Texting

The other day, my youngest daughter texted me: "Ashley wants to go with us shopping for the senior ball dress. Is that OK?"

Because I was in a hurry, I replied, "Y."

At home she asked me, "Why did you say 'why?'to my question about Ashley?"

"I didn't say 'why,'" I said. "I said 'yes.'"

"No, 'y' is short for 'why.'"

"Then what is short for 'yes?'"

"'Yes' is short for 'yes.'"

"Well," I said, "that is kind of lame. You guys need to make a shortcut for 'yes.'"

"Y."

I'm not sure if she asked "why" or agreed, "Yes, we should."

Communicating with teenagers is tricky. Do you agree? "Y" or "N!"

Wordless Wednesday, Never Quite Wordless, and the Awe Factor of God

Four of the dozen or so kids at my house last night for the summer book study. I have no clue what this activity has to do with the book, but they let me take their picture, so it worked for me as my Wordless Wednesday.

I do love teenagers.

But now, would you like to see something that will really leave you wordless?

This video called The Awe Factor of God is mentioned in the book we're studying called Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This vid will probably leave you wordless on this Wednesday, except that you'll feel inspired to praise the Creator. Our God is an awesome God indeed.

Do You Speak Da Chenglish?

One of the reasons I have a Facebook account is that occasionally students from our ministry will add me as a friend, and I enjoy keeping up with their lives and chatting with them once in a while.

Recently, a girl (obviously not really named "Chloe") struck up a live chat with me (IMing), and I marveled at her language, which I think is a combination of "chat" and "English," which I shall call "Chenglish." Our conversation one blizzardy evening went like this:

Chloe:
hey wts up?=]

Linda:
Hey, Chloe! Are you still bored?

Chloe:
lol ummmm idk yea i guess b cuzz idk lol haha=)

Linda:
do you think you'll have school tomorrow?

Chloe:
ummmmm yea i hope but only uzzz we have a g ame tht if we win we will b put in the semi finals 4 b ball im lik th whole team is nervous........ bu yea i havefaith thtwe will win lol=)

Chloe:
but mayb a 2 hr dlay tht wuld b ok k with mee=)

Linda:
yeah, I think that's what will happen.

Chloe:
i hope so but onl a 2 hr cuzzz i rele wana play tht game..........andd get it ovr with cuzzzz i dont waa make it

Linda:
[stymied, scratching head with furrowed brow] OK, well, I'm going to bed now. See ya later!

Chloe:
cya!

So here are a few online lingo terms, just to make sure you're fluent or at least conversational in Chenglish:

AAF as a friend
ABT2 about to
AFAIK as far as I know
AYSOS are you stupid or something
AYTMTB and you are telling me this because
B4 before
B4N bye for now
BBIAS be back in a sec
BBL be back later
BWTHDIK but what the heck do I know
BYKT but you knew that
DEGT don’t even go there
DETI don’t even think about it
DGT don’t go there
DKDC don’t know don’t care
DYJHIW don’t you just hate it when
E123 easy as 123
EAK eating at Keyboard
EG evil grin
EL evil Laugh
EM? excuse me?

And last but not least, one of my favorites:
IYKWIMAITYD if you know what I mean and I think you do


so, um, yeah, gtr, like ill prolly cya 2tmr, IYKWIMAITYD!
[Gotta run, I'll probably see ya tomorrow if you know what I mean, and I think you do!]