It all started because people wanted a short and easier way to write messages. On mobiles the keyboard is small
and this makes writing difficult, and also, text messages
used to be expensive. It may be faster to write in chatspeak,
but sometimes, it can be slower to read than normal writing.
In chatspeak, you can type one letter and it can mean a whole word.
For example B means 'be' or Y means 'why'. You can also shorten
words and use symbols and numbers. For example PLS means
please' and L8R means 'later"
. Another thing you can do is shorten
phrases to letters, like BRB means 'be right back'. Or when something
is funny, you can type LOL, 'laugh out loud. There are no set rules
to chatspeak. You can shorten any word. Just make sure the receiver
of the message understands it.
You can also add smileys to your chatspeak, just to make it more
interesting. Smileys show people how you're feeling, without using
words. So, if you're happy, type :-) but if you're sad, you can type
:-(. You can even type (-_-) to show you are bored or sleeping.
So, can you understand chatspeak now?​