English

Noun

chatspeak ‎(uncountable)

1. (Internet, informal) The blend of informal language, conventional abbreviations and emoticons typical of chatrooms.
   • 2001, Edward Castronova, "Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier," CESifo Working Papers, 618, p. 13

     Given that people are trying to speak by writing in real time, chatspeak is infused with extensive abbreviations and there is little punctuation.

   • 2002, Ronald A. Berk, Humor as an instructional defibrillator: evidence-based techniques in teaching and assessment, Stylus, p. 140,

     Our students are using Internet shorthand or chatspeak in their online yakking in chat rooms and e-mails.

   • 2004, "Hello, All (who ever that is)", Smite the illiterate,

     I don't mind saying 'u' instead of 'you' so much, mostly because I've become numb to it, and some people do it because it's 'cool' to speak chatspeak.

   • 2008, Tom Breen, The Messiah formerly known as Jesus : dispatches from the intersection of Christianity and pop culture, Baylor University Press, p. 69,

     Is it too much to imagine a Bible written entirely in the language of tomorrow: Internet chatspeak and text message shorthand?

Related terms

• leetspeak
• netspeak

See also

• Appendix:English internet slang