Color me: Dumb

[Iggy]

I have read on facebook on two different profiles the person labeling the person they are pictured with, or have gone to lunch/dinner/concert with as BFF.

According to this site: Text Messaging, Chat Abbreviations and Smiley Faces - Webopedia that means Best Friends Forever.

Why not just use BF? or BFE (Best Friend EVER)?? I can understand if the person using BFF is under the age of 15- but both people were well over the age of 30, and gramatically knew better. Best Friend Ever- would be more appropriate.

Guess I am just dumb when it comes to text speak.

[Dravin]

Why not just use BF? or BFE (Best Friend EVER)?? I can understand if the person using BFF is under the age of 15- but both people were well over the age of 30, and gramatically knew better. Best Friend Ever- would be more appropriate.

Best Friend Ever and Best Friend Forever do not communicate the same thing. The first communicates that the person is the best friend you have ever had, the second one communicates they are your best friend and you wish (or feel) that said status will extend indefinably aka forever.

As far as grammar you will have to explain what rules of grammar are being violated. I agree that it has a certain teenage quality to it but that doesn't make it grammatically incorrect.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Dravin

[Wingnut]

BF = boyfriend

[Iggy]

BF = boyfriend

According to the site linked in my OP, B/F = Boy friend.

[Dravin]

According to the site linked in my OP, B/F = Boy friend.

There is no central authority on such abbreviations, so I could understand not wanting to risk that mix-up.

[Wingnut]

I've never seen b/f used for boyfriend, only bf.

[Iggy]

I've never seen b/f used for boyfriend, only bf.

I don't understand 98% of the IM chat text speak- so I googled it, came up with the link and am using that as my guidline.

At my age - 58 - I am not going to use the abbreviations on a full time basis- I DO NOT DO CHAT OR TEXT because I, personally, feel that it is rude to do so. If you know how to type on a computer keyboard, then I feel, again my personal feelings here, that it does NOT slow you down to spell the words out.

I do however admit that in text and chat situations, space is at a premium, thus the need for abbreviations. ALSO, my personal feelings here, yet again, the bulk of the chat/text users are elementary to jr. high school age, and have yet to learn proper grammer and context.

[Dravin]

again my personal feelings here, that it does NOT slow you down to spell the words out.

That's demonstrably false. Three letters (or two) take less time to type out than "Boyfriend" or "Best Friend Forever". Of course depending on proficiency it doesn't slow you down much, once your muscle memory is up to speed it probably takes a second or two difference. For the record I tend to avoid such abbreviations (there are a few I do use though, such as IIRC [ If I Recall Correctly], != [not equal to], and AFAIK [As Far As I Know]) because I feel they are a touch lazy and they offend my snobbery. So I understand the idea of looking down on them.

the bulk of the chat/text users are elementary to jr. high school age, and have yet to learn proper grammer and context.

Text acronyms are not a grammar issue. They can be a register issue. One wouldn't use them in a college paper or a business letter, but "IMHO we should throw a surprise party. IIRC, she said her BDAY was tomorrow. TLK2UL8R about it but I have to get B2W." is not grammatically incorrect as far as I know. No more so than, "NASA said they'll fix the shuttle ASAP."

As pointed out by an English Major I'm chatting with at the moment if one considers spelling a grammar issue abbreviations such as "whtver" would be a grammar issue.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Dravin

[Gwen]

i would just like to point out BFF has been around for a very long time. i remember using it in grade school and there was no texting then.

[Maureen]

...TLK2UL8R about it but I have to get B2W....

I understand "talk to you later" but I'm stumped with B2W.

M.

[Dravin]

I understand "talk to you later" but I'm stumped with B2W.

M.

Back To Work. Honestly I had to look those up (baring IIRC). I'm not naturally capable of packing a ton of acronyms (or initialisms if you prefer) into a single sentence. I needed help. That could turn into an interesting game. Who can create the longest sentence using as many (or ideally only) acronyms as possible while still creating a sentence in which everything spelled out is grammatically correct?

Though a few of them I noticed predate text/chat speak such as:

B/C = Because

W/ = With

W/O = With out

I've used the above when taking notes more than once.

Edited December 1, 2010 by Dravin

[Mahone]

The most amusing ones are when someone tries to use txtspk but completely misses the point. One I see on a fairly regular basis is "lyke". Just what is the purpose of it?

Some teenagers use it because they do know there is a logic behind it, and use it for that purpose only. Unfortunately, there are cases where they simply do not know that it is an abbreviation and use it for everything.

