Have you been flamed recently?

Or pinged?

Or felt 404?

Do you know the difference between a MUD and a MOO?

Or between a WAP and a WISP?

Can you translate 8-o ?

Or cu4T?

Do you know what your country’s domain name is?

This exciting glossary provides all the answers. It includes an A to Z of the jargon entering the English language with the rise of the Internet and mobile phone technology, and it gives a dictionary-style treatment of those Internet terms which have begun to change their meaning in colloquial speech. Alongside a definition, each of these entries contains a set of illustrations showing contemporary usage, helping you to understand and - if you wish - actively participate in the cool communication of the electronic age. A Glossary of Netspeak and Textspeak also contains a comprehensive guide to the special languages that have developed within electronic media - smileys and text messaging - and a complete listing of Internet domain names.

Features:

* The first glossary of Internet and mobile phone terminology

* Includes numerous examples of real usage

* Written by a leading expert on language and linguistics

* Contains comprehensive lists of special symbols.

David Crystal is the author of Language and the Internet and more than 50 books on the English language and linguistics, as well as being a dictionary writer, the editor of a family of general encyclopedias, and the creator of a series of Internet initiatives. This unique combination of backgrounds informs A Glossary of Netspeak and Textspeak, which displays the accessibility and clarity that have become renowned as the Crystal hallmarks.

This book is a must-have for anyone wanting to keep pace with the revolutionary trends in English usage going on around them :-)

Customers in North America please contact our distributors: Columbia University Press in the US and University of British Columbia Press in Canada.