Hi Dorothy, I learn so much from this list --and some of it has nothing to do with family history research. I had no idea that internet usage was originally billed by the byte and/or by the minute, and that emoticons and other abbreviations came about as cost-savers. That's really interesting -- thanks for sharing. And Merry Christmas to all! Norma Colorado, USA On Dec 22, 2010, at 7:29 AM, [email protected] wrote: > I think we should spare a thought as to the reason these abreviations first came about. In the days when we paid for our internet use by each byte or by the minute online, ( gosh that shows our age doesn't it?) we used this internet shorthand to keep the costs down. And it has nothng to do with being ignorant or lazy. It's just a habit we've got used to. > > Dorothy