Cuish. Magazine. Expedite.

Posted by Jul on 4 August 2009

I am in all kinds of love with this NYTimes piece containing a list of code words for use in telegrams. They are infinitely more sophistimicated than the LOLz and WTFs from our age of text messages and Google chats. Hell, I might even start twittering if we all agree to start using words such as ‘morisco’* and ‘babylonite’**.

I actually have a Twitter account, but so far the appeal of using it has alluded me. Sure, every once in a while I like to read through the tweets of the few friends I’m ‘following’, but any more than that and I fear it would become a hideous time suck of proportions greater than my Google Reader and Facebook combined.

Do you Twitter? If so, please explain to me its advantages over, say, telegrams.

*Money no object.
**Please provide bail immediately.

Tags: language, Ridiculous English

Comments (10)

• 
  Nomadic Matt

  August 4th, 2009

  twitter allows for instant conversation

• 
  Kirsten

  August 4th, 2009

  I love that NYT piece, too. Such random situations requiring shorthand. "Can you recommend to me a competent housemaid?" Did that really come up a lot in telegraphs rather than conversation? Anyway, I don't tweet either, and while it would be cool if everyone started tweeting in code, I wouldn't want to have to look everything up :^)

• 
  tazzmeyer

  August 5th, 2009

  I am a failed Tweeter. I have tried but just can't find the Tweet rhyme or rhythm. I suppose if I hooked up my cell to Tweet then I might be unstoppable so for the sake of my very few followers, I have not taken this leap…..but I can't promise anything if i get an iTouch!

• 
  Jul

  August 5th, 2009

  Matt – but so does Google Talk. Or my mouth, for that matter. Is there a benefit to having conversations in public?

  Kirsten – I'm thinking the days of the telegraph were a lot more exciting than we thought…

  Tazz – I imagine it wouldn't be much different from folks who update their Facebook statuses all day long from mobile devices. How do you decide what to post where? Or just everything everywhere?

• 
  Harvey Morrell

  August 5th, 2009

  I use my twitter account for work (I'm a librarian). It's more efficient than a listserv – sort of like an instantaneous "hive mind."

• 
  caddy

  August 6th, 2009

  I get all kinds of stories from Twitter, and I also talk with my friends – and internet friends that I don't actually know. It's more like an ongoing dialogue, like an email list-serv, not a real-time chat. But not as annoying as a list-serv, as you can choose which members to follow and the replies are shorter and you can drop in and out of the conversation without it filling up your inbox.

  It's also a good way to promote my work. I love it and find it essential – I now have two accounts (which is exhausting and I don't recommend) so that I can keep work stuff and non-professional commentary separate. But I can see why anyone not in a media-related industry would not care about it.

  And as for deciding what to post – it's like blogging. You can make it personal or not. Tedious or not. You can post links to interesting stories or not. You can live-tweet an event like the election, a football game, etc, like people live-blog things, or not. You can have a theme or not.

  I will shut up now. Long past 140 characters…

• 
  hezamarie

  August 7th, 2009

  I don't converse on twitter. I use it when I have a random idea that I want someone else to run with. 'Cantile'

• 
  Dave Hampton

  August 8th, 2009

  I've tried Twitter and still post once per day, but have never seen much point to it. It seems like an IM that is good for organizing group activvities, but much less valuable for keeping up with friends (I prefer Facebook)

• 
  Jul

  August 9th, 2009

  Thanks for sharing the ways you use Twitter, all. Interesting to hear.

• 
  R. Duckie

  August 11th, 2009

  I have a twitter but I don't get the randomness of it.. people i dont even know with their constant verbal diorreah.. I only follow the bloggers which I know, which is like, 3 people.