Over the years, it has become my habit to make a commitment to learn something new instead of making a New Yearís resolution.
Given that I am the proud mother of a teenage girl and a pre-teen boy, I have decided that this should be the year to learn ìtextese.î
Before you get the idea that I either coined a new term or am really knowledgeable and hip about how kids communicate with one another, I have to admit: I Googled the above term.
In doing so, I also learned that the shorthand language, rife with acronyms and misspelled words used by teens to text one another, can also be called txt-speak, txt lingo, SMSish, chatspeak or simply txt.
If you are already bamboozled, you arenít alone. I joined the texting world about a year ago and the first time I received a text from my daughter, I scratched my head.
What on earth does ìIdkî mean, I wondered? After I called my daughter on her phone ñ the popular method of long-distance communication people of my generation favour ñ I found out ìIdkî is short for ìI donít know.î
But the lessons didnít stop there.
My daughter continued to inform me about the newly forming language with instruction on the acronyms ìNvmî, which means ìnever mind,î ìgtgî a short form of the phrase ìgot to goî and ìttylî which means ìtalk to you later.î Although I understand the above abbreviations, my proper English training wouldnít allow me to use them. I still used full sentences, although I must admit auto fill had a rotten habit of lousing up my spelling.
When my husband joined the texting world, my use of the communication form increased greatly. His habit of texting during the most inopportune times, such as at church or during a public meeting, finally forced me to resort to one-word answers: yes, no and even K, shortened from the word ìOKî became a regular part of my life.
My sisterís longtime use of symbols to convey emotions - called emoticons by those of us in the know - really had me baffled. Unfortunately, I made the decision to just act like I knew what she meant when she typed :D at the end of her texts. Why? I didnít want to appear foolish to my little sister, a university student who is savvy about all things Internet.
It wasnít until recently that I learned that :D is a big grin, :( means she is sad and <:o) means="" i="" am="" invited="" to="" a="">
Frankly, it all makes little sense to me, as it only takes seconds to spell out the entire word. However, I donít want to lose touch with my teenager, so I am learning.
So far, my lack of confidence has kept me from making any major faux pas, but friends of mine have definitely crossed that line.
I will never forget the friend who responded ìlolî, meaning ìlaugh out loudî underneath someoneís Facebook status which read ìToday was a horrible day, I lost my job.î
Apparently my friend thought ìlolî meant ìlots of love.î Ouch.
Despite my trepidation, I have determined 2012 is the year of change and hopefully enlightenment.
One piece of advice I have gleaned from my year of texting is that teens think parents who attempt to communicate in their language really arenít cool. They just want us to know what they are saying, not emulate it.
The likelihood of some failure is great, but I am determined.
Whatever the outcome, you wonít catch me speaking textese out loud or including it in future Rocky View Weekly stories.
I wonít be ìlmao-ingî or ìOMG-ingî my way through life.
