Exactly. I use "brb" and "gtg" once in awhile on MSN but that's it. Maybe "lol". I try to use very little shorthand. This "gangsta" slang is stupid and pointless.

The only things I use on stuff like Yahoo IM are brb, g2g, and.... that's it.

Now slang I love (not gangster slang). Mainly 'cause I'm from the South.

funny i love slang!!! be like yeah i'm tripp'n dawg and i'm a cracker who listens to rock and shops at pacsun!!!! i love it!!! oh and when i do say stuff like shizzzle frizzzle minizzzle i use the rock on sign *giggles*

l_337 15 l=l_ll\l

when will everyone understand that there is no such thing as a normal discussion in a forum?

Netspeak... *shudders* I hate it. I remember when I was new to the computer and acting really stupid... Urgh but that was ages ago. It makes me think that people are too lazy just to write the normal way. When I'm on AIM I don't use proper english all the time but that's just me.

well. i like using a little of shorthand like say
where r u?
like that...but writing the short hand that ur talking about takes more time to decifer than it would have to just write regular old english...

o and jun ur avatar is SO cute!

The death of english? Possibly, I suppose. But that's falsely assuming language is a static thing, to never evolve. I used to have a pet peeve (still do, kinda) about people who use the word "Ninjas." As Japanese dosen't have any plural forms of words, at least in the way english does, (as I don't speak the language, I don't know for sure) "Ninja" should be a plural form. Then a friend told me to look it up, becuase in the ENGLISH dictionary, "Ninjas" is a word. I really doubt 1337 will really put much of a dent in english in the long run, though. When Time magazine runs an article about the hot new fad "leet," that's when you know it's became (or will soon become) something major.

Solus res proprius est abeo. ~~ something in Latin

I agree. I use things like r, u, and brb. On MSN Messenger, I never use shorthand, only the former.