Well, guess I'm also old fashioned when it comes to this. Even though I understand why people use these abbreviations in cell phone messages or instant messages, I just cannot bring myself to do that. Same goes for not using capital letters at the beginning of sentences, or in nouns.

Another thing I've noticed is a severe deterioration of people's orthographical skills; at least here in Germany. You wouldn't believe how many spelling or grammatical errors you'll find even in official letters! Also, there seem to be more kids these days with dyslexia or speech disorders than there used to be in earlier times. I'm surprised how many kids go to see a speech therapist these days! My personal opinion is that we wouldn't have all these problems if parents would encourage their kids to read a book instead of dumping them in front of the tv/nintendo/pc...

Kirsten