[.uk] Txt Tlk (ISBN 1842224247)

Amazon.com Review:
Remember passing notes in school? Now you can type just about any secret message you can think of into your cell phone and beam it silently and electronically across the room, or around the world. TXT TLK: Hw2 Tlk W/o Bng Hrd is your secret decoder ring, a passbook full of cute, romantic, and strange sentiments translated from an increasingly common text-messaging shorthand. You may think you're hip for knowing what "LYLAS" means ("love you like a sister"), but what would you do if someone sent you a message saying "GAL?" Or how about the cryptic symbol that looks like this: @->->->- Well, in response to "GAL," which means "get a life," you might respond with a snappy "ThtsSoLm" ("that's so lame"). But if someone sends you the symbol, count yourself lucky, because it represents a flower. Then again, if it's someone you don't know, you could answer "WGYMN?" ("Who gave you my number?") All this sounds a bit like an elaborate way to avoid making a phone call, or even (gasp!) meeting someone face-to-face. And you've got to have a state-of-the-art cell phone to be able to send text messages at all. But TXT TLK, in an obvious appeal to wired youth, says these shorthand messages are most useful when you want to talk but don't want anyone to hear you--in a classroom, maybe? --Therese Littleton