chatspeak

chat +‎ -speak

chatspeak (uncountable)

1. (Internet, informal) The blend of informal language, conventional abbreviations and emoticons typical of chatrooms.
   • 2001, Edward Castronova, “Virtual Worlds: A First-Hand Account of Market and Society on the Cyberian Frontier”, in CESifo Working Papers, 618, p. 13:

     Given that people are trying to speak by writing in real time, chatspeak is infused with extensive abbreviations and there is little punctuation.

   • 2002, Ronald A. Berk, Humor as an instructional defibrillator: evidence-based techniques in teaching and assessment, Stylus, page 140:

     Our students are using Internet shorthand or chatspeak in their online yakking in chat rooms and e-mails.

   • 2004, “Hello, All (who ever that is)”, in Smite the illiterate:

     I don't mind saying 'u' instead of 'you' so much, mostly because I've become numb to it, and some people do it because it's 'cool' to speak chatspeak.

   • 2008, Tom Breen, The Messiah formerly known as Jesus : dispatches from the intersection of Christianity and pop culture, Baylor University Press, page 69:

     Is it too much to imagine a Bible written entirely in the language of tomorrow: Internet chatspeak and text message shorthand?

• leetspeak
• netspeak

• Appendix:English internet slang

• packs heat