wyd?

 In “Words Don’t Mean What They Mean”, Steven Pinker explains how humans rarely say exactly what they mean. Instead, we opt for more polite language to continually manage/ negotiate relationships. This indirect speech hasn’t disappeared, but rather evolved. Today, double speak presents itself in text and DMs instead of sitcoms.

Pinker’s example from Seinfeld where George mistakes “come up for coffee” for its literal meaning demonstrates how meaning can hide beneath the surface of a message. Today, a similar effect can be seen when people text things like “wyd”. Although to some it may seem like a simple message asking what someone is up to, depending on the time of day it can be a sexual invitation similar to coming up for coffee. Additionally, text has opened up a new avenue for confusion due to a lack of tone. A simple haha can mean either laughing or someone is upset with what you said. Furthermore there’s words which genz has changed the meaning of. A well known example is the “💀” emoji which may seem to indicate death. However, the actual meaning is converse to the true meaning, rather indicating that something is funny. 

In short, the "etching" and “coffee” of 20 years ago have turned into “wyd” and “👀” today. Although the language and means through which they are communicated may look different, the social; dance is exactly the same. We still dilly dally around risky topics, opting to use indirect speech to protect us with plausible deniability. The tone is harder to read in the new age but we opt for emojis, abbreviation and vagueness instead to soften our intent.