I will be posting six days a week for the month of April - (with a rest day on Sunday).
Each post will begin with the corresponding letter of the alphabet beginning with A and finishing with the letter Z.
I began participating in this challenge in 2012. With the exception of last year, I believe I completed the challenge each year. Last year I lost steam somewhere around the letter W.
Orl Korreki, Okay, OK, K👌
I wondered where the expression Okay came from. This is the explanation according to the Oxford dictionary:
A more likely explanation is that the term originated as an abbreviation of orl korrekt , a jokey misspelling of 'all correct' which was current in the US in the 1830s. The oldest written references result from its use as a slogan by the Democratic party during the American Presidential election of 1840. Their candidate, President Martin Van Buren, was nicknamed 'Old Kinderhook' (after his birthplace in New York State), and his supporters formed the 'OK Club'. This undoubtedly helped to popularize the term (though it did not get President Van Buren re-elected).
Perhaps "OK" is the precursor to the shortcut way of communicating that is today's norm. Texting, Tweeting, Instagram and Facebook all encourage the use of the most minimal words.
Quick, tweet it in 140 characters (or is it now 280?) and leave it up to me to figure out the abbreviations. Perhaps,"telegraphing" was the granddaddy of tweeting and texting. Since you were charged per word, the sender had to be word-frugal with their communications.
According to Wikipedia
"The telegraph companies charged for their service by the number of words in a message, with a maximum of 15 characters per word for a plain-language telegram, and 10 per word for one written in code. The style developed to minimize costs but still convey the message clearly and unambiguously."
On Facebook, use the least amount of words to describe the photo of your lunch. Well, how many of us really care about your lunch? BTW, I am guilty of food postings. Oh, and BTW, stands for "by the way".
My social media choice is Instagram. Instagram subscribes to the "a picture is worth a thousand words" idiom. You can caption the photo, but I bet most people don't even read your description. I mean look at the title of the app. INSTA. That tells you right off the bat, don't waste my time with lots of words. Instagram counts a "view" as a user spending more than 3 seconds looking at your post.
Now, with the use of emojis we don't even have to use words. If you're anything like me, though, I use the emoji along with the corresponding word. I'm sure that annoys some people.
I am a little sad that communicating has come down to acronyms and emojis in the same way I suppose that some were unhappy when people stopped communicating via handwritten letters.
I wonder, are people still reading blog posts? Is blogging passe? I know I'm not getting a lot of "looks" at my posts during this challenge. But, then again I never did, 😏
Up to this point there are 463 words in this post.
Are you still with me?
Here are a few Social Media acronyms you might want to use the next time you are in a hurry.
OAN – On another note
Ex. “@andydwer That makes sense. OAN, where’d you get your cool cover photo? :)”
OH – Overheard
Ex. “OH: The show is standing room only tonight.”
OMG – Oh my God
Ex. “OMG! I can’t believe how great this new app is. :)”
OMW – On my way
Ex. “OMW. See you in a few!”
OOTD – Outfit of the day
This social media meme has people sharing which outfit they’re wearing that day. Popular on Instagram, OOTD often will appear as a hashtag.
Ex. “New shirt. New pants. #OOTD”
OP – Original poster
Ex. “OP stated it best in her original question.”
ORLY – Oh really?!
Like LOLz, this abbreviation can be used sarcastically as well as seriously.
Ex. “ORLY? RT @kevanlee Firecrackers aren’t made from crackers.”
OTP – One true pairing
This refers to two people or characters that you feel are meant for each other.
Ex. “Lady and the Tramp are my OTP.”
Still with you. Apparently someone from a different country is also with you. I know some of the abbreviations of things on texting, etc., but a lot I'm clueless about. I'm old school. Sometimes its just easier to write it out than try to figure out the BRB (be right back).
ReplyDeletebetty
Thank you for hanging it there. I don't use a lot of acronyms because I can't assume that everyone understands, which makes me then explain the acronym which defeats the purpose. :)
DeleteInstagram has become my "go to" social media. I avoid Facebook at all costs, although I have a presence there and on Twitter, another form of social media I avoid. I keep FB and Twitter hoping to drive more people to my blog. So far, it doesn't seem to be working, and it's been nearly five years...
ReplyDeleteJohn @ The Sound Of One Hand Typing
Same here. Not a lot of followers on my blog. But that doesn't stop us from writing, does it? :)
DeleteMy issue with Instagram is the huge number of ads THAT ARE VIDEOS that are thrown at me. I find it hard to scroll through and see what I want. But I have old eyes and I only want to see a video when I want it, not when it's shoved at me. :(
ReplyDeleteDB McNicol, author
A to Z Microfiction: Onion
Yes, I agree the ads are annoying!
DeleteFrom what I understand, many of those abbreviations were used back in the day, but only OK survives. I imagine that LOL will be the surviving texting abbreviaion in the future, but who knows?
ReplyDelete