Texting, Sexting, Chexting, Brexting and Exting (English)

Le présent billet a été rédigé par Jonathan Goldberg, que je remercie. La traduction en français sera publiée demain.

Texting (or txting) is an abbreviated form of the words text messaging, or the act of sending a text message, also known as an SMS (short message service) message. The service allows for short text messages to be sent from one cell phone to another or from the Web to another cell phone. MMS (multimedia messaging service), often used to send pictures, allows for longer content than the traditional, 160-character SMS limit.

Texting is also used as an adjective, as in “texting code”. The verb is to text.

According to wiseGeek.com, the first commercial text message was sent in 1991 from a computer to a handset. After these initial activities, texting took time to become popular and even by the mid-1990s it was scarcely being used in Europe. By 2000, text messaging was being used intermittently in Europe and Asia, although rarely in the United States. However, only one year later by 2001, text messaging had caught on and begun to spread like wildfire, with the number of messages sent up to over 250 billion, according to this source.

In 2008 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that banned texting while driving. The Law, which provides a fine of $20 for a first offense and $50 for each subsequent offense, has apparently been largely ineffectual. A large percentage of young drivers continues to text and drive.

Here is a short videoclip that effectively warns youngsters about the dangers of texting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDb-15hAtxY. Another such videoclip, produced by the Welsh police in dramatic and gory detail, may be seen at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVQg8h_JmkY

Sexting is an abbreviated form of sex and texting. It refers to the diffusion of sexually explicit material over handheld devices and the Internet. It often consists of youngsters photographing or videoing themselves and then sending the images to friends or strangers. Sexting with the use of images has been around since at least 2005. Findings released in September 2009 by the UK charity, Beatbullying, revealed that 38% of teenagers under 18 have received an offensive or distressing sexual image via text or email.

The tragic consequences of one case of sexting are described on the video clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLTj3WBmY1k

Chexting was first coined by UrbanDictionary.com in 2008 is “a fusion of cheating and texting, designed to indicate when one is being unfaithful by use of cell phone text messages”. Two celebrities, golfer Tiger Woods and TV celebrity Jesse James, were recently reported to have been caught chexting.

Los Angeles family law attorney Stacy D. Phillips says she's increasingly seeing divorce cases involving spouses being unfaithful using technology -- including Internet chat rooms, instant messages and texts.

CBS handled the subject on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EYqlmlj6fk

A recent Reuter’s article on the subject coined a new word – exting. "Don’t be fooled into thinking you're safe,” warned Reuters.” If you've sexted and chexted, you might soon be exted by your spouse."

Brexting is breaking up a relationship using a text message, according to worldwidewords.org