One of the best features of Y A (Yahoo! Answers shorthand) is anonymity, but that is often abused.
Often last week, when I asked voters why they were so down on Sarkozy, they answered in shorthand with one word: "Fouquet's".
Anticipating questions, Fannie Mae offers guidance on its Web site, www.efanniemae.com, about Dead for Lease (the shorthand is D4L), including answers to what are expected to be frequently asked questions.
Huntley asks her a few questions in a soft voice, noting down the woman's answers in elegant shorthand.
Instead of American English, he spoke a dialect of Heritage Foundation-speak, sprinkling his disjointed answers with winger shorthand: "trial lawyers," "capital gains," "class warfare," airquote health of the mother unairquote.
For example, the watch displays text messages elegantly — but unless you're comfortable with answering in vague, quirky, shorthand (voice memos, emojis, finger-drawn sketches, an image of a heart that beats in rhythm with your own actual heart), you might be better off using your phone to respond.
And he made no apologies for using common text-messaging abbreviations — 2 for to, 4 for for, and r for are, and other shorthand like civ for civilian — in his answers.
I answer their questions in the clipped shorthand I know they prefer, eliminating pronouns and adjectives.
