The first recorded use of "OMG" was not in a text message, a post on a dial-up BBS, or even an early email, but rather in a letter from Jackie "Mr. Dreadnought" Fisher to Winston Churchill.
I did not know that.
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24 comments:
Yeah...but I think back then it meant something like "On his/her Majesties Galoshes"...or...something...like that...
:-)
ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET "FEAR GOD AND DREADNOUGHT" JACKIE FISHER TO YOU MS TAM
AS SAID TO HIS FRIEND WINSTON WHEN HE BECAME 1ST LORD OF THE ADMIRALTY
But it took a keyboard to come up with ZOMG.
(adjusts his Pedantic hat...)
Given that the letter contained a message conveyed through the use of written text, I would argue that it was indeed a 'Text Message'.
Now if only it had been sent via Telegram....
Fisher was kinda of like a on overwrought teenage girl when it came to ships. Makes sense.
Who was that Churchill guy?
I see "OMG" and I think "Operational Maneuver Group"
This is the price one pays for growing up during the Cold War.
I think Lord Fisher really meant the name of the proposed order of knighthood of silly folk to be the Order of Mother Goose, and noticed that it incidentally also read as a pejorative plaint against the folly of the dreamers, disconnected from reality and unfortunately burdened with responsibility to God and man for responsible behavior and leadership.
Lord Fisher's missive was admirably (admiral-ly?) brief.
Winston replied:
LOL B2W AML
Gerry
AML?
One of my step-daughter's first grade students was amazed when she used it in class. To him it meant Obama Must Go.
There is hope for the youth of America!
OMG, or as the British call it, "a spanner."
All My Love
Gerry
Fischer was a whacky character.
Not only could he come up with some doozys of ship designs (destroyers for instance), but he could bring it on the dance floor... and beatbox some fresh beats while doing it.
Word, Joe and Anon 9:36. When I fear I am getting too Tweeny sounding, I read Fisher's letters.
Waaaay out of my league.
LOL, didn't know that, now I do! :-)
He does look a little like a Valley Girl...
omg r dreadnorts jst totaly pwned huns at jtlnd! scheer was all like 'no wai' nd jellico ws al like 'yah wai'! nd sheer was al like 'al ur base belong to us' nd jellico ws al like 'u mad brah?' nd then scheer totaly rage quit
@ Mick Mahoney,
Please consider the movie "Daddy Day Care (Special Edition)". Or even "Just One of the Guys".
Those speaking proper English enjoy the possibility of crossing over between class, gender, work tasks and roles, and interest boundaries. Klingon, alien gibberish, and texting-speak are pretty isolating.
Especially since some of the boundaries that texting-speak erects, is between one and those that write paychecks, those that rent or sell housing.
I realize your particular flavor of expression bonds you to others in a self-supporting, intimate group. But your choice of vocabulary, your abandonment of proper sentence structure, your disregard for consensual spelling all work to isolate you from those that might need to be involved in your life. Like family, community, schools for children, the police, courts, and IRS, and merchants that you might have to work with to resolve a dispute (online or offline, stuff happens).
Blessed be.
Dearest Brad K,
A cracking jest, Sir! Why, you almost had me head-desking right through the floor and into the room below! If this is some sort of super counter-irony; some highly developed kind of psychological warfare that I'm not trained in; then you, Sir, have excelled yourself. You may take the internets for today and do as you will. Put simply; you win. I lay withered and crushed at your feet.
If, perchance, you are in earnest, however, [a laughable suggestion, I know, but pray, hear me out,] I might draw your attention to the following observations:
FWIW, (For What It's Worth,) if a commenter describes the Battle Of Jutland in "txt spk" (Text Speak) in a post specifically about "txt spk" and Dreadnoughts, one might reasonably expect the two to be related. [N.B. (Nota Bene) Lady Tamara's Label "teh intarw3bz".] If the same commenter describes Admiral Scheer as "Rage Quitting" the aforementioned naval engagement, and Admiral Jellicoe taunting him with the phrase "u mad brah?" (Art Thou Angry, Brother?) this assuredly means a "jk" (Joke) has been committed.
Failure to spot the irony in the above comment may be a sign of irony deficiency, which may be cured by eating plenty of liver. But, of course, since you spotted it at once and parried so expertly, there's no need for that!
Your humble servant,
MickiMahoney.
...and that's the internet for today, kids. :D
By my bodkin, these "blog" comments are educational! Bravo!
God's Bodkin, crackin' good, I say!
Also this recorded use predates Moon Unit Zappa in "Valley Girl", although that wasn't a text usage.
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