I cheerfully call myself a technophobe. I’ve never sent a text message but I am being encouraged to learn. Getting this vacation rental enquiry yesterday may have changed my mind:
Comments: hi i was wondering if u ent out weekend(fri, sat) night and wt ur chage is and also do u rent out to the ages 17-18 we r gof kids n do not party plz respond asap
Since I don’t speak text, I elected not to respond, but it gave us some food for debate in the office this morning. Are we moving to a time where we have to learn abbreviated language? I posed this question to Craig White of CottageLINK – here’s his response:
"It will be interesting to see if our reaction is still the same a few years down the road when text lingo is an even more accepted way of communication. Language always evolves to fit the needs of people, and given the character limits on texting, it makes sense for people to create words that can be easily/quickly/cheaply texted. I guess my answer would be that when "gof" shows up in Funk’n'Wagnell, it’s time to listen."
Can anyone tell me what "gof" means anyway?
Photo by Nesster on Flickr
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Methinks they meant “God” (to mean “good”), and just hit the “3″ button too few times. (3 = DEF on a telephone keypad)
Whoops…that should have said “too *many* times”, not too few.
Prhps i shud hv usd txt spk?
Hello Heather,
Here is a link to hundreds of texting/chat abbreviations (http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp).
However, even they don’t have “gof” but reading the message I think it means “Do you rent out the the ages of 17-18 we are good old fashion kids and do not party.
“do u rent out to the ages 17-18 we r gof kids n do not party plz respond asap ”
Just my thoughts.
~Amy
Ahhhhh – that makes sense. Thanks Amy & Jared!
I’m over 30 and I’m a text-a-holic. It took a few months but I find myself texting more than ever. I’ll sometimes choose to text instead of sending an email (both available on my blackberry).
Did you know you can text Google at 466453 and ask a question and Google will text you back? Try it out. I was shocked.
http://www.searchengineknowledge.com/searchtools/textmessagegoogle.php