“Hey guys..!!! ‘Howdy’?

Chatting…who isn’t into it! Infact, a day ‘wthout’ ‘talkn’ to ‘frens’ on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Meebo, Orkut, or on ‘othr’ ‘IMs’, is a day wasted! I ‘luv’ my ‘frens’ & so ‘mk’ it a point 2 meet ‘thm’ ‘evryday’ on Gtalk, ‘FB’, ‘YM’, and ‘smtyms’ on Orkut. & ‘m’ sure, ‘u’ ‘2’ do ‘d’ same. ‘Aftral’, ‘lyf’ ‘wthout’ ‘frens’ ‘wl’ ‘b’ ‘sch’ a bore! & ‘thr’ is no ‘betr’ place ‘thn’ these ‘on9’ platforms to ‘b’ in touch ‘wth’ all ‘frens’, ‘whrevr’ ‘dey’ ‘mayb’, ‘whtevr’ ‘dey’ ‘myt’ ‘b’ ‘doin!’...”

OMG…ahh sorry, I mean Oh my God! What’s wrong with my spelling! What did I write? It doesn’t make sense at all, does it? Well well well…you’ll be surprised to know that it actually does, to more people that you can ever imagine! These misspelled words are consciously known as chat room abbreviations, popular chat lingo that teenagers consider to be cool and linguists consider to be nonsense.

Instant-messaging lingo is increasingly becoming a part of our mainstream conversation and life. Not only the young crowd, but all users who are active on web have accepted this lingo. As exclaimed by Professor David Crystal, "I see a brand new variety of language evolving, invented really by young people... within five years! It's extraordinary." And true to every word of it, it is really extraordinary, how these simple yet meaningless ‘words’ (If I may say so) have become a trend.

What is it about this lingo that makes it so popular with the Gen-Y? “It sounds smart and cool” says a user, though most will agree that it is also quick, fast, and prompt. Who wants to type an entire word when you can convey a message typing just two alphabets! It not only saves time but also money, when it comes to mobile text messaging.

A student once wrote in Chicago Maroon, the newspaper of University of Chicago “These abhorrent abbreviations are nothing less than an insidious linguistic plague”. Well, people may hold different opinions, but no denying the fact that chat slangs are here to stay! I have found some of these extremely interesting. Take a look…

LOL: That’s the most common one, means ‘Laughing Out Loud’….hahahaha !!!

L8R: ‘Later’ = ‘L + Eight + R’ = Whoa!!!!

LMAO: ‘Laughing My A*** Off’…Ahem! Slang but funny…LMAO!

IMHO: ‘In My Humble Opinion’…humble??? Wow!

BFF: ‘Best Friends Forever’. Sure…!

2nite: ‘Tonight’. 2 nights?? ;)

OMG: This one is my personal favorite meaning ‘Oh My God’…seriously!

WTF: ‘What The F***’… How frustrating!

SITD: ‘Still In The Dark’. How true!

BTW: ‘By The Way’…this one is quite common btw J.

BRB: ‘Be Right Back’..ohh sure!

XOXO: Means ‘Hugs and Kisses’, don’t ask me how.

WYWH: ‘Wish You Were Here’. Simple.

RBTL: ‘Read Between The Lines’… You bet!

PAW: ‘Parents are watching’. Parents Beware!

GAL: ‘Get a Life’…hmmm!

There is lot more and you can get some help on web too. Make it a point to go through it or you may end up being confused! Also, let me know what are your favorites or which ones do you use very often.

So, bye for now, happy chatting…Catch you guys L8R.