I understand what you feel Philip about the shortcuts...oh, years ago when texting is not yet big here in the US yet, but it is in full swing already in my homeland, I swear I thought they were cursing me the way they send a message to me. And I have to interpret it in either English, Filipino or combined...gave me a headache at times. Then I finally understood why they have to do it that way, got to maximize what they type on the phone so they can only get charged once for that particular text message.
But things have improved thankfully, with the introduction of other ways to send messages via social media. And I got to understand what they meant. Though I do admit, there will always be new expressions used, so I just gently ask them what they mean, and they gladly explain.
