Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Do you think people who use this language are...

46 replies

SunshineSetty · 29/12/2020 10:08

Generally less intelligent/educated than those who don’t? Or just lazy?

Things like:
It will b gr8 2 c u! Thanks 4 bookin it lol!

Sometimes see this on social media and it grates on me as it’s so easy to spell correctly nowadays and how much longer does it take to type ‘You’ instead of ‘u’?! I also don’t get every other sentence ending with ‘lol!’

OP posts:
PantTwizzler · 02/01/2021 09:19

IKWYM OP 😬
It’s a generational thing. My DC do it and so do my younger friends (30s).
I even had a plumber giving me a lol so I gave him one back.

Do you think people who use this language are...
Margotshypotheticaldog · 02/01/2021 09:22

I mean, the lol just makes no sense there. Meet you at 7 HA HA HA HA HA.
It's mental.

grey12 · 02/01/2021 09:25

@PurpleDaisies

People who overuse exclamation marks are generally less intelligent/educated than those who don’t.
And some even have a PhD!!!!! Grin

It's an age thing, I would say. When I started having a phone, messages were cheaper than calls and there was a character limit, hence the need for abbreviations. I avoid them nowadays except for the longer phrases

TheSilentStars · 02/01/2021 09:27

Yes, definitely an age thing.
Teenagers know what the text speak is, and know it to be something cringey older people use.

randomsabreuse · 02/01/2021 09:30

I used to type my message in full then go back to use txt spk to fit it into a message...

Was tight!

movingonup20 · 02/01/2021 09:31

My mother does it, she's trying to get down with the kids. She laughs that I use full punctuation on texts (as does my adult dd I might add, dd1 hates text speak)

Mustbe3ormorecharacters · 02/01/2021 09:32

I feel the same way about “Am” instead of saying “I am” or “I’m”
Whenever a thread on mumsnet starts with “Am having an issue with...” I close the thread.

EdwardCullensBiteOnTheSide · 02/01/2021 09:33

I know a few older people that genuinely think lol means lots of love, and that's why they use it at the end of a text!

Byllis · 02/01/2021 09:34

Enthusiastic user of exclamation marks here. I use them to convey an upbeat, friendly tone in emails and on forums. I think it can be very difficult to get this across accurately even with exclamation marks and emojis - as evidenced by the hundreds of mn misunderstandings every day - and I find unembellished text can come across as flat or even sarcastic.

I also overuse ellipses and parentheses, but I don't really have an excuse for that.

MrsMomoa · 02/01/2021 09:36

PurpleDaisies

People who overuse exclamation marks are generally less intelligent/educated than those who don’t.

You should hope I'm not teaching your kid then! 😂

KosherSalt · 02/01/2021 09:42

@PantTwizzler

IKWYM OP 😬 It’s a generational thing. My DC do it and so do my younger friends (30s). I even had a plumber giving me a lol so I gave him one back.
Well, while I entirely agree with you about lol, in fairness, I think your plumber was trying to convey in text message the mildly joky tone in which he might have implied that 7 am, while normal for him to be up, dressed, breakfasted and at work, might in your household be a time when everyone’s still hitting ‘Snooze’ on their alarms...?

Though you’ve just reminded me of something I’ve posted on here before. Years ago, I moved to a village in a different part of the country while on maternity leave just before Christmas, and texted the contact mobile of the organiser of the village baby group (gleaned from village website) to see if it was meeting before the holidays.

I literally said ‘Hi X, I’m new in the village with a five month old. Could you tell me whether the baby group is meeting again this side of Christmas? Thanks! Kosher’

A year later, I discovered that the organiser had passed this entirely ordinary communication around all the group regulars for reactions. Apparently it was — I quote — ‘snobby’ because it didn’t use textspeak and used an apostrophe, capital letters and full stops.

This was in fact a pretty good indicator of how well I would fit into this village, alas.

PantTwizzler · 02/01/2021 09:43

Can confirm that youngsters still use “u” and “ur”. See attached exchange with my 20 yo DD.

Do you think people who use this language are...
SenorFrog · 02/01/2021 09:43

My teenagers think it's cringey, old people trying to be hip but missing the mark completely, no one uses it for a full text anymore. Bits survive but full texts which are impossible to understand are eye rolling.

PantTwizzler · 02/01/2021 09:45

Yes agreed Kosher. Though if you’d met him you’d realise he was being a bit rude rather than jokey.

KosherSalt · 02/01/2021 09:50

@PantTwizzler

Yes agreed Kosher. Though if you’d met him you’d realise he was being a bit rude rather than jokey.
Ah, fair enough. I hope whatever job he was doing at your house was a pain. Grin
Nomnomarrgh · 02/01/2021 09:51

I picked up an academic diary in a bookshop once and it said LOL meant lots of love. I nearly died laughing.

I hate shortening words, but I know we are all different. When I used to work on a computer game, all of the gamers were confused that I used proper words. One even spent time trying to teach me how not to.

Bluntness100 · 02/01/2021 09:52

Lol is another one. You also see folks putting lol at the end of every sentence. When the context is not funny or intended to be.

Margot. Yes it might be an over excited person, but it literally translates as this.

“Yesterday I went to the shops. Wow. Wow. It was cold outside. Wow. Wow. I needed bread. Oh wow. Oh wow, oh wow. But it was raining. Oh wow. Oh wow, oh wow. Was I unreasonable to take my new born. Wow. Wow. I wrapped them up well. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow. My Husband says I was wrong. Wow. Wow. Due to Covid and the bad weather. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow”.

KosherSalt · 02/01/2021 09:57

@Bluntness100

Lol is another one. You also see folks putting lol at the end of every sentence. When the context is not funny or intended to be.

Margot. Yes it might be an over excited person, but it literally translates as this.

“Yesterday I went to the shops. Wow. Wow. It was cold outside. Wow. Wow. I needed bread. Oh wow. Oh wow, oh wow. But it was raining. Oh wow. Oh wow, oh wow. Was I unreasonable to take my new born. Wow. Wow. I wrapped them up well. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow. My Husband says I was wrong. Wow. Wow. Due to Covid and the bad weather. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow”.

That’s pure poetry, @Bluntness100.
Twobrews · 02/01/2021 10:21

My friend punctuates her messages with lol and hahaha. Thankfully in real life she doesn't find the weather or meeting times hilarious.

Bluntness100 · 02/01/2021 11:56

That’s pure poetry, @Bluntness100**

😂😂😂 I’m a poet snd didn’t know it...

Margotshypotheticaldog · 02/01/2021 13:39

😂 If my golden retriever could text, I imagine that's pretty much what it would look like.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page