Entire Relationships

“People have entire relationships via text message now, but I am not partial to texting. I need context, nuance and the warmth and tone that can only come from a human voice.” (Danielle Steel)

Billions of them are sent every day in hundreds of different languages. The way people write text messages have evolved into its own unique language over the years. To increase typing speed, text language has evolved to reduce words to the least possible amount of letters. This reduction can be in the form of a word with letters missing, several words turned into an acronym, or even numbers substituted for words.

Typing a message in all capitals (or with specific words in capitals) is usually taken to mean that you are shouting the message. There are literally hundreds more of these Short Message Service (SMS) abbreviations (and acronyms) to be discovered. Even using a few of them can make sending text messages quicker and easier.

“When I tell children that they are far too dependent on their gizmos, they do not deny it…They really don't care. This is their real life (texting about trivial things). [They listen] to numbing music on their private headphones. The machines block everything out. You create your own little trivial world.” (Bill O'Reilly)

For cell phone users who are unused to writing similar to this themselves, reading a text message from someone who uses abbreviations and acronyms can be a difficult task. Even if you don't think you will ever write messages like this, understanding what others may send to you is obviously useful. Here are some of the most common SMS abbreviations (and acronyms) to help you.

ü 2 = To or Too

ü 2MOR = Tomorrow

ü 2NITE = Tonight

ü 4 = For

ü AFAIK = As Far As I Know

ü ATM = At The Moment

ü B4 – Before

ü BF = Boyfriend or Best Friend

ü BTW = By The Way

ü CU = See You

ü EZ = Easy

ü G2G = Got To Go

ü GF = Girlfriend

ü GR8 = Great

ü H8 = Hate

ü IDK = I Don't Know

ü IMO = In My Opinion

ü JK = Just Kidding

ü K = Ok

ü L8R = Later

ü LOL = Laugh Out Loud, Lots Of Love, or lots of luck

ü M8 = Mate

ü MSG = Message

ü OIC = Oh, I See

ü PLS or PLZ = Please

ü R = Are

ü SRY = Sorry

ü THX or THNX = Thanks

ü TXT = Text

ü TY = Thank You

ü UR = You Are or Your

ü Y = Why

ü YW = You're Welcome

“Guarding your heart and protecting your dignity are a little bit more important than clarifying the emotions of someone who's only texting you back three words. I've learned that from trying to figure out people who don't deserve to be figured out. When someone seems mysterious, we like to romanticize that he's deep or complicated…A lot of the time things are exactly as they seem.” (Taylor Swift) [i]

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[i] Adapted from “Common SMS Abbreviations” by Russell Ware