My FOMO, SRSLY and with APOLS
I needed to learn the real meanings of current acronyms and buzz words. I realized this when I signed a message sent to someone who was going through a crisis with LOL. No one had told me yet that it stands for laugh out loud, which was not my intention. I thought I was signing off with lots of love, so my bad. As a lover of words, this way of communicating is foreign to me. My bad is not even a short cut. It is two words. Why not say I’m sorry? That’s two words. What’s with my bad? I can’t even blame it on my MIL, my mother in law, since she’s no longer around. Maybe I need a little more “me time” to learn the lingo.
The Oxford Dictionary keeps me modern and alleviates my FOMO, or fear of missing out, by adding new words, phrases and acronyms every year, culminating with its word of the year. And this year the Wordie goes to selfie, that photo you take of yourself while holding the phone’s camera at arm’s length. Everyone’s doing the selfie, even our president. I personally do not do selfies due to the fact I either look like I have four chins or a nose the size and shape of Florida.
I looked up these new words on my smart phone, which is intermediate in size between a smart phone and tablet computer otherwise known as my phablet. I found that I can refer to my latest getaway to a hotel here in town as my staycay, where I can go to the bar and watch some men dad- dancing, an awkward and unfashionable dance form done by middle-aged men, causing optimum embarrassment in their offspring. These men are usually in double-denim, an unfashionable mix of a denim top and denim pants while the women they are with might show up in jorts, a combination of jeans and shorts. At least they do not twerk, thankfully they leave that to Miley Cyrus. I wonder if dad dancing is buzzworthy, likely to arouse the interest and attention of the general public.
Will the cyber generations to come talk in a language their elders just do not understand? Are we heading to a shortened and nicknamed version of all our words and phrases? I don’t believe so. I think it’s just a more comprehensive list than ever. Didn’t my generation know that BYOB on a party invitation means we better have a bottle of our favorite libation with us. As a kid I always put SWAK right under the red lip marks on my envelopes telling the recipient the letter was sealed with a kiss. New words will always pop up due to current situations. I never used the word fracking before, but I do now. Digital detox is exactly what it sounds like and rather than call something a total mess we can says it is in omnishambles, a situation that has been mismanaged by a string of blunders and miscalculations causing, yes you guessed it, a total mess. Also when you see a woman with a large belly, do not assume she is pregnant, maybe it’s just a foodbaby, a protruding stomach caused by eating too much.
I’m getting it, I realize I can be modern and even impress the grandkids, just by knowing their lingo. I might even sign my messages with an emoji to sho
Category: Local News
