A Lesson In Acronyms: They're Not the One's You Grew Up With

Laser. Light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.

Radar. Radio detection and ranging.

NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

What happened to the days when acronyms were just that simple? Now, popular television commercials poke fun at the very real phenomenon that has become its own pseudo-language. An SMS (short messaging service)-aka text messaging-language.

OMG: Oh my goodness/gosh/God. LOL: Laugh out loud. BRB: Be right back.

These are now familiar staples of text messaging shorthand. This language has infiltrated the lives of our youngsters and, in many cases, replaced their use of acceptable English grammar; even in their school writing assignments.

Now, the latest commercial for the popular television teen drama, Gossip Girl, flashes the acronym "OMFG" (you'll have to fill in that 'F' for yourself) while provocative sex scenes unfold in the background. This widely watched TV show, with its highly impressionable audience, uses sex and expletive-laden, new-age acronyms to draw its viewers into this week's episode.

I think this raises a couple of questions:
1. Is it now OK to show "text language" with curse words that aren't allowed to be spoken on TV? When my 3 year old nephew, who's just learned his letters and is amazing at picking them out, started repeating "OMFG!" (along with the "bowchikawowow" tune he learned from another commercial)-do I tell him that's not a nice word?
2. Is anybody going to rein in the kiddos using these terms? As long as it's just the acronym, is it OK to use in the classroom? If not, then what about the ever-popular "B.S"?

In the end, this is just another case of re-drawing lines... So, where do they go?