It will not surprise you that I love our language – and the thing I really love is the fact that it’s evolving constantly.

I recently listened to a parent bemoaning the text-speak used by young people when they communicate by text and social media. He was angry about acronyms such as ‘ATM’, ‘KISS’ or ‘SAL’ (at the moment; keep it simple, stupid; such a laugh). He felt they were daft terms and was annoyed that his teenagers were not only texting but beginning to blend these terms into their conversation.

However, I love text-speak because, for me, it shows the vibrancy of a language which continues to grow.

Yes, our children do need to speak, spell and write properly and to various audiences but then they need to be able to explore the colour of words.

I realise using such terms doesn’t come naturally to me as I often get caught out when I see them and have no idea what they mean.

There was a classic anecdote going around on Facebook of a mother announcing the death of an elderly relative using the term ‘LOL’. The mum thought it was ‘lots of love’ when in fact it means ‘laugh out load’. For me, that would be an easy mistake to make.

However, I do use some of the acronyms myself – many are already becoming mainstream such as ‘@’ or ‘ASAP’. If you are active on Twitter, like me, you will find it’s very useful to stay within the 140-character limit per tweet.

Let’s not be too quick to judge. Our children will do this whether we like it or not – just as we did before them.

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