Fomo iykwim
 

Listening to The Villages radio on Saturday, there was a discussion about texting with the younger crowd and how they use all kinds of text abbreviations to communicate with us, and we're supposed to know what they mean.

Our generation had CB radios and all that 10-4 and such, but that was purposeful since the airwaves were shared and being concise was imperative to give everyone time on the air.

But with texting, it's pretty much unlimited size and even pictures, sounds, links and videos too!
So why not just write out all the words?

The bit on The Villages radio ended with the guy saying us old people should just make up our own abbreviations and text the youngsters with that. I think that would be fun!

I'm'a gonna guess (IMAGG) that the title of your post stands for: Fear Of Missing Out, If You Know What I Mean.

It's because most of the texting is done on cell phones, which have tiny itty bitty keyboards requiring human-sized fingers to manipulate. The possibility of mistyping "if you know what I mean" is greater than the possibility of mistyping "iykwim."

It also dates back to the 1990's, when we had online chat rooms on AOL, Prodigy, GEnie, and CompuServ, and the emoticons were born. So were terms like LOL and ROFLMAO.

This stuff isn't exactly new. It's over 30 years old. But some people are so stuck in their past that they have trouble catching up with the rest of the world, and don't realize that the planet doesn't revolve around their diminished memories.

It can get a bit annoying if too many acronyms are used in one post but, it does make texting much quicker. You'll learn them and begin using them too.

The easy solution is simply this: Install in a search engine these words: acronym ROFL (or whatever the acronym is). The engine will take you directly to a definition.

Or you can use this website: Abbreviations and acronyms dictionary Type LMAO in the search bar and definitions will appear.

To quote Austin Powers, "Ouch Baby, Ouch!"

Agree
My guess..some of the same people that tried txt on a rotary phone!

Hey my 92-year-old dad texts and uses a lot of these text slang terms. My mom refused to own a smart-phone and never used a computer, and used her tablet to play solitaire.

I get that some people just don't ever "get it" but they need to accept that most of the rest of the world does, and not wonder or be annoyed that everyone understands each other just fine - except for them.

Yes, some people refuse to be ruled by technology. Dad refuses to text or get a phone that can text. He also refuses to take the phone with him when he goes out, like in the days of corded phones. He never seems to miss it and has a peaceful day but the rest of us are frustrated that we can’t communicate easily with him. I think if one tried to use abbreviations with him to speak to him he’d ask us to learn to write proper English. Young people like to be innovative, that’s their job. But for them to expect that the older generation will conform to their expectations, is just funny.

That isn't even almost an understandable excuse. The first hand-held cellular phone in existence was built by Martin Cooper, who is 95 years old now. He invented it in 1973.

The first personal computer was built in the early 1970's, though there are disputes as to which inventor invented it first. All the inventors on the list who are still alive, are over 80.

Age is not an excuse for ignorance. In fact, the older you are, the more you SHOULD know. Unless you were discouraged from learning.

Given my dad’s knowledge (he has forgotten more than many young people had a chance to learn so far) I would venture ignorance is on the other foot. My brother and I built computers when they were more calculators than word processors. In those days we also wrote the operating system for them. To worship the current knowledge we have, in some ways, means not understanding the value of what was known before. I do believe that certain progress helps us, eg. advances in medicine, but in certain areas what is considered “progress” is actually regression not progression. I am thinking of the quality of life, for example. Some research say that the mental health of young people is worse than ever… would you call that progress?

One finding, of many:
“Young adults in the U.S. report twice the rates of anxiety and depression as teens, according to a new report from Making Caring Common (MCC), a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The report identifies several drivers of young adults' emotional challenges, including a lack of meaning and purpose.Oct 24, 2023” Google

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As long as old folks quit trying to be cool by using phrases that went out 15 ro 20 years ago like "peace out" and "booya", I'm good. It's almost as painful as seeing old folks wearing fanny packs.

I still sometimes wear my fanny pack. I got it at Wilson's Leather back in the early 1990's back when they used to be a staple in every major mall in the country. Mostly I use it when I'm riding my bicycle, or if I'm going for a long walk on a cool day when I don't have to carry a water bottle.

Keep on truckin'

Lol, now they are also worn as crossbody/belt bags by skateboarders and other “cool” people. Keeping both of your hands free is especially nice for sport activities.

Oh, and for a cool $3500 or so you can get one from Prada and other luxury designers. Practicality never goes out of style as each new generation rediscovers…