Internet Slang/Lingo-

   

   As writers, it's beneficial to know the slang lingo used on FB, Twitter, in e-mails, and phone texts. We never can tell when we'll need to incorporate them into our stories. Besides, it's baffling when we have no clue as to what someone is telling us in an e-mail or on FB.  Nowadays, it might be likened to a writer not knowing how to spell a simple word and feeling red-faced for his or her ignorance.

    It doesn't matter if we are 20 or 90 years old. Times have changed, and even if we don't hasten to use such abbreviated slang forms of words, at least we can understand them, because they WILL come our way.  Here's a humorous example:
   We were changing over from dial-up service to fast speed Internet and some other changes involving our cell phones. The customer service woman asked my husband, "Do you still want POTS?"  My husband said, "What is POTS?"  She said, "Plain Old Telephone Service."  Duh?
    If it's coming up in phone conversations too...it's here big time.
    Chances are, that those who have teens at home might already know a great deal of the lingo.While others (such as myself) only knew the most common ones. Let alone the expressions used on Twitter.  That's for a whole other post.
    So, it wasn't a great surprise when I saw books (dictionaries too) on Amazon.com for Internet slang lingo. (Too bad I didn't think of it!)  Here is one that is reasonably priced for Kindle via Amazon.com

Understanding Internet Slang by Jon Appleseed (Jun 30, 2013)

• $2.99 Kindle Purchase 

If you want to see a lot more for free, go to: http://www.internetslang.com/list.asp?i=G

In the meantime, here are twenty five, with many that are supposedly trending right now...

BBL        -   Be Back Later
BTW       -   By The Way
CMT      -    Count Me In
DDG       -    Drop Dead Gorgeous
G2G        -    Got To Go
IDK         -    I Don't Know
ILY          -    I Love You
L8R         -    Later
LHK        -    Love, Hugs, and Kisses
LYL         -    Love You Lots
M2           -    Me Too
M&D       -   Mum and Dad
NBD        -    No Big Deal
OIC         -    Oh, I See
O&O       -    Over and Out
ROTFL    -   Rolling On The Floor Laughing
TTYL       -   Talk To You Later
TIA          -    Thanks In Advance
VBD        -    Very Big Deal
WAYD?    -   What Are You Doing?
WGAF     -    Who Gives a (Bleep) 
WTG        -   Way To Go
YT?          -    You There?
YW          -     You're Welcome
ZA           -     Pizza     

   Note: When I was a teenager, my friends and I had our own abbreviations and made-up words we'd write in our 'snail mail' and notes, in case others (mainly our parents) would read them. We were very creative at times too. For example, instead of writing, I'll see you at Newkirk Avenue. We might have written, I'll see Kirk at the new avenue.  And 'Haley'sMO' (a liquid antacid at the time) meant: Make Out. So, a note might have said something like, Mike asked if I wanted some Haley's MO, but I told him no. LOL!
      K. G2GC ( Okay. Got to go cook.)  L8R-

Summertime and Writing Discipline

   Today is the 'unofficial' start of summer. Some of us visited a beach for the first time this year, had our kick-off barbecue of the season, maybe took a bike ride or jog in the park, all the while looking ahead to sunnier warmer days.

    The lure to spend more time outdoors after a long snowy winter might cause an interruption in our writing, but it doesn't have to be that way if we juggle around our writing schedules a bit.

    For example, if during cold winter days, we wrote early in the morning, and now that the weather is warmer, we want to use that time for an outdoor walk instead of on a treadmill later on, then we simply switch the writing time with what would have been the treadmill time.

   Changing over to a laptop for writing is another good idea during the summer months.  We can then write on the beach, our deck, or by the pool. This way, there won't be any compromising good weather for writing or vice versa.

    If children are living at home, once summer vacation begins, we want to participate with them in certain activities...take them to the beach, to a friend's pool, go to a theme park, the zoo, etc. It's important to be mindful of our need for fun and some vacation time with family and friends and still remain dedicated to our craft.
   One way is to take a short break now and again and have children write in a journal about their summer vacation...their favorite parts of the day...what they like about summer, etc. And we can do the very same thing in our own journal. Some of our vacation/family/friends experiences can later be used in one of our stories. The best part is, that while the children write, we can write.    

   Perhaps we can write earlier while having breakfast, before the rest of the family wakes.

  
  If you have a backyard or a deck, create a small writing area there. A bench, a  small table and chair under an umbrella, or on our porch is perfect. If using an umbrella, some netting over it (found at most home goods stores or online) can enhance the writing time with the absence of nipping bugs.

   I once read that writers have the wonderful advantage of being able to do their job anywhere...office, beach, train, hotel room, in a green pasture under blue sky and fluffy white clouds...you get the picture.  Hmmm.  Now that I reflect on it, we are indeed fortunate to be able to take our craft wherever we go, especially with today's great compact technology.
    Sitting in an Adirondack chair with my laptop and a backdrop of mountains. Not bad.  Not bad at all. Enjoy!