern language. If you desire to be BFF (best friends forever) with some of the younger set, you may need to learn a few phrases. Of course, you can always cheat by accessing websites like http://transl8it.com/cgi-win/index.pl. Parents might want to familiarize themselves with key abbreviations like P911 (parent alert), PRT (party), PAL (parents are listening), PIR (parents in room), PRW (parents are watching) or POS (parents over shoulder).

Some might say, “It will be OMDB (over my dead body) before I will change.” But I say, “So WYP (what’s your problem)?” Some might add, “AYSOS (Are you stupid or something)? GAL (Get a life) or TAH (take a hike)!”

I give BW (best wishes) and GL (good luck) to those who want to venture into the world of text-speak. Sure your kids might LOL (laugh out loud) at your effort. Then again, if you don’t go OTT (over the top), they might say, “TVM (Thank you very much) for caring. ILU (I love you)!”

Well, I guess that’s NUFZ (Enough said)! Over and out – oops! That shows my age. What I meant to say was TTFN (Ta ta for now)! SYS (See you soon)! TTG (Time to go). B4N (Bye for now). IOH (I’m outta here)!

Be sure to visit this page often to read the next edition of Walking in the Valley. You can write to the author at bdahlgren@wcgsouthbay.org.