If you've been joining in chat room conversations, or trading e-mail with Web pals, you have become one of the millions who write in a peculiarly short form of English. And you've got a sense of humor about short forms like SOHF(="sense" of humor failure) to describe Internet newcomers who don't understand you. Across the globe, every night teenagers and their elders are “talking” online—many of them are talking at the same time. It's fast: try talking to six people at once. It's brief: three or four words per exchange. It takes wit, concentration, and quick fingers. And it requires tremendous linguistic economy. There's neither time nor space for explanations. Why consume precious key-strokes telling six friends you have to leave for a moment to take care of your little brother when BRB(="be" right back) will do? Want to enter a conversation? Just type PMFJI(="pardon" me for jumping in). Interested in whom you're talking to? Type A/S/L, the nearly universal request to know your pal's age, sex and location. You may get 15/M/NY as a response from your pal. If something makes you laugh, say you're OTF(="on" the floor),or LOL(="laughing" out loud),or combine the two into ROTFL(="rolling" on the floor laughing). And when it's time to get back to work or go to bed, you type GTG(="got" to go) or TTYL(talk to you later). People want to write as fast as possible, and they want to get their ideas across as quickly as they can. Capital letters are left in the dust, except when expressing emotion, as it takes more time to hold down the “shift” key and capitals. Punctuation is going, too. 小题1:In order to talk to several people at the same time on the Internet_______.
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