DY undRst& dis msg?

This tip is provided by Dee Crocker of the Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund.

Have you recently received a text message that didn’t make any sense to you? Or has your teenager sent you an IM (instant message) that is unreadable? It's called "Texting" or "IMing" (more formally "SMS Language"), and it refers to the sometimes complex language of abbreviations and acronyms that is used to communicate via cell phone Text Messages and online Instant Messages.

Here are some examples:

lol = laughing out loud
RUOK? = Are you OK?
dis = this
BRB = Be Right Back
whr = where
xlnt = excellent
ASL? = age, sex, location
gr8 = great
MOS = Mom Over Shoulder
any1 = Anyone
5o = Police
9 = Someone's watching me

This language is commonly used in chatrooms, cell phones, and instant messaging. It's function is to minimize the number of key strokes and punctuation needed to communicate a message. You can find information about the development of Short Message Service or SMS Language at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_Message_Service  

Wikipedia also has a pretty good list of abbreviations:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SMS_abbreviations  

You can use any of these translators to help you communicate in this language:

transl8tit | lingo2word | TxT Speak Translator

If you need help understanding this new language, go to www.NoSlang.com It features a translator, dictionary, a great guide for parents and many links to more information.

So what does the title of this weekly tip mean?

DY undRst& dis msg? Do you understand this message?

Finally, purely for entertainment purposes, you can try The English-to-12-Year-Old-AOLer Translator which translates whatever you type into the SMS Language.