Technology and language!

As technology expands so rapidly, the use of online slang words threatens to make the formal language obsolete.
Traditional words are replaced by the language of e-mail and text messaging. A 2003 British “globespeak” survey shows that the most common alternative for "hello" when starting an informal e-mail or text message is "hey", followed by "g'day", "hola", "howdy" and "yo".
“It’s “hip” to use abbreviations and slang,” says Tim Yandeepit, a junior in Linguistics. “I use them all the time, like LOL (laughing out loud), BRB (be right back) or ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing).”
While computers and electronic networks have certainly revolutionized communication, they raise concerns about language preservation. Abbreviating in text messages and online chats has generated a spin-off where people speak live as if they were writing.
“I have friends who say LOL instead of actually laughing in real life. I think it’s something that younger kids do and it will pass as they get older,” says a returning USU student Michael Strickland.
Ironically, the word lol is a Dutch word that means fun, and the verb lolling means funny.
"What is interesting is the speed that language is being modified world-wide by the adoption of new technology,” says Tracy Blacher, MSN marketing director.
According to a survey, commissioned by a British mobile phone insurer CPP, text messaging has more than doubled since March 2002. More than eight out of ten people under the age of 25 are more likely to send someone a text message than call.
“When texting it’s easier and faster to write ‘u’ (instead of ‘you’) or ‘4’ (instead of ‘for’). Everyone understands what one is trying to say. I don’t see a point in spending more time on texting or emailing when time is such scarce resource,” says Armen Armaghanyan, an undeclared business student.
A number of online SMS-dictionaries provide shortcut interpretations and offer more slang words to expand the SMS-range and catch up with technological innovations.
USU anthropology professor Richley Crapo says, “Abbreviations that people use when communicating online, have become such a great part of our life that I wouldn’t be surprised if they were taught at schools in a few decades.”



Sources:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Text-Message-Abbreviations---SMS-Dictionary-Examples&id=534837 http://www.brighthub.com/education/languages/articles/1864.aspx
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3125891.stm