You may know ASAP, B2B, FAQ, IMHO and WBS. How about 10q, BTW, ROFL, TGIF and W8?
My younger sister, in her mid 20s, used to send text messages and e-mails using some of the abbreviations above. In contrast, I still subscribe to the old school of writing. So, when she started working for IBM, I told her to get her act together. Thankfully, she did. Now, we have Twitter!
As managers, leaders or parents, however, we still need to effectively communicate with the younger generation every day. If we want to gain a better understanding of their world, we need to know some of their lingo—regardless of how much they debase proper English usage. In doing so, we can increase our effectiveness in managing, leading and guiding them in the right direction.
Check out Wiktionary for more info.
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Tags: communications, management, project
I don’t know the meaning of almost all of those abbreviated words.
Yewanda, you may follow the Wiktionary link to find out the meaning of these abbreviations. I found them difficult to understand too!
Recent studies have shown that the kids & teenagers who have a proclivity for that kind of SMS-ish abbreviation actually show some of the greatest linguistic adeptness. You shouldn’t assume they can’t and won’t put it behind them as they move into a professional context.
And I’d say if you don’t naturally feel you have the generational marker to find these natural, certainly don’t try to adopt these forms in a professional environment yourself. It won’t endear you to younger staff, more likely to expose you to ridicule. (Observe and understand yes, adopt no.)