Uprofessional Acronyms

I wrote TOEFL two years ago, when I got the essay part of the examination, I was excited because the topics were fun and my fingers flew on the keyboard. When I was done typing however, I glanced through my work thinking I would have little or no corrections to make only for me to find out that while my essay was well written, It was peppered with a series of unprofessional acronyms such as: “d” instead of the, “4” instead of for, “y” instead of why, and a host of others. I was appalled and I had to start editing with the speed of light because I was running out of time.

This is one of the side effects that Instant Messaging has on our generation and it has become quite worrisome. Sentences diminish in meaning everyday. sorry has become “sowie”, cousin has become “cuz”, pretty has become “pweety” and It goes on an on. I have come across a couple of resumes that have grave grammatical errors and I often wonder what on earth they were thinking. There is a blurred line between Instant Messaging and real life and is risky to be caught on the other side of the line.

Its funny to note that when It comes to the world of instant messaging, there is an acronym for almost everything, here are the few that comes to mind:

HBD- Happy birthday

WULLNP- Wishing you long life and prosperity

LOL- Laughing out loud

HML- Happy married life

HWA- Happy wedding anniversary

HNM- Happy new month

IJN- IN Jesus’ name

People underestimate the importance of a sound vocabulary. More attention is being paid to matching shoes,bags and pocket squares than to the quality of written words. A wrong vocabulary creates a wrong impression and it is almost impossible to reverse it.

“We are losing our common vocabulary, built over thousands of years to help and delight and instruct us, for the sake of what we take to be the new technology’s virtues. ”
― Alberto Manguel, The Library at Night

Enjoy your week!