the art of "texting"

to say that texting (sending and receiving text messages by electronic means) has become a national hobby is almost an understatement because it has steadily insinuated itself as part of our daily routine that we can no longer classify it as a mere hobby.

of course it goes without saying that as time goes on, people (esp. cell phone owners) who use it have become more sophisticated and have managed to tailor this tool to suit their own style, the most obvious of which is the way texters have raised the art of ‘texting‘ into a distinctive “language,” with its own peculiar set of rules, syntax and construction.

it’s as if this predetermined length (160 characters) of a single text message has forced us to become more wily and creative — if that’s a rule, then there must be a way to get around it. it wasn’t just about the cost, mind you. beating that unofficial “standard” without necessarily leaving anything important out of the message was a challenge like no other. and so the art of texting flowered.

throw spelling, grammar and language conventions out of the window. feeling too weary to type out the whole word? (oh yes, we all know how exhausting texting can be) never fear. you can always lop off a few letters here and there — as long as the word sounds remotely the same, it’s probably okay. who cares about spelling if the recipient knows exactly what you mean anyway (well, except maybe when the receiver happens to be your English teacher).

if you’re pressed for space and time, you can always do any of the following:
1. use numbers as a convenient “filler” = l8r, 2nyt, gr8, knock2
2. lose some vowels = dvlopmnt, mngr
3. lose a few verbs = hu u? (this one used to drive me nuts for its seemingly unrepentant disregard for everything, including sense)
4. use time-honored abbreviations = btw, imho, lol!
5. or, if you can’t think of anything to emphasize your point, throw in some ’smileys’ = , ,
6. i’m sure you can think of something else

this, of course, reminds me of a poem that i stumbled into when i was in high school. back then, nobody could have imagined that ‘texting’ would thoroughly infiltrate our lives. at the time, i marveled at the author’s cleverness and even memorized few lines in it (i was at an impressionable stage you see).

2  Y’s  U  R
2  Y’s  U  B
I  C  U  R
2  Y’s  4  me