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WITH its astounding rise in popularity since 2001, text messaging has been widely deplored as the ruin of teens, language and perhaps civilisation itself. Yet the reality is far less dire.

There’s no evidence that texting damages writing skills; on the contrary, academic studies – as well as creative phenomena such as text poetry – indicate that texters can actually be talented writers. In any case, texting isn’t as innovative as you might think: abbreviations are hardly new and a highly text-associated word like “wot” dates from 1829. Thanks to Crystal for dispelling the hysteria.

David Crystal has provided some examples of txtspk: can you guess what they mean (answers below)?

Here’s one to start you off: “twz d bst of x, twz d wst of x”

Answer: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” – Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities

• (/)pnc, HHkrs GYd 2T glxE
• 1st amgst =
• dad@hvn, ur spshl
• ggggUK4gg
• LEmntry, my dEr wtson.
• 4scr + 7a ugo r 4fthrs brt 4th on this cn10nt a nu nAshn cnCvd in lbRT + ddc8d 2 th prop tht (evRE1) r crE8d =
• 2b? nt2b? = ???
• fr ur ii only

Think you’ve worked them out? Here are the answers:

• “‘Don’t panic’, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” – Douglas Adams
• “First among equals”
• “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name”
• “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” – Shakespeare, Richard III
• “Elementary, my dear Watson” – attributed to Sherlock Holmes
• “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” – Abraham Lincoln, the Gettysburg address
• “To be or not to be, that is the question” – Shakespeare, Hamlet
• For Your Eyes Only – James Bond short story collection by Ian Fleming