[Dravin]

The most amusing ones are when someone tries to use txtspk but completely misses the point. One I see on a fairly regular basis is "lyke". Just what is the purpose of it?

What is that one supposed to be? One I've heard around school (university mind you) is people saying "lol" (as in lul). The other one is people saying O.M.G., though that one makes a little more sense in a still fairly heavily LDS environment. It's this ages Jimminy Cricket but it's just a little more obvious what they are trying not to take in vain. Though I personally avoid it because I'm not entirely sure just how much it does avoid taking things in vain.

[Mahone]

What is that one supposed to be?

Like.

[Bini]

Unless you have a real dinosaur of a cellphone, spelling out words in full is super fast and super easy! I don't even bother doing shorthand or abbreviations anymore because my Blackberry Bold and iPhone are quick to predict what I'm typing. In some cases, just typing the first two letters of the word will pull up what I'm wanting to type. It's just easier to type the real word on a smartphone than not to. But otherwise, interweb lingo like "BFF" or whatever, just isn't a big deal to me. I will say though, you can totally tell by netspeak who is online etc etc a lot, versus someone who isn't and thus isn't familiar with it.

[Suzanne627]

Quick note to the OP (original poster)- DO NOT use BFE. That is slang for something else.

[Guest]

Quick note to the OP (original poster)- DO NOT use BFE. That is slang for something else.

Suzanne, I was just about to say that too.

Guys, text speak or whatever is not an assault on English. It is a cultural progression. Yes, you can argue that ain't or aintcha or y'all shows ignorance of the English language but it is completely not - it is cultural.

There was a time when my father banned rock and roll from my house because it is "an assault to music". It is not. It is a cultural progression and music will continue to progress to the beat boxes and record scratching and electronica that is happening these days in place of the acoustic guitar, violin, piano, and the cello...

African Americans will say cribs instead of houses and the teen generation will type lol and :-). That's just the way it is. Get used to it. It doesn't mean at all that they don't know how to write proper English when the occasion calls for it.

[Dravin]

Like.

Sounds like someone should be alerted to the existence of elite speak... or maybe not.

[pam]

Quick note to the OP (original poster)- DO NOT use BFE. That is slang for something else.

haha that is so true. Which is usually where I have to park if I get into work late.

[Wingnut]

I don't understand 98% of the IM chat text speak- so I googled it, came up with the link and am using that as my guidline.

Urban Dictionary is a pretty comprehensive reference. It's a wiki type site where anyone can add to it, but you'll find just about anything on there that you might wonder about. Some of it is likely to offend the sensitive, though.

At my age - 58 - I am not going to use the abbreviations on a full time basis- I DO NOT DO CHAT OR TEXT because I, personally, feel that it is rude to do so. If you know how to type on a computer keyboard, then I feel, again my personal feelings here, that it does NOT slow you down to spell the words out.

I do however admit that in text and chat situations, space is at a premium, thus the need for abbreviations. ALSO, my personal feelings here, yet again, the bulk of the chat/text users are elementary to jr. high school age, and have yet to learn proper grammer and context.

I agree with most of what you're saying here, except that the bulk of texters are more likely junior high to high school, and not so much elementary school. I'm the YW president in my ward, so I'm pretty familiar with a lot of it. And if I don't recognize something, I look it up on Urban Dictionary.

Context is key, too. In texting and chatting, this is the evolved language, as anatess pointed out. However, I cringe when I see it used in forum posts. A forum is more of an elevated conversation level, and I get distracted when I have to stop and think about what a person means with their acronym.

One I've heard around school (university mind you) is people saying "lol" (as in lul).

I hate that one. I hate it even more when I catch myself about to say it.

The other one is people saying O.M.G., though that one makes a little more sense in a still fairly heavily LDS environment. It's this ages Jimminy Cricket but it's just a little more obvious what they are trying not to take in vain. Though I personally avoid it because I'm not entirely sure just how much it does avoid taking things in vain.

That, and it makes you look/sound really stupid.

[GeneC]

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteers be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

[Dravin]

If you want a fun trip, try that applied to the lds.org website: The Cucrhh of Juses Csirht of Latetr-day Siatns!

[Iggy]

Quick note to the OP (original poster)- DO NOT use BFE. That is slang for something else.

I think you mean bfd. Big - - - - - - - deal.

(edit) Nope you didn't, Bum - - - - egypt. Had a customer who said that all the time, not in initial form- I finally 86'd (banned) him forever. Got tired of his foul mouth.

Edited December 2, 2010 by Iggy

[pam]

BFE does stand for something else which is not very nice to say.

[GeneC]

rotflmao