chatspeak

I coined the word chatspeak in a published article (Glendale News Press, CA) in October of 1998. Originally chatspeak was the abbreviated language used in online chatrooms, and it has now evolved into the abbreviated language used in texting and tweeting. Here is the beginning of the op-ed piece I wrote in 1998: CHATSPEAK ARRIVES I was writing a memo at work the other day, and I wanted to make sure the recipient knew I was kidding. So I followed the sentence with lol. And I froze. omg, I thought. That was the precise moment I realized how chatspeak was creeping into my every-day vocabulary. And I wondered how long it would take this cybershorthand to sneak into everyone’s language. Like like. By my calculation, it took about 15 years for like to make it from Valspeak to the general population. Er, …perhaps this would be a good place to stop and explain to the uninitiated. Lol is short for laughing out loud; and omg is short for omigod, which is short for, like, Oh My God! These terms have evolved during the past few years among those who visit chat rooms online. A form of shorthand is necessary because there's limited space and time to write your comments.