Terrible texting etiquette¹ -- and ways to combat them

By Victoria Lowe for Cosmopolitan²

Unless you're living a seriously alternative lifestyle, you've probably been communicating via text for a while now. You text your friends, your dates -- even your parents. It's quick, convenient, and usually makes your life more pleasant... except when you come face to face with the 10 worst texting offenses³ in the world. Check 'em out below, plus some advice on how to stop offenders⁵（惹人生气的人，冒犯者） in their tracks.

1. The Mass Text

It's Friday night, you're at home on the couch, and you get a text that goes something like this: "What are you getting into tonight?" You know for a fact that this very same text just went out to 20 other people at exactly the same time, and that the sender is just waiting to receive all his/her options before deciding what to do. So what if the only thing you have planned for the night is that lame⁶ (but sooo good) Lifetime movie at 11? You refuse to hang out with someone unless they make specific plans to hang out with you. You know how you can block those newsletters that you never signed up for by sending an email with "unsubscribe（注销）" in the body? We suggest doing the same thing in a reply-text.

2. The Texting Cult⁷

There is always at least one point in the night -- a lull⁸（暂停，间隙） in the conversation, a pause between thoughts -- when it gets really quiet, and you look around and realize that all your friends are busy texting. One person pulls out her iPhone while everyone else is looking at the dinner bill, and then someone else starts doing it, and before you know it, you're in the middle of the sacred circle of text. Resist（抵抗，压制） the urge to choose some random⁹ person in your contacts to send a useless message to. Instead, pull out your phone and send a text to everyone at the table asking, "Should we order something else?" It will make everyone laugh but also point out the silliness of the situation.

3. The Double Message

Of course you screen calls. Everyone does. Sometimes you're in the middle of something and sometimes you just don't feel like talking. But your phone is still working, and you see the missed call and the voice message alert. So why -- why?! -- do certain people feel the need to send a text letting you know that they just left a message? Don't they realize that if someone is smart enough to read a text, they're also capable of understanding what the little bobble head with the sound waves coming out of him symbolizes¹⁰? Text back, "What's next, a carrier pigeon?"

4: The Texting Tease

You're seeing a really cute/smart/funny/cool new guy, and your heart skips a tiny beat every time you get a text from him. In the middle of the week, you get one asking what you're up to this weekend. Assuming he wants to do something together, you let him know that it's looking pretty relaxed so far. Does he then proceed to make a plan with you? No. He responds, "Oh OK, cool." You stand there with a perplexed¹¹（困惑的） look on your face. Respond "Yeah, but call my secretary if you want to schedule something." This way, the ball is in his court, but ultimately you're the one who is in charge, thanks to your confident attitude.

5. The Bulk Texter

An example of what a series of texts from this person might look like:

Hey! What's up?

What are you doing tonight?

Some of us are going to Cool People Club tonight.

Around 10

It's gonna be me and Chris

Are you coming?

Let us know

Byeee!

lolz

An example of what that exchange should look like:

Text 1: Hey, Chris and I are going to Cool People Bar around 10 tonight. Let us know if you wanna come.

An example of what you could text back:

Please never text me this way again.(one minute pause) For "realz."

6. The Bored Texter

You've just finished a sufficiently¹² long and entertaining texting exchange with someone, and now you're ready to put your phone down for a little while. But your phone dings, and it's another text from said person. It looks like this: "Soooo..." Or, "What upppp." Or, "la la la..." Clearly, they have nothing else to say and just want something to do. Send a text saying, "Running, watching movies, reading books, baking." Your buddy¹³ will get the point that some people actually have a life.

7. The Show-and-Teller

Love is wonderful. We're huge advocates（提倡者，拥护者） of love and being in love and enjoying that love. People gushing¹⁴（迸出，涌出） on and on about their amazing love life? Not so much. Not only do you have to listen to them tell every insignificant¹⁵ story about how cute it was that their boyfriends ate pancakes for dinner and woke up with a funny hairdo（发型）, but you also have to read all of their SUPER-cute texts. "Guys, look what he wrote to me! Omg look at what he said now! Haha aww, look at this one!!" The cure? A dose of（一服，一次） their own medicine. "Hey, look what my mom said about her gallbladder（胆囊）! Omg you won't believe how I'm planning to organize my sock drawer（抽屉）! Aww, my dog is wagging（摇动的，摆动的） his tail. Oh, he's doing it again!!"

8. The Goobers-and-Popcorn

Texter The previews are over, you've been waiting to see this movie for weeks, and here you finally are, snacks in hand. But the guy in front of you insists on ruining your experience by texting for the entire 96 minutes. Here's a little secret he doesn't know: EVERYONE sees his phone lighting¹⁶ up. And hears it vibrating violently every two minutes. When the lights come up at the end of the flick¹⁷（轻弹）, call up a friend and loudly discuss how rude the guy texting throughout the entire movie was. Then get ready to start running.

9. The Lingering K

This one is especially aggravating¹⁸（恼火的） if you're not on an unlimited¹⁹ texting plan. You get a message asking how your day went or if you'll be free at a certain time, so you send back a detailed²⁰ and informative²¹ reply. Your phone dings again. You open the message and it says..."k." Do people not even have the decency²²（得体，礼貌） to include the o? The offender⁴ doesn't even need to reply to the message. But if they feel the need to, could they not at least drum up（竭力争取，招揽） something a little more personal/creative/not totally unnecessary? Respond by letting them know how much, to the cent, they owe you for superfluous²³（多余的） texts the next time you're together. Then hold your palm out expectantly.

10. The Needs-to-Grow-Up

Texter Guys should never, ever get comfortable with using text slang（俚语） and abbreviations（缩写）. Whether he's a friend, date, or boyfriend, no girl wants to associate the men in their lives with tween-speak. The next time he sends you a "TTY L8ER" or "C U 2morrow," tell him that he should really consider an iPhone, BlackBerry, Sidekick, or "anything that gives you more room to text." He'll realize how outdated²⁴（落伍的，过时的） his text-talk is.