Italian Texting Abbreviations: Newspeak for your Italian Thumbs

This is something you'll need to know if you are planning on staying in Italy for an extended period of time--especially if you will be interacting on a regular basis with Italians with your smart device. As I witnessed myself when I voyaged through Italy, Italians love their smart phones. Of course, the kids have them, but I even saw a farmer in a remote area using his--and not just talking on the phone, but texting while tending his sheep. In Rome I saw a well dressed young professional woman in Rome texting while driving her Vespa. Our taxi drivers texted while driving. Italians send 60 million texts a year! Italian kids, much like American kids, are often sending SMS messages to each other while standing on the same street corner. If you intend to communicate via text in Italy, you've got a lot of studying to do... first, the Italian language, and second the particular manner in which Italians abbreviate...

There is a pretty big learning curve when learning Italian texting abbreviations and you need a fairly decent working knowledge of the Italian language itself as a foundation.

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Here is a typical Italian text message I found as a sample... Try to figure out what is being said using the chart I've included below it.

Translation:
Ci sei? Non ti vedo più da tanto! La prossima volta rispondi per favore perché ti voglio bene e mi manchi! Grazie e baci.

Are you there? I haven't seen you for a long time! Next time, please answer my message because I love you and I miss you! Thanks and kisses.

My suggestion in case you're planning on a long stay in Italy: Learn as much Italian as you can and... find yourself a 16 year old that speaks good English to help with the most current texting abbreviations. After all, this is a new language--it's a language of the young.

Bouna fortuna! You'll need it!

--Jerry Finzi

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