Teenagers from every generation tend to have their own unique “slang” growing up – leaving adults in bewilderment as they struggle to figure out what they’re trying to say.
But I’ve noticed something interesting about the current generation of young people, and even adults trying to recapture their youth by staying on the cusp of popular trends.
The world of text messaging has created a new language of abbreviations across the digital superhighway – BFF and OMG being some of the more popular ones. But now there are thousands more – even websites dedicated to deciphering this new language for those of us who were once stumped by the abbreviation TTYL (talk to you later).
But it’s a little frightening when people start to use these abbreviations in more than just text messages.
I can’t tell you how many emails and letters have come across my desk using text message “slang” – many times from high level employees. As if that wasn’t bad enough, now people are starting to use the abbreviations in regular, face-to-face conversations.
While I understand abbreviations are beneficial to the wear and tear of your fingers while text messaging, I doubt your vocal chords will be strained all that much if say “talk to you later” rather than TTYL.
Society needs to understand that how we speak – be it written or verbally – is a direct reflection upon our character and our knowledge.
Remember: “Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so he is.” Publilius Syrus