R U Txtin?

I saw a cute little interview at Wired.com about a 13-year-old girl that won the 2007 National Text Messaging Competition by typing a 151-character message in 42 seconds.

Wired: Do u prefer txtin 2 chattin?
Miss Pozgar: I usually txt b/c its a lot easier than havin 2 b on the phone for 3 hrs if its sum1 that never stops talking!

I'm guessing that a 13-year-old girl could single-handedly keep a phone company in the black, whether talking or texting. It's a neat interview.

The abbreviated slang used in text messaging actually goes back a lot further than cell phones. I first noticed "leet" language in the early nineties with the internet and computer gaming. I had assumed that it was a passing fad among computer nerds, misspelling words on purpose and substituting numbers for letters (e.g. leet is usually spelled 1337); boy was I wrong. Now soccer moms and junior high girls are using words like sum1, lol, o rly, and gr8.

I don't text very often at all – usually just in response to the unstemmed tide of text messages I get from Shannon. That said, some day, when I can get that iPhone I've been wanting, I may text more frequently. But my current phone doesn't lend itself to texting, making it easier to just pick up and call the person rather than hen-peck around on my phone's number pad.

SPK 2 U L8R