To be serious for a moment... to me it's not so much that we, as a society, have started to abbreviate everything because of cell phone usage, it is that we feel the need to carry it over and make it a valid part of our official language. We can't seem to turn it off. We carry it over even when it is as fast to spell things out and that is getting more and more confusing as people attempt to condense words and phrases that are known only to themselves. Just look at the two different opinions on just two letters. Some thought the D in DS, that our intention was "Dear" and others felt it was "Disney". The intent of the communicator was known only to them.
Every form of activity has it's own identifying language. I'm sure that in architecture there are many things, words, phases and abbreviations that are used for what you do in your field. That doesn't mean that outsiders are aware of what those things mean so they are kept within your field and not forced out into the public. They are compartmentalized.
The habits that I got into originally, the, at least attempt at, punctuation, capitalization, etc. have me almost completely unable to not carry it through to my posting and texting habits. It just feels wrong to me, but, this is the world I live in so I just try and confine that activity to someone else and continue to do what is comfortable for me. That said, I guess I don't care if you or anyone else goes that route, but, I also think that one takes the chance of not fully getting their message out there because so many people don't understand what is being said.
Woof. That was a little
too serious for me...!
Since May of '07, I've been a member of exactly two message boards...both Disney related. The first one is now defunct, unless you have a Facebook account (I do not - plus, that board used to thrive, but, was almost totally dead before it went to FB), which is where they now do all their messaging. So, now I only post here.
Anyway, being a newbie to all things message boards, I lurked on the other board for quite a while before finally joining. All the acronyms and abbreviations, of course, confused me a bit, at first. DW was one of the first I encountered (which, I have now even expanded beyond wife to "DWifey"
). In the context that it was being used in the post, and with the info given, I could tell they were talking about their "Disney Wife".
At one point, I found out there was a thread that listed all the most common acs/abs
(imagine my surprise when I found out DW was actually listed as "Dear Wife"
). Before I finally joined, I was very familiar with most of them.
I use them here because that is how I was first Immersed in message boards, and I feel it simply makes things a little easier for me. I don't write or talk that way anywhere else.
If you look at the vast majority of my posts, I use punctuation extensively (almost too much sometimes, I think
), and there are few spelling errors. Often, even in the middle of a post, I Google to make sure I have the correct spelling, and I proofread all of them, many of them several times.
As I said, I modify as I feel necessary. Recent examples would be me now typing SonIL and DSprings.
Anyhoo, over the last decade or so, I've found a style that I think works best for me. And, of course, others, such as yourself, have a style that they feel works best for them. Different strokes.
P.S.
And yes, in my line of work we have an EXTENSIVE list of acronyms and abbreviations that we employ.
Extensive enough to make a lot of folks choke...!
