How do you Text?

[VinayaSpeaks]

I  am not familiar with shortcuts, thus I also use full sentences with proper grammar and spelling. In doing so I will be using too many character and cross the character threshold and which may lead to sending two messages instead of one. However, I am fine with that. By the way I don't use text message system to much.

[Amelie]

I text the way I write messages here, or anywhere. I spell out the words, I use proper punctuation - the whole shebang. I make shortcuts sometimes, but nothing too crazy, and only when I'm in a hurry. I shudder to think of how I used to text when I was in high school - so embarrassing! Thank God screenshots weren't possible yet back then!

[WizardX]

I usually shorten my words as long as they can be understood. This saves time needed to type and send a text. I can use full words when I am unable to shorten them. I have learned about shortening words from texts that I usually receive and online chats. 

[cardinals27]

When I text it is somewhat of a mix of proper English and abbreviations. I tend to text people like my friends with somewhat proper English, but I also add in some abbreviations and other things just to make it easier to read and to lighten the tone. If I am texting someone like my boss I might use proper English, just because I don't want to look like an idiot. I feel like it is a lot easier to text not using proper English, but some people may not want to use it.

[untalleslie]

I almost don't text on English but when I do it I'm definitely a shortcutter, when it comes to me, it's the easiest and faster way to express things out, but I have noticed that some people asking for a shortcut word meaning... But when I'm texting in Spanish I barely use them... They seem kind of informal to me, which is really curious considering how I feel about them on English. 

[Rooks57]

I alway use formal English when I text because there is nothing more frustrating than getting a text you can't read.  I got used to texting with my older sister but when we first started, I didn't have a clue what she was telling me because she abbreviated everything.  I would have to text her back to tell me what this or that meant and we would waste minutes on something that was usually simple. I personally hate when numbers are used as replacement for letters though.  On some level, I ultimately don't want to get lazy with my writing and seem illiterate.

[Tripeo]

It's something really common when it comes to gaming and that sort of virtual stuff. As a gamer, you probably will notice that everybody types like that because it's somehow more comfortable to do since writing a full sentence or phrase could take you a little while, that's why shortcuts are always going to be there for u. 

[Baburra]

On October 16, 2014 at 9:59 PM, Muthoni said:

I also try to use correct grammar when I text. Sometimes, I use a shortcut for commonly used words, example “u” instead of “you”. I have a friend who uses so many shortcuts that on most occasions I call her to understand some of her texts. It is a nightmare chatting with her. Most people are in such a hurry today, that they damage a beautiful language.

Thankfully no one around me does this but I have heard of and seen some examples of this and it really does sound like it would be confusing. Sometimes I have trouble keeping up with the new acronyms and text slang but at least nowadays you can just look up those things easily. What's also fun is when autocorrect messes up either my or my friend's messages and when that happens we always have a good laugh. 

[Victor Leigh]

It depends on who I am texting to. If it's someone who is used to texting, then I tend to use abbreviations. If it's someone who is not familiar with textinglish, then I will text in full sentences. In some ways, textinglish or textspeak is useful. Some of the abbreviations are legitimate expressions in their own right. Take, for example, LOL. This is short and precise. Gets the meaning across with the minimum of effort. Definitely beats texting 'ha ha ha'.