THURSDAY JULY 12 2001

Message is GR8 for dictionary

BY ROBIN YOUNG

TEXT messaging achieves today what was surely destined to be its F8. The language created by mobile phone users of SMS (the short message service) has won inclusion in the Concise Oxford Dictionary. Judy Pearsall of Oxford University Press said: “We have been monitoring the phenomenal growth of text messaging with great attention. Its influence is now such that we felt it was time to treat it as a legitimate part of the English language.”

The revised dictionary explains messages like: “WERV U BIN? 2 SIT W/ SOM1 by MOB or email, SMSs R GR8. This translates as: “Where have you been? To stay in touch with someone by mobile or e-mail, short message service abbreviations are great.”

Other abbreviations included in the SMS glossary are B4 (before), BBL (be back later), BCNU (be seeing you), CUL8R (see you later), HAND (have a nice day), H8 (hate), IMHO (in my humble opinion), NE1 (anyone), RUOK (are you okay?), TX (thanks), WAN2TLK (want to talk?) XLNT (excellent) and XOXOX (hugs and kisses).

The dictionary also finds space for “emoticons”, representations of facial expressions that can be created with keypad characters. Examples include: :-) (I’m happy); :-( (I’m glum); :-o (surprise); and :-Q (I don’t understand).

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,2-2001240345,00.html

-- (in@a.word), July 12, 2001