DFDavid Fang

1. Article · Jul 4, 2026 · David Fang, Stanford University

   Why you should think twice before using shorthand like ‘thx’ and ‘k’ in your texts (opens the original)

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   My brother’s text messages can read like fragments of an ancient code: “hru,” “wyd,” “plz” – truncated, cryptic and never quite satisfying to receive. I’ll often find myself second-guessing whether “gr8” means actual excitement or whether it’s a perfunctory nod. This oddity has nagged at me for years, so I eventually embarked upon a series of studies with fellow researchers Sam Maglio and Yiran Zhang. I wanted to know whether these clipped missives might undermine genuine

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