In my blog I like to try and cover as many aspects of the Italian language as possible, e.g. colloquial Italian, grammar, body language, dialects, etc. Here is a relatively new form of written Italian that has come about as a result of the widespread use of text messaging and chatting on the internet. I say relatively new because some of these abbreviations were already in use as a type of shorthand when I was a student of Archaeology at Pisa University over twenty years ago.
I have personally only sent about ten text messages in my whole life because I prefer talking directly to people. Therefore, knowing that today’s teenagers are rarely without a cell phone in their hands and spendono un sacco di tempo a smanettare e a mandare messaggini (they spend a lot of time typing and sending text messages), I asked my friend Francesca’s sixteen year old daughter Margherita for a bit of advice. In fact only this morning Francesca was telling me that in the evening, when they sit down together to watch "Criminal Minds" on television, Margherita sits on the sofa with her laptop and chats with a friend analyzing the story plot.
Here is the list given to me by Margherita of the most common abbreviations used by Italian teenagers, with an explanation of their meaning:
| x |
per
The multiplication symbol x (times) is pronounced ‘per’ in Italian, e.g. 2 x 2 = 4, due per due uguale quattro (two times two equal four), e.g. questo è x marco (this is for Marco) |
| xò |
x + ò = però (but) see x above |
| k |
substitutes the Italian spelling ‘ch’ as in ke (see below) |
| ke |
che (that) |
| xkè |
x + kè = perchè (why / because) |
| 3 |
tre, the numeral 3 is used as an abbreviation for the sound ‘tre’, e.g. Pontremoli would be written Pon3moli |
| dv |
dove (where) |
| 6 |
sei, the numeral 6 is used as an abbreviation for the word ‘sei’ meaning ‘you are’, e.g. dv 6? = dove sei? (where are you?) |
| scs |
scusa (sorry) |
| nn |
non (not) |
| tt |
tutti (all / everybody) |
| cn |
con (with) |
| nnt |
niente (nothing) |
| allr |
allora (then) |
| cmq |
comunque (anyway) |
| sl |
solo/a (only / lonely) |
| brv |
bravo/a (good / clever) |
| brvximo/a |
bravissimo/a (very good / excellent) |
| t |
tu / ti (you / to you), e.g. t 6 brvximo = tu sei bravissimo (you are really clever) |
| grz |
grazie (thank you) |
| prg |
prego (you’re welcome) |
| gg |
oggi (today) |
| vbn |
va bene (that’s fine) |
| tnt |
tanto (a lot / very much) |
| t.a.t |
ti amo tanto (I love you very much) |
| tvb |
ti voglio bene (I love you) |
and last but not least, my favorite:
| t.v.1.k.d.b |
ti voglio un casino di bene (I love you very much) |
allr vbn?
Comments:
Laurentiius:
Si, grz, t 6 brvxima :-*>
Lisa Kramer Taruschio:
Sometimes a bit of phonetic spelling helps–that is, the word ‘per’ in Italian is pronounced ‘pear’, not ‘purr’. I like this blog. Your web site is not taking my url which is http://www.verdis-dream.com.
Fatoom:
Wow!
ke bello!
grz tnt 😉
Jeannet Mulder:
Salute Serena,
It is all poverty how they ‘talk’ nowadays, Voglio
‘parlare’.
Jeannet
Rafael:
Mi è molto piaciuto il blog.
Visita il mio.
http://www.italianoufc.blogspot.com
😉
Rafael
Serena:
@Rafael Obrigadinho Rafael
Saluti da Serena
Valentina(Vale_theBlogger):
Direi ke v bn! I would say this is the essential guide to write an sms in Italian language! complimenti!
Edoardo:
Per me imparare l’italino va bene, ma imparare teenagers msm typing is beyong my capacity. Sorry. Edoardo
Catherina:
Could you please tell me what does xD means?
also in my country the teenagers write gibberish and it is rather distressing because they cannot read, write (and soon speak) the language in an educated manner. Che sciocchezze! Catherina
Serena:
@Catherina Salve Catherina, I’m afraid I don’t know the meaning of xD, but following the logic that x = per it could means ‘perdi’ (you loose).
Where did you find it? I actually find the language of text messages quite fascinating and inventive. Let’s face it, texting is rather tedious, so having some kind of shorthand is pretty useful.
Teenagers always have adopted their own language, or ‘code’, I think it helps them to feel more independent and rebellious. Let’s call it ‘individualistic conformism’. I’ve noticed that often when they’re speaking amongst each other it’s difficult to understand what they’re saying, then when you speak to them as individuals you find that they are actually capable of speaking in an educated way!
Saluti da Serena
andreas:
Salve Serena!
Che blog tanto interessante. E’ molto utile sapere queste cose. Forse un giorno quando possa ascoltare qualche conferenza sulla filologia o civilta’ in Italia, le utilizzero’ anch’io.
Andreas
andreas:
Le voglio dire abbreviazioni.
Andreas
Marq T Laube:
Just discovered this blog and I am enjoying it very much. I have many new Italian friends, thanks to Facebook, and Ive already found many helpful facts here.
although I cannot be sure of the original intention, I would like to suggest that the xD is actually a smiley emoticon, where the eyes are crossed into the x but the person is laughing or has a big smile, as indicated by the D… If it helps at all !
🙂 😀
X) XD
Geoff:
@Marq T Laube Salve Marq, we didn’t use XD in our blog, but it’s possible that it could mean ‘perdi’ (you loose – informal): X = per + D.
Grazie per il tuo commento 🙂
P.S. XD doesn’t give me an emoticon if I type it here.
Gabriel:
Any idea what “ke blll” would mean? Someone left it on a comment on instagram. I know “ke” is “che” but I have no idea what “bll” means.
Serena:
@Gabriel Salve Gabriel, the latest trend in SMS writting is to eliminate the vowels leaving only the consonants, e.g GRZ = grazie, therefore I’d imagine that ‘ke bell’ meams ‘che bello’ (that’s great!)
Saluti da Serena