Predictive text transforms teen cell phone language

R U cycle? Book! Fancy an adds down the sub? There's a gr8 new carnage.

It may look like gobbledegook, but the most streetwise of teenagers would have no trouble translating and responding to it in kind. A new language is being developed by cell phone-addicted kids based on the predictive text of their treasured handsets.

Key words are replaced by the first alternative that comes up on a mobile phone using predictive text. Those expressing excitement with the old-fashioned text phrase “woohoo!,” now use the far more hip “zonino!” instead. The replacement words—technically paragrams, but commonly known as textonyms, adaptonyms or cellodromes—are becoming part of regular teen banter. Read about the trend at Yahoo News online.