Finding an identity 81
that there is a great deal of divided usage in Netspeak, and to treat
with caution those guides which come down on one side or the
other.
A systematic description of the features of Netspeak, as encoun-
tered in different Internet situations, is a new goal of descriptive
linguistic research. At present, the distinct purposes and proce-
dures involved in e-mailing, chatgroups, virtual worlds, and the
Web make for significant differences between them (these are re-
viewed in chapters 4–7). At the same time, there is considerable
overlap, because elements of one situation are now routinely in-
corporated within another (p. 14) – such as e-mails at a Web site,
or Web attachments to an e-mail. And there seems to be a consider-
able mutual influence between situations. For example, the kind of
abbreviations illustrated below may have historically originated in
one situation (such as a particular chatgroup) but they have since
spread to others. Chatgroup acronyms – words made from the ini-
tial letters of other words – such asLOL(‘Laughing Out Loud’) are
now encountered in the other situations. It is therefore possible to
begin making some observations about the kind of language which
seems to be typical of the Internet domain as a whole. It is not yet
possible to make judgements about frequency or preferences; the
examples below are illustrative, not comprehensive. But they do
make a strong case for the emergence of a new kind of English.
Some features of NetspeakOne of the most obvious – but not thereby less significant – fea-
tures is the lexicon that belongs exclusively to the Internet, and
whichisencounteredwhensomeoneentersanyofitssituations(see
chapter 1). This lexicon does not include the terminology associ-
ated with computer science, programming, electronics, and other
relevant subjects. Terms such ascable,disk,bit,binary, andcom-
puterform part of the jargon of science and technology which
extends well beyond the Net. By contrast, a large number of words