The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is generally regarded as the Rolls Royce of English dictionaries. It contains a dizzying 300,000 entries and, because of its history and Oxford-brand snob appeal, gets respect from both academics and the man on the street. So when the OED recently announced that the latest quarterly update to its online dictionary included numerous “initialisms” – abbreviations like OMG (oh my God) and LOL (laugh out loud), a lot of people all over the world went a little nuts. What really riled critics was the fact that the 900 neologisms included , a symbol pronounced “heart” and meaning “love.”
Hold the phone! The OED now has ?! OMG!!
The news that the OED has embraced initialisms is both shocking and totally predictable. Anyone familiar with the lingo of text messaging has seen these abbreviations before. There are many texters, and their number is growing. A total of 6.1 trillion text messages had been sent by the end of 2010. In China, 23 billion text messages were sent in 2010 alone. Worldwide, about 200,000 text messages get sent out every second. How, then, can anyone pretend to be surprised that textspeak is seeping into the mainstream vernacular?
So, purists, wake up! There is nothing wrong with the OED adding entries like FYI (for your information) and IMHO (in my humble opinion). In fact, it would be irresponsible not to make such additions. With so many people actively using shortened forms of language on mobile phones, someone has to step up and record and explain this usage.
The people who were most offended at these initialisms complained that the OED is just trying to “be cool” and contributing to the “decline” of the English language. Maybe the OED wants to be popular with young people in order to sell books; still, they are hardly on the cutting edge of language use. And as testing organizations know, the “decline” of standard written English (indeed the decline of many written languages worldwide, including Chinese) is a global trend. Every time I hear a native speaker of English say things like, “She has less problems than me,” I cringe. But, whether I like it or not, this usage is quickly becoming the norm in the spoken idiom.
Be aware, however, that there are still expectations for written English. People who are still in school, or about to take exams, need to know that textspeak can’t be used in academic writing. Business etiquette also frowns upon the overuse of textspeak. No matter where you live, there’s a definite time and place for slang, including “ur” or “gonna.”
As a linguist, I textspeak–in every language. Chinese abbreviations include 520 (wo ai ni) and 94 (jiu shi). I’m glad to see these informal words in our culture enter the pages of online dictionaries, so long as these reference works remind us of the social conventions governing their usage.
BONUS
hold the phone
