Abbrev.

[Ashley Parker]

        My name is Ashley Parker, and I'm a researcher at the New York Times. I'm
currently working on a freelance story about language --- specifically, the
language of teenagers today, and also a historical perspective on the
relationship between technology and language --- and I was hoping to get an
expert's perspective. To give you a better sense of my story, I got the idea
from my 17-year-old sister, who can now have completely fluent conversations
with her friends using only abbreviations, acronyms, and the like. I think
this new "language" of hers is driven by Instant Message/text message
culture. For example:
obviously = obvs. or obvi
definitley = def.
silent treatment = ST
homework = HW
something funny = lol (which is to say, in response to a funny joke, instead
of laughing, my sister might say "lol")
etc, etc
        Anyhow, I would love to talk to anyone who has any thoughts on this trend.
I'm also curious about other examples of when changes in technology have
influenced changes in the language. Please let me know.

Thanks,
Ashley Parker

Ashley Parker
New York Times
1627 I St. NW
Washington, DC 20006
202.862.0360
202.862.0426 (fax)
ashleyparker at nytimes.com

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