Dear acasey,

This seems to me to be typical of the type of shorthand spelling that (young) people use to chat on the internet. It appears that things are shortened and spelled phonetically, without regard to linguistic history.

I have been thinking a lot about this, how language and spelling/grammar (de-)evolves through popular usage, and I really think the impact of chat (and pop culture in general, e.g. rap) is going to be dramatic, most likely sooner rather than later. Did this come to you in an internet communication? While I'm inclined to get upset about the trend, I guess it's just a fact of getting older....

Of course, having graduated from Bizerkeley, it may mean something else all together!

maria