Ahh, the youth of today! If it wasn’t hard enough to follow Japanese in the first place, the kids are using romaji (roman alphabet) abbreviations that make LOL, BRB and CUL8R seem so simple. This survey from goo Research in conjuction with the Yomiuri Shimbun into in-vogue abbreviations looked at their use and abuse.
Demographics
Between the 25th and 28th of March 2008 533 young people from the goo Research monitor panel completed a private internet-based questionnaire. The report says there was a 1:1 male to female ratio, but that would leave one extra. The age split is not noted, but 35% of the respondents were students, 30% were full-time employees, and 11% were home-makers.
I think most foreign residents of Japan will have heard of KY at least; indeed, one of the best selling non-fiction books these days is a KY Dictionary!
When the survey questions mention “conversation”, I believe it is referring to spoken language, not email.
Q3 is probably wrong in many places, so I hope my readers can point me in the right direction!
Which annoys you the most?
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