There’s definitely something going on with the language lately. I asked myself: Is it the effect of texting, or twitter – people relying on short forms for their communications all the time? Poor old English – so rich and varied, so replete with marvelous synonyms – reduced to phrases and letters, some of which can’t even be pronounced, and only the young can understand. Isn’t that a bit ‘exclusionary’?
It’s not that I’m opposed to the practical need for brevity, and some expressions are quite useful at times. I can tweet in less than 140 characters. I’ve just started texting, so U and 2 have their place. I just hope we don’t lose the power that a rich vocabulary offers us. If you don’t use it, you lose it!