Textisms Then and Now

What are Textisms?

Textisms are words or abbreviations that are commonly used in texting.

Popular examples of modern textisms are LOL, LMAO and ROFL.

Some common examples of past textisms are TTFN (ta ta for now) and Swalk (sealed with a loving kiss)

Textisms are a relatively new concept due to the advance of technology however, textisms were also used before the this advance and is totally dependent on the generation in which you’re talking to or analysing.

Textisms Then:

Although platforms such as texting and social media were either not around or as popular as they are now, textisms were still used. 

Although the textisms are still similar on how words are cut and chopped to make them simpler to read and write it depended on the generation of people to show how this happened.

As a common modern textism is ‘LOL’, one that was used in a 50’s radio show was ‘TTFN’ meaning ‘ta ta for now’. This shows that despite the lack of platforms to promote textisms, they were still being used by earlier generations.

What is also different is that they have been used to simplify phrases rather than actions with ‘LOL’ being an action a person may do and ‘TTFN’ being something a person would say rather than do as it is not an action.

Textisms Now:

In modern day language textisms have become very common and not just in texting. Some words or abbreviations have become so popular that some have been entered into the OED. Words such as ‘selfie’ have become so popular due to texting and social media that it is being recognised as part of the modern English language.

Abbreviations such as ‘LOL’ have also been included in the OED but as an ‘interjection used mainly in electronic communication’.

Due to the increase in the amount of people using mobile phones and social media, textisms are becoming more and more popular and can even been seen as easier to type out then standard English