Wednesday, September 10, 2008

STBY

My sweet husband can be a bit of a nerd. Yes, he works with computers, yes he is shy... despite these signs on the surface his nerdiness isn't always apparent. For example, most people are not aware that he collects watches. The more specialized the watch, the cooler he thinks it is. He has one that has a calculator (Urkle, watch out!), one that has a remote control on it (giving him hours of entertainment changing television channels in sports bars without anyone knowing the culprit) and he has one that is an "mp4" player and plays videos and music. Typically, he doesn't wear these watches in public and no one is usually aware of the secret collection.

Not enough to convince you? Well, I have more evidence. He will not spend more than $10 for a pair of shoes, $2 for a shirt and $5 for a pair of pants. Somehow, he manages to pull himself together to appear as decent dresser, probably aided by the fact that he is a very handsome man.

But, when I really realized that my husband was a nerd was prior to our marriage. We would send emails to each other throughout the day when we were at work. I was aware of the common chat acronyms which include lol, c-ya, etc. But in our emails he began throwing in some that I wasn't familiar with. "STBY" and "OTP" were his favorites. Needing an explanation on what they meant, I asked. He told me that they are acronyms he has invented for "Sucks to be you" and "on the phone." He went on to tell me that he is quite sure they will eventually catch on. I realized that this is a 30-something year-old's attempt at creating a new slang. An attempt to create something that others will give their approval to and begin using themselves. I've gotten used to his acronyms now, sometimes even forgetting that they are his own creations.

His idiosyncrasies are VERY endearing. I love that he is frugal, and that he has his cute little nerdy ways.

The other day I had a few minutes and found myself feeling curious about chat acronyms. I googled it. I discovered a whole, extensive list of them.
http://www.netlingo.com/index.cfm

I felt disappointed that the cute acronyms that my husband is so sure he "invented" are also included on the list, cause someone else thought of them too... or maybe it is just proof that they did "catch on." Yeah, that's it! (at least that's what I'll tell him)

--The Short of It

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

We think your husband sounds nerdy, but totally sweet and wonderful! Who cares about nerdiness?! Nice post, fun to read.