OMG, yo.

When I was 17, I wrote thanks "thanx". I thought I was pretty edgy, let me tell you, removing that "ks" and using an "x". Cutting edge stuff. And that was before cell phones were common place, prior to the age of text messaging. My friend wrote "NEways", though I have to think taking the extra .02 seconds to capitalize wasn't worth the .01 seconds he saved by knocking off that pesky little "a".

It's exactly that sort of silliness that has now become total nonsense. If you're 17, you probably write something like this on Facebook walls:

OMG callll meee 2nite!! i mettt dis gurl n seh sed seh nos u!

I can't stand txt spk. That's text speak for you foggies who can't or won't navigate the dangerous waters of instant messaging technology, where English goes to die. Though, I think the extreme above example is what happens when parents friend their kids and said kids mutilate their words to give their mom a headache when she tries to read her daughter's wall posts.

I'm not terribly opposed to text speak on a cell phone. If you're relaying a quick message, doing it quickly makes sense. Personally, I have to text out everything in full words, complete with punctuation, but that's just me and my anal neurosis. But emails? Really? Facebook? It takes longer to type like a retard goat on drugs than it does to get the job done properly.

But I suppose I grew out of my thanx years. Maybe the teens will grow out of:

ily babyyy <3<3<3 tryy da celll muah!

One can hope.