Growing use of internet slangs

KATHMANDU, March 29: Btw, g2g, ttyl, asap and brb. The list goes on and on and on! If you type ´internet abbreviations´ in Google, you are likely to find around 200 daily used abbreviations. We love using these words. It makes life so much easier and helps us to communicate with friends and family when in a rush, wasting less time. However, very rarely do we ponder on what all these words actually mean, how they were invented and why these words are so popular all over the world.



These known as abbreviations are famously called internet slangs. These slangs were first used during the 1960s and their use has been catalyzed amongst the youth in the past few years. Today, along with social networking sites, internet slangs have also become a common feature among internet users. [break]



"I love using these words because it makes life much easier. When I chat with friends on messengers, I don´t have to type long words to express ideas or feelings," says Sadichha Shrestha, student of St Xavier´s College, adding, "These words also make life more fun while chatting and makes texting easier and less time-consuming. They can also save money because we can send one small text instead of sending three long texts. Words such as ´lol´ (laugh out loud) have truly become buzz words among young people in today´s world."



However, these words are useful only in the cyberspace, not in the real ´face-to-face´ world. For example, we don´t see people using words such as ´lol´ when someone cracks a joke among friends. Why? Simply because these are virtual slangs which have no use in spoken English.



"Using these words is obviously very easy in the cyber world. However, I can´t really use them when I´m physically with friends. I mean, it´s awkward to use words such as brb or g2g (meaning ´will be right back´ and ´got to go´) when I´m talking to a friend," says Nischal Acharya, a student of Ace Institute of Management.



"I don´t think it´s essential but it´s something that´s become part of our culture. As someone who has a love for literature and the words, I think using those abbreviations make our language dull, and monotonous because everyone uses the same thing ones, but I guess that´s how it´s become part of our culture," says Sahara Pradhan, student of Rato Bangala School. She further adds that such slangs have become a part of popular culture to use; it´s "cool" to use them.



Therefore, the use of such internet slangs does have both positive and negative sides. The main battle, however, is between culture and time. On the one hand, using such slangs saves time, but this also means a loss of the use of genuine English language culture.



Today, internet slangs have gotten to a point whereby people have forgotten how to write formal emails and messages and often use slang spellings of words even in job applications and official letters.



This could be harmful for the applicant for jobs or for universities. Moreover, it has got the equivalent status as colloquial language in cyberspace. The youths therefore are in a dilemma whether to save time or culture!



Finally, as it can be seen through previous experiences, the use of these words does have a positive as well as a negative impact. However, what one must always remember is whether these words are actually required. Are they? 50 years ago, when these words weren´t invented, people could still communicate and there was less confusion among people while communicating. Therefore, giving these words a second thought is always an option for us youths. On the other hand, these slangs do save our time in this fast-paced world, which is essential. @TEOTD (=at the end of the day), the decision remains with you. G2G for now. TTYL (=talk to you later)!

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