having grown up with instant messaging, chat rooms, and texting, i can understand the importance of abbreviations and acronyms. when we speak in person, we think in terms of thought and sound, but when we type, we have to form words letter by letter. to explain to you that what you said is so funny that i’m rolling on the floor laughing, i’d waste so much time typing that you’d already be onto your next thought. in the world of communicating by text, abbreviations like rotfl, lol, lmao, omg, ftw, brb, btw, etc are necessary. but now people are saying them out loud! people, when someone is standing right in front of you, is it really so mentally taxing to say “be right back” or “oh my god”?

you may think this trend is a natural extension of the internet generation, and you’d be wrong. it dates back to sleepless in seattle . watch the video above. gaby hoffman’s adorable character made us all think we’d sound cooler by communicating in abbreviations that only we know, so as to make others feel stupid for not understanding. back then, people abbreviated, truncated words, basically did anything to make talking easier. let me say that again, make talking easier. what’s easier than talking? it’s a basic human function. omg, people, wtf?!