Is it just me or are other people irritated too by text messaging format?

I couldn't agree more! It's just pure laziness in my opinion. I simply don't bother entering a discussion if I see it. Plz instead of please is one that really irritates me!

This is meant to be a discussion forum, using English, not a means of texting messages to other people, so 'TXT' English is out, and one of the few reasons I would mark someone negative. MyLot is also for people who have English as a second language, and to help them with their English, 'TXT' would defeat that, so lets see real English that everyone should be able to understand, not just lazy people who cannot be bothered to write properly.

I really agree with you. I also find text messaging irratating. If someone wants to tell me something they can easily just write it out to me in words. Don't you think?

Here I'm to join the crusade against truncated language in a place like My lot. A discussion has to be though not in Queen's language at least it should be lucid .

Normally, I do not do that, it feels uncomfortable. Hardly do I use it even when I send text messages to friends and family. I have this fear of not being to get the message across correctly doing that. There are times when I find myself having great difficulty in deciphering some messages I get that way. If I find it hardly understandable, I either contact the sender or just let it go at that if it doen't seem to be of any significance. I agree with you on this regard. It is best that this way of communicating shall be disallowed here.

I do not appreciate those sloppy text messaging lingos either.But when it comes to typing 'Laughing out loud' i can't help but to shorten it to 'LOL'.I have noticed most people here type in the same manner,though,specifically for that abbreviation.

You're not a cranky old biddy at all. I fully agree with you on the subject of text format in forums. I have a hard time taking anyone seriously who can't be bothered to type out an entire word. It just looks sloppy to me, and as someone who deals with the written word on a professional level, it makes me cringe like few other things do. It isn't that much harder to type out a few more letters, it really isn't.

I think it's not impolite and improper to use such an abbreviated form of texting messages. These sloppy notations may eventually shatter the beauty of English as a traditional fine language.

Funny you should mention that. I was reading an article last night online about a teacher in Florida. She said a lot of her middle school students were using IM conventions in their English papers (see it at http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/florida/news-article.aspx?storyid=74555 ). In the case of text messages, I think it makes sense to use some of the short conventions because it's a pain to type on a cell phone. Other than on text messages, I never use it. I'm not a big fan of how it looks. It can look really childish when you type a whole paragraph of words that are no longer than three letters. Ultimately, I think it's important to understand how to write properly.