hakspek

hakspek

(jargon)/hak'speek/ A shorthand method of spelling found onmany British academic bulletin boards and chat systems.Syllables and whole words in a sentence are replaced by singleASCII characters the names of which are phonetically similaror equivalent, while multiple letters are usually dropped.Hence, "for" becomes "4"; "two", "too", and "to" become "2";"ck" becomes "k". "Before I see you tomorrow" becomes "b4 i cu 2moro". First appeared in London about 1986, and wasprobably caused by the slowness of available talk systems,which operated on archaic machines with outdated operating systems and no standard methods of communication. Has becomerarer since.

See also chat, B1FF, ASCIIbonics.