TXT Classics

Interacting on a daily basis with young people often leads to interesting conversations. For instance, I never would've read, "Diary of Wimpy Kid" if it weren't for my middle school students. The same goes for, "The Lightening Thief" of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. But yesterday something unique came up in conversation: How long will it be before someone writes a book in text shorthand? Unlikely, you say, but something similar has been done before to great success in Japan.

The book I'm referring to is, "Densha Otoko," or "Train Man" in English. A geeky Japanese man unexpectedly saves a beautiful woman on a train from some thugs. She thanks him and a strange relationship begins. At first the man is nervous beyond belief, but through the encouragement of his friends, he finally wins the girl. Now, the story of a man saving a girl and they fall in love is nothing new, but what makes this book unique is how the man receives encouragement. His friends are from an online messageboard/forum and the language used throughout the book for their "conversations" is a combination of emoticons (symbols used to create faces that represent emotion) and online Japanese shorthand. The book was a hit and a popular mini-series quickly followed.

It's only a matter of time before something like Train Man happens in English.

The question about a book in texting shorthand got me thinking and I've set myself a challenge: translate a paragraph or two from a classic into texting shorthand. I'm not sure how long it'll take, or when I'll finally get around to it, but I think it's worth trying once.