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Texting language (also known as txt, txtspk or txt talk) refers to the English language slang used on mobile phone SMS, although with the increasing prevalence of predictive text input, it is now less common. It is an abbreviated form of English, derived from rebus, a writing system popular with Benjamin Franklin. It is similar to leet, but without the script kiddie content. Another example of this is AOL speak.

It evolved from the shorthand used in Internet chatrooms due to the small number of characters allowed in a text message and the small keyboards on mobile phones.

The aim of txt is to reduce the number of characters needed to put across a meaning. One casualty of this principle is that punctuation is widely disregarded.

Single letters can be used to replace words. Examples include:

be becomes b
see becomes c
are becomes r
you becomes u
why becomes y
Equally, single digits can be used to replace words. Examples include:

ate becomes 8
for becomes 4
to, too, or two becomes 2
Individual syllables can be replaced with a single letter or digit. Examples:

ate becomes 8, so:
activate becomes activ8
great becomes gr8
mate becomes m8
later becomes l8r
plate becomes pl8
be becomes b
for or Fore becomes 4, so:
before becomes (combining both of the above) b4
therefore becomes there4
More miscellaneous adaptions of characters include:

ss being replaced with $
oo being replaced with %
Combinations of the above can be used to shorten single or multiple words. Examples:

your and you are both become ur
Other transcriptions of slang or dialect terms can be used if they are shorter than the original. A good example of this is the way in which because, often pronounced as cos in English, is written like so, saving four characters.

Another device used in text language is the removal of vowels from a verb, such that a set of consonants remain, which should still be recognisable as a word. So, between could become btwn.

Equally, whole words may be omitted, especially articles.


Another device used, is the replacement of an 'orr' with the abbreviation 'oz'. Hence Sorry would become Soz and Tomorrow would become Tomoz. This can be further abbreviated into 2moz.

'Sorry i forgot to phone you. I will see you tomorrow'

...would become...

soz i 4gt 2 fon u.i c u 2moz

The use of punctuation is limited. Only full-stops and exclamation marks are ever used in general. After a full stop, a space and capital letter is often ommitted.

There are a number of txt abbreviations which are commonly recognised (these are not to be confused with initialisms, which are also commonly used) and can be found in the list below, or can be found at transl8it! where the portal allows for translations made both to and from english:

afaik for as far as I know
atm for at the moment
bbl for be back later
bf or b/f for boyfriend and gf or g/f for girlfriend
brb for be right back
btw for by the way
cam for web camera
cas for cracking a smile
cnt for can't
dnt for don't
ffs for for fucks sake
ftw for for the win
fyi for for your information
g2g or gtg for got to go
g2p or gtp for got to pee
gg no re for good game, no rematch
gg for good game
gj for good job
gna for gonna or going to
idc for i don`t care
idk for i don`t know
ily or ilu for i love you
jic for just in case
jk for just kidding
k for okay
kk for okay, cool
kl for cool
lol for laugh out loud
lmao for laughing my ass off
lm(m)fao for laughing my (mother) fucking ass off
n for and (though often completely omitted)
np for no problem
nw for no worries
omfg for oh my fucking god
omg for oh my god
pita for pain in the ass
pos for parents over shoulder or piece of shit
q for question
rofl for rolling on floor laughing
rp for roleplay
slp/slpn for sleep/sleeping
sry or soz for sorry
tc for Take Care
thx thnx or ty for Thanks or Thank you
tmr or tmz for tomorrow
ttyl or ttul for Talk to you later
tym for time
w/ or w for with
w/e for weekend or whatever
w/o for without
wb for welcome back
wg for well good
whteva for what ever
wk for work or week
wkd for wicked
wt or wut for what
wtf for what the fuck
wubu2 for What you been up to?
yw for you're welcome
On MSN or other Instant Messengers, typing "9" is telling the other person that a parent or sibling is in the room, so they should start a new conversation about homework etc. Typing"99" lets the other person know the sibling/parent has gone.

Combining the above "techniques" can shorten whole sentences. Using website portals such as transl8it! a community of users has helped standardize this text speak by allowing users to submit translations, staking claim with their user handle, or to submit top messages and guess the lingo phrases. Using the free website service sms translations can are easily made both to and from english as sampled below:

Short messages can be made shorter still.

Are you going to the pub tonight? becomes ru goin pub 2nyt
Longer messages may also be considerably shortened. A typical text message might read:

hi m8 u k?-sry i 4gt 2 cal u lst nyt-y dnt we go c film 2moz
This is 61 characters long.
This would "translate" into standard English as so:

Hi mate. Are you okay? I am sorry that I forgot to call you last night. Why don't we go and see a film tomorrow?
This is 122 characters long.