Text and email language
WORKSHEET A
Exercise 1
Below are some popular examples of text speak in English. Can you work out what they
mean and fill in the missing letters?
1. b4 bef _ _ e
2. cul8r s _ _ you l _ t _ _
3. np no p _ _ _ _ _ m
4. toy th _ _ k _ ng o _ y _ _
5. r u f
A _ _ y _ _ fr _ _ to t _ _ k?
2t?
6. w4u w _ _ _ _ ng f _ _ y _ _
7. tx th _ _ _ s
8. cw2cu can’t w _ _ _ _ _ s _ _ y _ u
9. ez e__y
10. b4n b _ _ for n _ w
11. atm _ t t _ _ mom _ _ t
12. ? __ (e.g. ‘black ? white’ meaning ‘black _ _
white?’)
13. pls _ _ _ _ se
l _ _ g _ _ ng _ u _ l _ ud (when something is
14. lol funny)
15. lmk l _ t me k _ _ w
16. g2g g_t __ _o
2. Related websites
http://www.sms-text-guide.com/text-speak-z.html
1
An online dictionary of text speak.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4440000/newsid_4445300/4445314.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4440000/newsid_4445600/4445620.stm
Two pages from the BBC Newsround website (2005) on the mobile phone service that offered to
summarise famous pieces of literature in text language. The second page has examples of famous
stories reduced to a couple of lines of text speak – be sure to point out that most of the
language is not standard English! Challenging for pre-intermediate level.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3125891.stm
An article from the BBC website about the rise of text and email language, and the way in which
traditional greetings like ‘hello’ are apparently being replaced. Intermediate level and above.
WORKSHEET B
It seems that electronic forms of communication like text messaging on mobile phones
and email have created a new kind of language. People often like to communicate as quickly as
possible when they are texting or emailing, and have therefore invented lots of abbreviations or
‘text speak’ that they use instead of complete words.
In many countries text speak has divided the generations: under-20s are very good at
using it, while over-50s often find it difficult to understand! In English, the most common
examples of text language include the use of the number ‘2’ for ‘to’ or ‘too’, ‘4’ instead of ‘for’, ‘u’
for ‘you’ and ‘c’ instead of ‘see’. It is also common to drop vowels, so that ‘can’t’ becomes ‘cnt’, and
‘have’ becomes ‘hav’ or ‘hv’.
While some people think text language is good way of saving time, others think it is lazy
and that it has a bad effect on language. In Britain many teachers complain that some students
don’t know that using text speak in their schoolwork isn’t appropriate, and that they are
forgetting how to use Standard English.
Some studies suggest that Standard English is already changing because of text and
email language. One study has even suggested that ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ could disappear from the
English language during the 21st century because so many people now use ‘hey’ or even ‘yo’ at the
start of texts and informal emails, and ‘laters’ at the end.
2
A couple of years ago a mobile phone company in Britain began a service in which it sent
text messages summarising books that young people were studying at school. The idea was to
turn famous works of literature into text speak, so it would be easy for young people to
understand what the books were about. Of course not everyone liked the idea of characters
from Shakespeare speaking in text language, and it is certainly true that the famous ‘To be or
not to be?’ speech from Hamlet loses something when it begins with ‘2b?Ntb’.
WORKSHEET C
Exercise 2
Complete the crossword below. If all the words are correct, the meaning of the text
abbreviation ‘atw’ will read from top to bottom.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1. It isn’t usually ___________ to use text speak in schoolwork.
2. Text messaging is an ___________ form of communication.
3. Older people often can’t ___________ text language.
4. Many people begin texts and informal emails with ‘hey’ instead of ‘___________’.
5. Text speak uses lots of ___________.
6. In texts, people often write ‘u’ instead of the complete ___________ ‘you’.
7. A mobile phone company used text speak to ___________ books that young people were
studying at school.
8. Hamlet is a famous work of English ___________.
9. Some teachers worry that students ___________ how to use text speak, but not Standard
English.
10. People use text language to ___________ time.
11. One of the most ___________ examples of text speak is to use ‘4’ instead of ‘for’.
12. Because of text and email language, some people think the words ‘hello’
and ‘goodbye’ could ___________.
3
About you...
How does the language you use in text messages and e-mails differ from your
writings in other contexts?
Write a short summary of a book or movie you like using text and e-mail language.
You can visit the websites on page 1 and 2.
