David Crystal’s Txtng: the gr8 db8

Posted on August 30, 2012

We can be more than certain that texting has evolved since David Crystal published his book on the subject in 2009, but “imho” Txtng: The gr8 db8 still deserves much credit and attention. In this riveting study, Crystal “sets the record straight” by offering a much-needed linguistic analysis on the phenomenon.  Why do people do it? Who texts? What do people text about? These are some of the questions Crystal explores, as well as looking at the fuss and hype over texting.

To quote him: “Some people dislike texting.  Some are bemused by it.  Some love it.  I am fascinated by it, for it is the latest manifestation of the human ability to be linguistically creative and to adapt language to suit the demands of diverse settings.  In texting we are seeing, in a small way, language in evolution.”