Letter to the blogger, in response to our last post, txting: the gr8 db8

Dear blogger

I read your piece on texting, which drew from the work of the renowned grammarian David Crystal. But he is not the only older person who supports texting. I am 68, and my job has included copyediting school examination papers and government reports.

People have always used abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms when they needed to save space or time in communications. Our elders in World War One coined “anzac” from “Australian and New Zealand Army Corps” and “ack-ack” from “anti-aircraft” — and “awol” for “absent without leave” dates back to the 1800s. The mothers and fathers of World War Two invented and constantly used “UXB” for “unexploded bomb” and “ARP” for “air-raid precautions” — and don’t forget that “TTFN” (“ta-ta for now”) first appeared in a British radio show in the late forties. Oh, yes, and what about our current leaders who, among other things, find “24/7” and 9/11” quite acceptable?

If your elders complain again, ask them to read this txt and T+ B4 they condemn SMS txting as a CWOT.