I sent a text message to my ex this morning that read, " Tom sick. RAT negative. PCR to come." Reflecting on it as I walked to and from the shops a little later, it struck me that such a message would have made no sense only a few years ago. The Coronavirus has changed my vocabulary and added some new acronyms, not necessarily for the better.

It may be that it is in the nature of texting (to use a noun as a verb), that truncations occur. After all, early text messaging was a gabble of thumbs to get the words onto the tiny screen. Little wonder that U became You and R became Are. I don't use them, boring sod that I am. Old habits die hard, especially for English teachers.

But I did read the other day that the kinds of words that have emerged from messaging, abbreviations and acronyms and so forth, should be embraced as valuable contributions to our evolving language. Well, I think that is what I read, because I think that, with the exception of a few examples, it is a thoroughly bad idea. They are fine, if annoying, in their current context. But if people began using them as part of an ordinary conversation, then I feel that my eyes may glaze over.

There are some things worth defending.