I am not guilty of that often, Epona ...I am an old, grumpy curmudgeon who likes to think that clarity can seriously suffer when abbreviations and shortened forms are used. I 'will' sometime type 'thru' for through, but there is little doubt what I mean, and it may be a better way to spell the word anyway!

The language is full, fascinating and rich, and it behooves (see?) us to learn it and use it. The various examples above show different KINDS of laziness and 'dumbing down', and I suppose there are places for some of them, but I shudder when I hear/read someone who cannot or will not approximate 'standard' usage.

ah, well...