Saturday, June 25, 2005
(Sub)Text
With the advent of my new cell phone, I have become introduced to text messaging. I have to say, I think it's absolutely hilarious the way it forces you to edit most of the actual content out of your messages so you don't spend all day scrolling through the letters on your tiny keypad. (Which would leave no time to play Ms. Pac Man.) For instance, I got the following message from my friend this morning:
sorry lft lst nt. not flng wel. 2nt?
The English-language version of this message would have read:
Sorry I said I was going to the bathroom at the party last night and then disappeared completely. The Wild Turkey was not sitting well, and I ended up taking a cab home and stopping every two blocks to open the door and throw up. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to repeat this exercise again tonight, if you feel up for it.
My response followed similar rules of editing:
no prob. hope ok. call ltr.
Which actually meant:
Yeah, it took me a little while to realize you were gone, since I was for some reason engaged in a virulent debate with a total stranger on the subject of mad cow disease. Later, I made out with the stranger. Hope the vomiting has stopped; if so, I feel like we should celebrate with some Wild Turkey.
See how much time technology can save us? This modern world of ours is a miracle.
With the advent of my new cell phone, I have become introduced to text messaging. I have to say, I think it's absolutely hilarious the way it forces you to edit most of the actual content out of your messages so you don't spend all day scrolling through the letters on your tiny keypad. (Which would leave no time to play Ms. Pac Man.) For instance, I got the following message from my friend this morning:
sorry lft lst nt. not flng wel. 2nt?
The English-language version of this message would have read:
Sorry I said I was going to the bathroom at the party last night and then disappeared completely. The Wild Turkey was not sitting well, and I ended up taking a cab home and stopping every two blocks to open the door and throw up. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to repeat this exercise again tonight, if you feel up for it.
My response followed similar rules of editing:
no prob. hope ok. call ltr.
Which actually meant:
Yeah, it took me a little while to realize you were gone, since I was for some reason engaged in a virulent debate with a total stranger on the subject of mad cow disease. Later, I made out with the stranger. Hope the vomiting has stopped; if so, I feel like we should celebrate with some Wild Turkey.
See how much time technology can save us? This modern world of ours is a miracle.
