SMS language abbreviations are starting to have an impact on the English language, according to a leading lexicographer.

Jonathon Green, editor of the recently published Chambers Slang Dictionary, said that the numbers 404, 35 and 11 now have meanings beyond the mathematical and words like "book" can mean more than just lots of pages with writing on them.

Green said that the influence of technology coupled with current events and, inevitably, the influence of the young are making lasting changes to the language. He said that the change was focused on this world of mobile phones because these  abbreviations are perfectly suited to those little screens.

Teenagers who wrote SMS words such as l8, late and lol, laugh out loud and brb, be right back are now well into their 20s.  They are using "textese" to communicate in the real world.

But it is all getting quite elaborate.  If someone says you are a book for example it means that you are cool.  It is the first suggestion for the world cool that will appear using predictive texting on a mobile phone,1-6-6-5. If you are a 404, that means that you are clueless and comes from the "404 error" message displayed when a browser cannot find a website.

Green said that it was all just another form of the Queen's English, and that the use of abbreviations had been around for ages. SWALK, for Sealed With A Loving Kiss and NORWICH, Knickers Off Ready When I Come Home, were used in the First World War, he pointed out. X

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