How short will we go? or HSWWG?

FYI. ETA. BRB. LOL. Abbreviations and acronyms are an intricate part of our lifestyles and our interactions with each other and the world. What I wonder is where is the tipping point? Where does something go from annoyingly shortened (LOL...really?) to perfectly acceptable, FYI.

Where do the decisions for what needs to or can be shortened come from. Was "for your information" really too long to say? Did it take up too much valuable verbal real estate? DNA is much more pleasing to the ear than Deoxyribonucleic acid but who even knows anymore that that is what it stands for? (I myself had to look it up just to get the correct spelling, and since it's on the internet I don't even know if I'm right).

I find myself surrounded by shorthand, I find it creeping into my own verbal habits. Sar instead of sorry, rhet instead of ready, but most of mine are still limited to the verbal variety. I still cling to spelling out each and every version of "to" in my text messages - there is no excuse for a 2 to mean anything other than a quantity and whenever I see that insidious little number sneak in to make life easier all I can think of is the sender wearing large, oddly patterned pants and making hand gestures at me to tell me that they are 2 Legit 2 Quit....but maybe that is just me.

I use to hold out that anyone who emailed me and didn't find themselves important enough to capitalize I wasn't worth my time but as I scroll through my own g-chat history I see it has infected me as well.

Is it texting that has reduced the overly cumbersome and complicated English language to mere grunts and nods? Was our decline in communication pushed down the hill with email? In a world where everyone and anyone has a blog (reading one here is proof of that) to say whatever the hell they want shouldn't the eloquence of the written word be heightening?

I'm victim. I'm also at fault. I know this. But it does not stop me some days from wondering how far down the rabbit hole we are planning on going. Are we really just slowly breaking down our words till the day when we can simply communicate at a top level in 1's and 0's?