netspeak
English edit
Etymology edit
net + -speak, coined by British linguist David Crystal in 2001 who originally wrote it capitalized as "Netspeak".[1]
Noun edit
netspeak (uncountable)
- An informal form of written language used on the Internet, characterized by abbreviations and emoticons.
- 2010, Ralph W. Crosby, It’s The Customer, Stupid!:
- So, the point of this discussion is not just about the value of proofreading or the intrusion of netspeak—it's about the mistake of not understanding their impact on our ability to communicate with the customer.
Related terms edit
See also edit
References edit
- ^ David Crystal (2001) “A linguistic perspective”, in Language and the Internet[1], Cambridge: The Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge, published 2002, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 17: “Do we have to learn a new kind of language — ‘Netspeak’, as I shall call it — in order to be a netizen? […] The term ‘Netspeak’ is an alternative to ‘Netlish’, ‘Weblish’, […]”