When you look at my keyboard, you will notice two things: 1) I seriously need to dust that shiz. My dustballs have dustballs. 2) There are literally divots in the keys A, S, E, R, N, O. Also the 1/exclamation point and question mark. Why are there grooves in these keys and not others? These reasons: Hellooooo???, Yesssss!!!!!, Noooooo!!!!, Sssooooo sorrrrrry, Whaaaaattt?!?!?, Squeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!, Missss yooouuu!!!!
Look familiar? You might have noticed this trend of adding extra letters in your tweets, texts and emails. So did The Atlantic and some scientists, apparently. They call it expressive lengthening (which sounds kind of like a bad euphemism for a boner to us, hehe). It's like the typed version of vocal fry (side note: There is a show called Good Evening Nebraska), or the linguistic version of an emoji. Still, many boyfriends, parents, and other adults remain mystified. What does it all mean? (Or, whaaaat does it all meannnn???) Luckily for them, New York Magazine has decoded the trend (warning: some language).
Do you think New York mag got it right? Is it like they're in your miiiiiiiiiind?
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