Texting
In the past decade a new form of slang has emerged—texting. Texting involves
employing a cell phone or some other electronic device to send a message as text.
Because it is a kind of instant messaging and saves the users both time and energy,
texting has grown in popularity. By some estimates, the average cell phone user
sends eighty to one hundred text messages a day. By using acronyms and abbrevia-
tions, messages can be sent much faster than by typing out long passages on the key-
board. Those abbreviations now represent a form of slang. The problem is that this
new shorthand uses the English alphabet. If someone does not know that alphabet,
he or she may not understand the slang. Plus, many of the text abbreviations may
contain concepts that are culture specific. Below are a few examples that might be
confusing to someone who is not familiar with some of the subtleties of the English
language:Idioms
As we have stressed throughout the last few pages, in much of the world, English is
taught as a second language; therefore, you may face countless situations when you are
in a country where you are speaking English to someone who might not be as fluent
in the language as you. And in the United States, the Census Bureau, as we noted at
the beginning of the chapter, points out that English is the second language for over
60.6 million of the people who now live in the country.^30 A major problem non-
English-speaking people face, whether in the United States or somewhere else in the
world, is that thousands of words and phrases are unique to particular cultures. Idioms
fall into that category. In fact, it is estimated that the English language has over
15,000 idioms that native English speakers use on a regular basis. By definition,
idioms are a group of words that when used together have a particular meaning differ-
ent from the sum of the meanings of the individual words in isolation. Hence, idioms
are not capable of literal translation. Try to imagine having English as a second
language and defining each word of the following on its own because you do not
know the cultural meaning of the idiom:Britain
Knackered–To be exhausted. Get Stuffed–Go away.
Chuffed–Pleased, very happy. Narky–Ill-tempered.
Peanuts–Something cheap. Barmy–Foolish, silly.
Cracking–Stunning. Tosh–Nonsense.
Shirty–Annoyed. Dodgy–Something risky.ROF–Rolling on the floor. ZUP–What’s up?
TMI–Too much information. WTF–What the freak?
BM–Bite me. CUL–See you later.
SC–Stay cool. KIT–Keep in touch.
SUX–It sucks. AMOF–As a matter of fact.
WTG–Way to go. PIR–Parent in room.276 CHAPTER 8•Verbal Messages: Exchanging Ideas Through Language
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