I thought the worst when I received a jumbled text message I couldn't decipher.
Perhaps a loved one had been kidnapped and tied to a chair, but had managed to type out a garbled S.O.S using only the tip of their nose.
Or maybe a friend had suffered a bizarre allergic reaction that had caused their thumbs to swell up to the si
ze of pork chops.
At the very least my phone must be broken and was translating everything into Russian.
But the longer I stared at the mess of jagged consonants, the more parts of it became something resembling English.
Most of us are now au fait with the odd phrase of text speak, but my correspondent was obviously fluent.
What surprised me after the event, when showing the message to others, was what strong opinions everyone seems to have on the use of text speak. You either love it or hate it.
It is the language equivalent of Marmite.
While I can't say I use text speak extensively, I'm saddened by the widespread belittling of those that do. I think this animosity stems from the fact that text speak is divisive – it drives a wedge between those who can confidently use it and those who can't.
But then, language has always done that.
Purists seem to forget that our language is constantly evolving. I think it is arrogant to imagine one form of expression is superior to another when, after all, language belongs to us all.
Where would we be without the great authors and linguists of the past who would not be confined by the "rules" of their art, and helped to shape the way we express ourselves today.
Some examples of text speak abbreviations I have seen have been quite creative and entertaining, even if some of it goes over my head.
But, for the record, I hate Marmite.
