Quick Guide to Email and Text Messaging for the Retired

These days, it seems that everyone keeps in touch with friends and family members through email and text messaging. Both are quick and convenient, but for those unfamiliar with the ins and outs of communicating in these ways, they can be a little intimidating.

To make it all the more confusing, there are unwritten “rules” about proper email etiquette and the language shortcuts commonly utilised can take a while to get used to.

Email Etiquette

In general, the rules of emailing are similar to those in any form of written communication—greet your recipient, make your point, and then be sure to include a signature at the end. The quick and easy nature of email makes it alright to be casual, but there is a big difference between casual and sloppy.

Most of us have gotten messages that were written so carelessly as to give the impression that the sender either couldn’t be bothered or didn’t know better—neither of which are feelings that we hope to impart! So do heed the basics when emailing; capitalisation, punctuation, and basic rules of grammar still matter. There are three things to keep in mind when composing an email though, beyond the basics of polite note writing.

• Never use all capital letters because to the recipient, it can seem as though you are yelling.
• Use discretion with people’s email addresses. When sending an email to more than one person, the polite thing to do is to add email addresses under “BCC,” which stands for Blind Carbon Copy, rather than putting the addresses in the “To:” field. By addressing your correspondence in this manner, your recipients will not be able to view the email addresses of the others, only yours and their own.
• Learn a bit of email shorthand. Typically, email is used for quick correspondence, so a kind of shorthand is standard, usually the same as is used for text messaging. A listing of commonly used phrases is included below. Please note that unlike text messages, which can be completely comprised of shorthand terms, email usually uses these somewhat sparingly.

Writing a Text Message

Using mobiles is no longer just for working professionals who can’t afford to miss important calls. Today, everyone seems to have a phone with them while on the go, from kids on up. There are times when talking is inconvenient or impossible, though, and for these occasions, sending a text message through your mobile phone is the answer. Texting is a simple procedure, but since each model of phone is unique, a quick peek at the owners manual should be all that is needed to begin sending and receiving text messages with ease.

As was mentioned above, text messages are often comprised of shorthand versions of words or phrases. Not only are these time savers, but in the case of text messaging, where messages are typically limited in size to 160 characters per message, every bit saved matters!

Commonly Used Text Message Shortcuts

A

• afaik – as far as I know
• aml – all my love
• atb – all the best
• atm – at the moment
• awhfy? – are we having fun yet?

B

• b – be or bee
• b4 – before
• bbl – be back later
• bbs – be back soon
• bcnu – be seeing you
• bday – birthday
• bf –boyfriend
• bfn – bye for now
• bg – big grin
• bn – been or being
• brb – be right back
• btdt – been there, done that
• bwl – bursting with laughter

C

• c – see
• c%d – could
• c%l – cool
• c&g – chuckle and grin
• cid – consider it done
• cm – call me
• crbt – crying really big tears
• cu – see you
• cuz – because
• cya – see ‘ya

D

• d – the
• d8 – date
• dinr – dinner
• dk – don’t know
• dndc – don’t know, don’t care
• dur – do you remember?

E

• e2eg – ear to ear grin
• eod – end of discussion
• eol – end of lecture
• eta –estimated time of arrival
• every1 – everyone
• ez – easy

F

• f2f – face to face
• f2t –free to talk
• f? – friends?
• fc – fingers crossed
• fyeo – for your eyes only
• fyi – for your information

G

• g – grin
• g2cu – good to see you
• g2g – got to go
• gf – girlfriend
• gj – good job
• gl – good luck
• gmta – great minds think alike
• gr8 – great

H

• h&k – hugs and kisses
• h8 – hate
• hbtu – happy birthday to you
• hig – how’s it going?
• howru – how are you?
• hth – hope this helps

I

• I – eye
• iac – in any case
• ic – I see
• icwum – I see what you mean
• idk – I don’t know
• ilu or iluvu – I love you
• ilu2 or iluvu2 – I love you, too
• imho – in my honest/humble opinion
• imo – in my opinion
• in2 – into
• iuss – if you say so
• iykwim – if you know what I mean

J

• j4f – just for fun
• jas – just a second
• jic – just in case
• jk – just kidding
• jmo – just my opinion

K

• khuf – know how you feel
• kit – keep in touch
• kwim – know what I mean

L

• l—laugh
• l8 – later
• l8r – later
• lch – lunch
• lmk – let me know
• lo – hello
• lol – laughing out loud
• lumu – love you, miss you
• luv – love
• luvu – love you

M

• mbrsd – embarrassed
• mc – Merry Christmas
• mgb – may God bless
• msg – message
• mte – my thoughts exactly
• mtf – more to follow
• myob – mind your own business

N

• n – and
• n1 – nice one
• nc – no comment
• ne – any
• ne1 – anyone
• nething – anything
• no1 – no one
• np – no problem
• nvm – never mind

O

• obtw – oh, by the way
• omg – oh my God
• otoh – on the other hand
• ottomh – off the top of my head

P

• pcm – please call me
• pls – please
• ppl – people
• ptmm – please tell me more

Q

• qt – cutie
• r – are
• rme – rolling my eyes
• rofl – rolling on the floor, laughing
• ru – are you
• ruok – are you okay?

S

• sete – smiling ear to ear
• sit – stay in touch
• so – significant other
• sol – sooner or later
• sry – sorry
• swak – sealed with a kiss

T

• t+ — think positive
• tcoy – take care of yourself
• thnx or thx or tx– thanks
• tia – thanks in advance
• tmb – text me back
• tmi – too much information
• toy – thinking of you
• ttfn – ta ta for now
• tttt – to tell the truth
• ttul – talk to you later

U

• u – you
• u2 – you, too
• ur – you are
• v or vri – very

W

• w – with
• w/o – without
• wadr – with all due respect
• wayd? – what are you doing?
• werru? – where are you?
• wfm – works for me
• wk – week
• wuwh – wish you were here

X

• x – kiss
• xclnt – excellent
• xoxo – kisses and hugs
• y – why or yes
• yr – your

Z

• z – said
• zzzz – sleeping