Chateando en español

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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Text messaging and chatting on social media has become a form of communication for many people. Whether we want to engage or not to a certain extent we are forced to either use or understand this form of communication which is meant to be brief, quick and easy but is often a cryptic form of messaging and sometimes very hard to decipher.

Cell phone text messaging and other technology have become very standard as a form of communication but not always easy to understand. Many times the short form is missing one letter but throws the whole word off or has too few letters and they represent the phonetic sound of the words but can still throw you off completely.

Anyway it is been a while since we had a new thread on this topic. I am one who finds it difficult to guess some of the words at times both in English and Spanish but thankfully the web has many resources that provide the meaning of text short forms and acronyms.


For e.g

d- de

K= que

x= por

dim- dime

tqm= te quiero mucho

tqi= tengo que irme

cdt= cuídate

pq, pk, xk, xq= porque or por qué

npn- no pasa nada

spro- espero

xfa- por fa or por favor

+= más

-= menos



Here is a brief list from Pimsleur



Another good source here:



-MP.
 
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johne

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Jun 28, 2003
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I have seen this type of texting from a man I play golf with. But I can't be certain if he is writing as you have noted here, OR very seriously, just doesn't have have spelling skills. Up till this very moment I believed the latter. Now I will keep a eye on this.
 
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Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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The other issue or concern (at least for me) is the impact texting has on writing. Do these short forms have an impact on literacy and writing and for students especially in the junior grades are they further challenged to learn to write because they are bombarded by so many incorrect short forms?

Have you ever received a text in Spanish from someone who has poor writing in standard Spanish then you get a cryptic text message?
 
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johne

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ETA I have shown some of his texts to my SO who is a Dominicana and her thoughts were he just didn't go to school. We both could grasp what he wrote but then again we knew the subject matter.
 

johne

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Jun 28, 2003
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The other issue or concern (at least for me) is the impact texting has on writing. Do these short forms have an impact on literacy and writing and for students especially in the junior grades are they further challenged to learn to write because they are bombarded by so many incorrect short forms?

Have you ever received a text in Spanish from someone who has poor writing in standard Spanish then you get a cryptic text message?
They have an impact on ME improving my spanish!
 

johne

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AND when they use the short form I don't see them usuing punctuation marks which drives me crazy. Especially (?).
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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ETA I have shown some of his texts to my SO who is a Dominicana and her thoughts were he just didn't go to school. We both could grasp what he wrote but then again we knew the subject matter.

Exactly, it could potentially mask the underlying problem which is illiteracy. However, your example is perfect because what is SO?
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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AND when they use the short form I don't see them usuing punctuation marks which drives me crazy. Especially (?).

I think that is the norm though. However, not only with texting but rather with all types of social media communication including message boards like DR1. Punctuation and other grammar rules are not followed completely because it is meant to be quick and short.
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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They have an impact on ME improving my spanish!

It will definitely impact your Spanish. I find it concerning though. People who already struggle to write properly in Spanish have little or no chance to improve their writing skills (by choice) because of these cryptic forms. When forced to write properly they struggle. Their spelling is horrendous and sometimes their grammar is impacted by the way they write on social media. (I am not talking about typos that can happen to anyone).
 

Marianopolita

Former Spanish forum Mod 2010-2021
Dec 26, 2003
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ETA I have shown some of his texts to my SO who is a Dominicana and her thoughts were he just didn't go to school. We both could grasp what he wrote but then again we knew the subject matter.

I just had to look that up.

SO= significant other

As I said I am not good at guessing what these abbreviated forms mean.