Removing his spectacles, he blinked, rubbed the fatigue from his eyes and put the glasses back on. Taking a deep breath, he tried again.
Ten minutes later, Arya walked in the door, chewing gum in that classic way that teenagers do.
‘Arya, come here. Tell me what this means.’
Sauntering over, she peered at the screen: Cn U PTB? TIA.
“It means, ‘Can you please text back? Thanks in advance.’
His eyes widened. ‘WHAT? Why can’t he say that then instead of this gibberish?’
‘Less is more, dad. Didn’t you know?’
‘Certainly takes me moreΒ time to figure this out.’
***
Welcome to The Moving Quill!
For this year’s A to Z Challenge, I’ve taken up the theme of
An Oxymoron rendered inΒ micro-fiction.
Each day’s titleΒ will have one half of the oxymoron while the second half will be revealed towards the end of the post.
Follow me as I unravel each tale in exactly 100 words.
Follow me on FacebookΒ or Twitter to keep track of my updates
***
Lol π I can picture you shaking your head with disapproval about such ‘less is more’ words π made me chuckle π
True. Less is definitely more in the sms world of the young..Hehe. Always sounds like greek to me.I do wish people would write proper English though considering the advances made in the swipe technology π
Perfect idea for today! And the last line is so apt!
I remember those days when when I was a newbie to texting lingo. I actually read an article on short forms used in texting before sending my first message via WhatsApp π But thanks to ‘free’ messaging on almost every platform, I don’t have to send gibberish looking messages anymore. In fact, the only short form I allow myself is tmrw. Yet, I can’t say the same for everyone else ?
Ha ha ha. This was fun. Even I get irritated when is see ppl using shortcuts to such extent. Just fail to understand why do they keep corrupting the spellings? But alas, ignorance is bliss and that’s what I have learnt to do nowadays.
Oh man! As if this less is more gibberish on what’s app wasn’t enough, it’s made its way to social media, blog comments, and blog posts too! I just don’t get it – and it’s so lazy and annoying!
Loved the story. Did not know PTB though. I hate this lingo. Wrote a blog on this long back. The lingo made sense when sms were 144 characters long. I don’t understand the need of shortening words when there is no character limit.
Oh, I hate SMS lingo! Hate it! I don’t follow them and I don’t understand as well. Gosh! I am old! :O
He he same here. We’re friends for a reason ?
I hate the sms lingo. It pisses me off to no end. What irks me more is the ‘HBD’ I see on FB walls during someone’s birthday.
I usually don’t ask. I mentally file it away for checking on Google later π
Ah the age of parenting forums when I used to look completely clueless. Have improved now π
Right? I mean how hard is it to type four letter words? Okay, don’t answer that π
He he thanks π
Oh I am so lost with this lingo form. I am quite the same n keep asking peeps(much to their amusement) what it means!!!
HAHAHA..That was a good one…i have an habit of of writing short forms like lo where people have asked asked me what does lo mean???
LOL! I know what that means. Thatβs where my knowledge ends.
Lol…it is gibberish! Especially in this day of not having a word limit for text messages, there is no excuse for ‘less is more’! Nicely done π
Haha!!! This one is excellent! Loved the way you brought out the oxymoron here!
Cheers
We’re peas in a pod, Suzy π Will check out your post soon!
People type ua for your?? Why are you making this worse for me?
This made me laugh. That gibberish takes me more time to figure it out too. I’ve used the less is more in my post though it’s in a different context.
Haha, didn’t know PTB was a thing. I get this feeling when my younger cousins text me. I mean how how hard is it to type “your” instead of “ua” ???
Don’t worry I am way older and way more ahead of you in the ignorance department π
Come let’s go sip some old-fashioned boost and reminisce about those days.
Welcome to my world of anxiety and panic attacks when I read texts π
We are all in the same, old boat Shilpa π I type full forms in SMS also π
Oh yes, absolutely and completely π
Sigh, it is. For us all!
I hardly text anyone apart from parents and husband. But yes I know what you mean.Preview of the future for sure π
Confession: I had to look it up too π
That’s my same fervent prayer. Hope this stops at informal communication.
He he, some of us are just getting there π
Haven’t we all been there- the transit generation…
Anyone with teenagers will surely relate to this. It annoys me when my girls use these short forms..I can only hope they remember to use the correct (full if I may say) language in formal use.
Haha… excellent ending. And honestly, I too didn’t know the full form of that!
This was a preview of future. ? I didn’t know what PTB meant. Thankfully I receive and send text messages only from my husband who is illiterate than me in this area. So it works out fine for me, now. Good one, Shailaja. ?
This is going to be my exact state in a few years from now….hahaha….the short forms in SMS & mails are so very annoying!!!
Haha! That was a good one. I find the SMS lingo annoying!
I too was wondering what all that gibberish was! I detest it when people type the abbreviations ..I too am guilty of doing it, though, but mine can be understood. But such ones go way over my head!
God! It would have taken ages for me to get that SMS lingo!! I abhor usage of ‘dis’, ‘dat’ ‘dere’ ‘dat’ and things like that, as well!!
I wish for the simpler times when acronyms only meant medical or military stuff. The guy in the pic – his expression is epic.
I had no idea what PTB meant. And my guesses weren’t even close. I am growing old.