A lot of office memos had short forms, and things such as IOU were common general use. IOU has to be up there for letter=word sound. Always loved that one.
In terms of generations, I remember lots of short forms on BBSes, initialisms like wtf were used on radio during WWII, it's a long history.
I suspect every written language used them. I seem to recall Roman latin use having some.
Saving writing with ink pot and feather quill, probably motivated better than keyboard presses.
edit: Wow! Just read the article, and saw this:
K.G. for "no go" (as if spelled "know go")
Pre-widescale internet, I watched a movie from the 1950s I think, maybe 30s.
They were discussing something, two male actors, black and white movie, and one purposed something. The other responded "that's cage-y".
At the time, and in context, it seemed like the "word" meant just "constricted" or some such. The guy was disgusted when he said it, and his body language and vertical cutting motion with his hand, indicated "no".
Yet I was confused enough, that when a dictionary didn't help, I stored it away. What an incredible pleasure to have an answer now, 30 years later.
Anyhow, it seems this was still popular enough to be in a 30s to 50s era movie.
A lot of languages like pseudo-English words. German calls mobile phones "Handy". Apparently it dates back to a defunct brand name of Motorola walkie-talkies (two-way handheld radios common from the 1940s-1990s).
That's interesting to me, for I (a non-native speaker) am well familiar with the word 'cagey' from more contemporary movies and books. The dictionaries I checked list etymology as unknown, however. I'll see if I can't ask one about the "K.G." hypothesis.
In terms of generations, I remember lots of short forms on BBSes, initialisms like wtf were used on radio during WWII, it's a long history.
I suspect every written language used them. I seem to recall Roman latin use having some.
Saving writing with ink pot and feather quill, probably motivated better than keyboard presses.
edit: Wow! Just read the article, and saw this:
K.G. for "no go" (as if spelled "know go")
Pre-widescale internet, I watched a movie from the 1950s I think, maybe 30s.
They were discussing something, two male actors, black and white movie, and one purposed something. The other responded "that's cage-y".
At the time, and in context, it seemed like the "word" meant just "constricted" or some such. The guy was disgusted when he said it, and his body language and vertical cutting motion with his hand, indicated "no".
Yet I was confused enough, that when a dictionary didn't help, I stored it away. What an incredible pleasure to have an answer now, 30 years later.
Anyhow, it seems this was still popular enough to be in a 30s to 50s era movie.