Text Symbolism
Without some knowledge of text symbolism, some text message communications may seem like a foreign language. Many text message senders use a variety of shorthand and slang expressions to communicate more easily via text, but the symbolism can be difficult to decipher for onlookers unfamiliar with this medium of communication.
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Identification
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Text symbolism refers to the meaning behind the shorthand abbreviations used by people sending text messages. These abbreviations can save the sender time and, if charged by the text, money. Abbreviations for longer phrases are also useful to quickly communicate an idea without laboring to type on a smartphone or cell phone keyboard. Because of the rapid rise of texting in communications culture, the meanings of these text abbreviations may be unknown to those who do not use the technology regularly.
Greetings, Farewells and Slang
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Texters often use abbreviations to shorten the typical greetings and farewells used in everyday conversation. These can include "sup," which is a shorthand version of "What's up." Abbreviations like "cya," which is a short form of "see you," can be used as a goodbye, as can "gtg," which means "got to go." Abbreviations like "ttyl," which means "talk to you later," can also be used to indicate farewell in a text message.
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Emotions
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Many text message senders use abbreviations to communicate emotions that would otherwise be impossible to portray in a text-only form of communication. Characters can be used to create faces that are smiling or sad (or a range of other emotions) to symbolize happiness or displeasure, respectively. Abbreviations like "OMG," which stands for "Oh my God," can indicate shock or surprise, while others, like "LOL" ("laughing out loud"), can be used to indicate pleasure..
More Abbreviations
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If there is something that text message senders commonly say to one another, chances are there's an abbreviation for it. More popular abbreviations and the meaning behind them include "btw," which means "by the way," and "idk," which means "I don't know." Teens, who frequently use text messaging, also use text messages to indicate that parents are present. They can say this using the abbreviation "PIR," or "parents in room," and "POS," or "parent over shoulder."
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