Monday, April 18, 2011

Oh. Em. Gee.

Onerous ocelots! Only one more week to enter my From A to Z Contest for your chance at over $100 in prizes!

Throughout history, teenagers have always seemed to speak a different language than everyone else. A young Julius Caesar uttered upon witnessing his first political debate, "Veni, vidi, stoliiiiidus est."1 Mozart called one of his early symphonies "Shiznit No. 19 in Da Bomb Major." But only recently have they developed their own written language: texting.

Some of the lingo has been around a while, so even some of us older folk may be able to decipher this jumble of letters: omg! roflmao! ftw imho (lol).2

But as the texting language continues to evolve, we're bound to be left behind. To help you out, here are some of the newer phrases, so you'll be able to spy on your children understand a text from one of your younger relatives:

yklw you know, like, whatever
tgiso that guy is so old
homdyamatadta hold on, my dad's yelling at me about texting at the dinner table again
dbahb don't be a hater, bitch
rofbabz rolling on the floor, being attacked by zombies
icftwaap I completely forgot this was also a phone
nnjsio not now, Jersey Shore is on
pitjtocuhfmctafep personally, I think Jung's theory of collective unconsciousness has far more credence than anything Freud ever postulated
jaborl just a bunch of random letters

I hope these r useful 4 u. I'd h8 it if u found them 2 b a waste of ur time.

Crap! I think I've become infected. FML!3


1 "I came, I saw, it was sooo boooooring."
2 Orange marmalade, grandma! Royal orderlies found lemons, mangos, and oranges! Forget the watermelon; I must have oranges (luscious oranges, luscious).
3 Find me leeches!

This post is part of the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge, hosted by Karen Gowen and seven others. Go check out the other participants!

19 comments:

  1. My fav is idk (I don't know.) being a geezer, mostly idk what the kids are texting about - and when asked, idk is what I usually hear back.

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  2. Dude, if you become a zombie, you have to infect me as well. It's only fair.

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  3. Note to myself: do not drink coffee whilst reading Nate's blog posts.

    Too funny!

    Ellie Garratt

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  4. As long as, like, the Valley Girl lingo never reurns, we'll be okay. Like, gag me with a spoon. Totally.

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  5. As txt evolves and is abbreviated it becomes harder to decipher. My 15 year old who is too bright for his own good, is forever showing me new abbreviations and mocking his friends for using them, particularly when the txt speak is actually more letters than "proper" English

    RJRDaydreamer

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  6. You had it right - I need to write these all down so I can spy on my kid when he's texting!

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  7. Ugh, txt spk. Fair nuf on fons bt d amt of ppl I heA UzN it n dy 2 dy spEch! vry anoyiN!

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  8. OMG LT! I use pitjtocuhfmctafep all the time! Srsly, man, 2 funE!

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  9. Nate dawg, I appreciate your clever and thoughtful comments at my blog, so I'm awarding you with the "Stylish Blogger Award!" You can come pick it up @ my site!

    And don't worry, there will be no indiscriminate or appalling text style musings at my site. I appeal to those of higher intellect. I know, totally like OMG on the FB.

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  10. Goddess: It's amazing how little kids know these days... but they're experts at not giving a straight answer.

    Jeffrey: If I ever become a zombie, I will fly over there and eat your brains. Promise. Unfortunately, this wuz jus a txt nfexshn.

    Ellie: Although I highly appreciate that visual (next time have a photographer handy), there's really no need for coffee when you're here. All of my posts are coated in a thin layer of pure caffeine to help get you through your morning.

    Stephen T: With a spoon. Got it. I'll be by later in the week.

    RJR: I always love it when the abbreviation for something is longer than the thing itself. Such as www...

    Talli: Thanks! Although, I believe the correct teen spelling is <3.

    Kris: So your kid doesn't figure out you're spying, you'll need to do it subtly. Best wear camouflage.

    Stephen C: Okay, now you're just making me look bad. But I agree completely. (For reference, the first time I heard OMG said aloud as O-M-G was by a guy who'd had a 4.0 in college and was working for the IMF.)

    VR: What can I say? The young love Jung. (O, & thx!)

    Matthew: Thanks for the award! Though, you should know it's not just the intellectual who enjoy your site... I do, too.

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  11. Good one. I'll need an answer key. C U L8 ter.

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  12. Mary: I'll have one laminated and sent to you straight away.

    Spenc: But I suspect you wouldn't love it if you were actually rofbabz...

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  13. Oh gosh, I just couldn't scroll past this in my Google Reader! TFMTOLLWAI,OMALA! that is, Thanks for making this old lady laugh without alcohol involved, okay maybe a little alcohol...

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  14. Bridget: 1) What? You're not old. 2) What, no alcohol for me? 3) What?! You mean you sometimes scroll past my posts in your Google Reader?! WTF! (Wow, that's funny!)

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  15. Okay, Nate, I'm just ignoring 1 & 2 and skipping to 3) You know that normally I read, relish and comment on most of your posts, but I just can't keep up with all the A-Z's going around, NTINTE (not that I needed to explain)! :)

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  16. Don't worry, Bridget, once May rolls around I'll be back to my usual occasionally blogging self. Hell, I've barely been able to keep up with my own alphabetic craziness this month.

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  17. Help! TCABABT I mean, the comments are being attacked by texting. A.W.A.S.H., acronyms will abolish said hooey. T.I.N. B.O.A.T. texting is now better, of all things.

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