Greek in sms and on social networks

Are you studying Greek but having trouble with understanding what Greek people are writing in the social network and text messages?  

«lpn, dn 3r an to ktlvs, smr vrm pl»

Is that really Greek? Incredible! but yes, it is! This is a modern Greek the majority of young people use to communicate in social network and the Internet in general. 

«λοιπόν, δεν ξέρω αν το κατάλαβες, σήμερα βαριέμαι πολύ»

This phrase is translated the following way: «I dunno whether you understood but what a bummer to do anything today!»

It seems like Greeklish appeared not very long ago (you can read about it in our previous article) and it's the young generation's language which was first used by the Greek living in other countries without an opportunity to have Greek fonts on their laptops or phones (yes, this happened, too!). Later Greeklish extended over the Greek Internet as well. At the moment both latin symbols and maximum abbreviations are considered to be up-to-date. This innovation is caused not only by "laziness" but also by the limits of symbols on social networks. For example, one sms or tweet had to be not more than 160 symbols. That is why the idea to express some thought shortly occured at all. 

Thus, a new "encoded" language revealed itself and it uses mostly latin symbols, different abbreviations and word clipping by means of skipping vowels.  

Here are the most popular abbreviations: 

Skipping of vowels in words:

dn / δν = δεν (den), not

g / γ = για (gia), (пред.) for, about

k / κ = και (kai) - and

p / π = πού (pou) – where?

s / σ = σε (se) – (пред.) in

st / στ = στο (sto) – the combination of preposition with an article 

t / τ = τι (ti) - what

tn / τν = την, τον (thn, ton) – the short form of the definite article

3r = ξέρω (3erw) - I know

agp / αγπ = αγαπώ (agapw) - I love

dld / δλδ = δηλαδή (dhladh) – you know / so

flk / φλκ = φιλάκια (filakia) – kisses

fsk / φσκ = φυσικά (fysika) – of course / sure

gmt / γμτ = γαμ*το (gamwto) – shoot*, shirt*, f*ck (slang)

knc / kns = κανείς (kaneis) – nobody, somebody

kt / κτ = κάτι (kati) – something

ktlv / κτλβ = κατάλαβα (katalava) – I see

klm / κλμ = καλημέρα – good morning

lg / λγ = λίγο (ligo) - a little

lpn / λπν = λοιπόν (loipon) – well / so ...

mk / μκ = μάκια (makia) – kisses (mwah mwah)

mlk / μλκ = μ*λάκας (m*lakas) – fool* , assh*le (slang)

n = ναι (nai) – yes

nmz / νμζ = νομίζω (nomizw) – I think, I guess

pl / πλ = πολύ - very

pm / μπ = πες μου – tell me

sgr / σγρ = σίγουρα (sigoura) – exactly / for sure

sks / σκσ = σκάσε (skase) – shut up* (slang)

skt / σκτ = σκ*τά (sk*ta) – crap*

smr / σμρ = σήμερα (shmera) – today

svr /σβρ = σοβαρά (sovara) – seriously

tlk / τλκ = τελικά (telika) – finally / at the end of the day

tpt / τπτ = τίποτα (tipota) – nothing, something

mnm / μνμ = μήνυμα  - sms, text message

vrm / βρμ = βαριέμαι (variemai) – be bored, be lazy (not to be bothered*)

xl / χλ = χάλια – awful

Abbreviations:

s.a / σ.α. = σ’αγαπώ (se agapw) – I love you

s.l. / σ.λ. = σε λατρεύω (se latrevw) – I adore you 

tlm / τλμ = τα λέμε (ta leme) – See you

RTMS / ρτμσ = Τα αρχικά τού «Ρώτα τη μάνα σου!» (ironically) Ask your mother!

Compounding:

tespa / τεσπα = τέλος πάντων - Finally, at last; fine, never mind, anyway;

τέσπα – by the way (very often it's not only written but also pronounced!)

Foreign abbreviations:

Ο.Μ.G. = αρχικά του Oh My God, Ω Θεέ μου
It expresses surprise, amazement and sometimes disappointment/frustration or even just boredom. 

L.Ο.L. = αρχικά τού «laugh out loud», γελάω δυνατά

BF / GF = Boyfriend, Girlfriend, Το αγόρι/ το κορίτσι

BFF = Best friends forever, η κολλητή (in 99% it's used among female friends)

F2F = Face to face, Πρόσωπο με πρόσωπο

ΤΥ = Thank you, ευχαριστώ

4u = for you, για σένα

WTF? = what the fuck?, it's usually translated as «τι διάολο» ή «τι στο καλό»; 

POS = Parent over shoulder, ο γονιός πάνω από τον ώμο μου.
It mean that the writer is "under control" of his\her parents and can't speak freely. 

BRB = «be right back», επιστρέφω αμέσως
(when you need to go away from your  PC\laptop for a moment) 

btw = by the way, παρεμπιπτόντως

idk = i don’t know, δεν ξέρω

atm = at the moment, προς το παρόν

dw = don’t worry, μην ανησυχείς, μην αγχώνεσαι

4evr = forever, για πάντα

msg = message, μήνυμα

ASL = «age, sex, location», ηλικία, φύλο, τόπος
That's the short way to get acquanted with your interlocutor. 

Do you know that?

...there is a book written in the Greeklish language? It's called «Exegesis» (Astro Teller). It tells about the programme of artificial intelligence that gets its own mind and power. The book is designed as an email that obviously dictates the choice of the language. 

Study Greek with the teachers from Skype-Language.com and you'll learn much more!