OMG! LMFAO! FML! WTF? - Ugh.

I don't quite know when it happened, and I haven't reached "You kids get off of my lawn!" status, but I am officially a cranky old person. Admitting your problem is the first step toward recovery, but I'm not so sure I want to recover.

When exactly did the whole phenomenon of abbreviating EVERYTHING start? I really have no idea - but I seem to remember back when everyone was on America Online (AOL - of course they had to abbreviate that too!), it started with the infamous "LOL" - laughing out loud. Look, I know what I typed was supposed to be funny - and I assume you're laughing at it - you don't need to tell me you are by going "LOL". If that was the case, most boys would have been typing "LAPJO" - I'll let you figure that one out.

Of course, it isn't enough to just Laugh Out Loud - if it's REALLY funny, I made you LMFAO - "Laugh My F***ing Ass Off", because what's better than an acronym with the F-bomb in it? Especially for 13 and 14 year old kids (sometimes even younger) to get away with cursing because parents are old and they don't know what it means! Please...kids, how dumb do you think we are?

Of course, "WTF" popped up for "What the f***?", again, ostensibly, for kids to curse without cursing. The latest one I have been been seeing with regularity is "FML" - which, for the unknowing, is "F*** My Life" because life is just so terrible for a 14 or 15 year old with their own laptop and cell phone just because some long-haired skater punk wouldn't "go out" with them in Junior High School - like anyone actually goes anywhere at that age. That's another blog topic entirely - I'm sure I'll hit that one when the mood strikes me.

My point is this - the generations that are now one or two generations below ours (you know where we are at - almost 40, facing mid-life crisis, worrying about our children AND our parents) have access to much more information, have the chance to be much better educated than we were at that age....and are so completely lazy, that they don't possess the energy to type out full words. "U" has become commonplace for "you" - it was different when Prince was doing it to song titles back in the 80's, but now it's lazy and ridiculous. "Ur" can be "your" or "you're", meaning that the grammar lessons we were taught in school are just too challenging for these kids, so they avoid them.

This entire concept of "text language" allows people to text 200 "words" a minute, but in the grand scheme of things, is it worth saving the time for the dumbing down of America? Help me out here...I can't be the only one who finds this to be completely ridiculous.

As always, comments are welcome here or on the Facebook link to this entry. I am REALLY anxious to hear what our loyal followers have to say!