I remember the first time I heard acronymous vocalizations. One of my pals would say, "Dubble-yew-Tee-eff!" and another respond accordingly with "Lowl u got powned!". They were playing online games and in that environment things were spelled differently as a matter of ease but also as sort of cool "inside-joke" type of humor, unique to their subculture. I didn't know if other people talked like that, so when I heard them do it I laughed out loud.
This was way before World of Warcraft and the texting explosion and G4 and the constant barrage of whatever the next phone can do better than your's, but with the proliferation of those things has also come the exposure of what is known as "leet-speak" ("leet" being short for elite). Invented by computer programmers and hackers, and later found throughout the gaming communities, it is now found its way snuggly into the hearts of our lexicon. Even my own Mother tells me "Bee-are-Bee". I hear it everywhere and wonder where this may lead. It's scary to think that so swiftly our language can change permanently.
In Orwelle's 1984, the population was slowly engineered to become stupid to the point of being unable to conceive the concept of "freedom". This was done, over time, by the elimination of some words in favor of new ones with more directness and efficiency.
There was no more "best" "better" or "great", just "good" "plus good" and "double-plus good". And in this way people were made ignorant, both of themselves and the bigger picture.
I enjoy typing leet-speak to my friends while I play Diablo 2 online, but I think that is where it should stay. We shouldn't let it get too close to our dictionaries.
Eye-em-Atche-Oh.....
ALSO! If you didn't catch on the leet-speak and want to inform yourself, Google it!
Byeah,
Charlie Bowells