OMG: Turns out 'text-speak' is almost 100 years old
By Claire Connelly, Technology Reporter
OLD fogies like to blame "the young-uns" with their Twitter and skinny jeans for the bastardisation of the language.
But while they may scoff at terms like “LOL” and “ROFL”, it turns out this so-called "text-speak", like, totes began almost 100 years ago.
The acronym "OMG" (short for oh my god) has been found in a 1917 letter to Winston Churchill from a British Admiral, Mashable reports.
Lord John Arbuthnot Fisher wrote to Churchill enthusiastically of rumours of a new knighthood:
"I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis - O.M.G (Oh! My God!) - Shower it on the Admiralty!!".
Lord Fisher published the letter in his memoirs, Memories, in 1919.
He was also known for abandoning his posts on a whim and resigned as the head of the navy by writing a letter to Churchill that read: "I am unable to remain any longer our colleague... I am off to Scotland at once so as to avoid all questionings."
Way to perpetuate the stereotype that the inventors of "text-speak" are lazy and unreliable.
Some things never change.
The Lord John Arbuthnot Fisher letter to Churchill
Spoiler:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/techno ... 6445777153