Abbrevs.

Twenty, thirty, probably even ten years ago, people were using abbreviations on a limited basis and when it made sense. Doctor was shortened to “Dr.”. Incorporated became known as “Inc.”. We even use abbreviations when writing peoples names: Mr., Mrs., Jr., ect. But these convenient shortenings have been taken to an extreme and have begun to seep into everyday conversation and become a part of our culture.

The two prime examples that I can think of are LOL and the more extreme, “legit” (Laugh Out Loud and legitimate for those of you who are unaware). I find that LOL is used quite frequently in everyday conversation. In my opinion, LOL has replaced the awkward laugh: the one you use when you force yourself to laugh at a joke that just isn’t funny. “Legit” is frustrating for me. It has become so ingrained into our culture, that I find using its elongated form, legitimate, weird. Whenever I use it, it just doesn’t sound right.

But where do these abbreviations originate?

I hold texting and instant messaging (IM) responsible. The both encourage rapid communication and abbreviations only facilitate that. Because we know that texting and instant messaging can be fast, we expect them to be fast, and we become impatient when there isn’t an immediate response. In order to appease our impatience, we developed abbreviations for words and phrases to expedite the process. Here are some of the more commonly used abbreviations.

brb – be right back
2 – to, too, two
ttyl – talk to you later
gtg – got to go
k – okay
omg – oh my god
lol – laugh out loud
rotfl – rolling of the floor laughing
l8r – later
cuz – because
Test your abbreviation literacy by taking a sporcle quiz.

There are plenty of others that are used too. With IM all that these abbreviations did was speedup the process, but that was the point. With texting there was another reason. There is a character limit per page, and phone companies charge per page. Therefore, abbreviations also encouraged saving money. It is really incredible how language adapts to cultural changes. In a sense, this phenomenon reminds me of the book Frindle by Andrew Clements where the main character renames his pen a frindle and eventually enough people start saying it, and frindle becomes a word in the dictionary. The English language has undergone changes to be compatible with the growing use of electronic devices.

Metaphors

We live in a world where everything is defined by metaphors, and they are used to help make sense of the world that we live in. Metaphors are used to make complex ideas easier to understand, and they shape the way we think. Metaphors are necessary in our lives.

Many common metaphors are centered around life. Many idiomatic expressions stem from this metaphor like “playing your cards right” or “it’s the luck of the draw.” There is even an entire board game dedicated to this metaphor. Another common once is thinking of life as a road. The problems that each person faces become known as roadblocks and obstacles that must overcome. This is also frequently seen in poems and most people probably think of the poem The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost with its famous line, “I took the road less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” This image of a diverging path is often used in reference to making decisions with each taking you in an entirely different direction.

My favorite metaphors are those about time because I am aware of significant differences in how it is viewed by other cultures. In our culture, time is viewed as being linear. At one end of the line you are born, and at the other end you die. In thinking this way, common metaphors that come to mind are thinking of life as a day, with the sunrise beginning life and the sunset ending it, or life as a year, where life is usually divided into the seasons which each represent a different time in your life. However, these metaphors can also be tweaked to correlate with other, typically more eastern countries like India, where time is thought of as being cyclical. The metaphors of life as a year or a day could be thought of as continually cycles that will always repeat themselves. What is interesting to note is that this metaphor aligns itself with the belief of reincarnation in Hinduism that is common in that area.

Each metaphor that is used is revealing of the culture that uses it. The metaphor of time being cyclic might reveal that that area is strongly influence by Hinduism. So, what do metaphors that we frequently use today tell us about ourselves and the culture we live in?