Textonyms give cell phone addicts a new language

From the Reuters article:

R U cycle? Book! Fancy an adds down the sub? There’s a gr8 new carnage.

It may look like gobbledygook, but the most streetwise of teenagers would have no trouble translating and responding to it in kind.

A new language is being developed by cell phone-addicted kids based on the predictive text of their treasured handsets.

Key words are replaced by the first alternative that comes up on a mobile phone using predictive text–changing “cool” into “book,” “awake” into “cycle,” “beer” into adds,” “pub” into “sub” and “barmaid” into “carnage.”

Source: Reuters

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