This December, it will be 30 years since 22-year-old UK software programmer Neil Papworth sent his colleague the world's first-ever text message. It read simply: "Merry Christmas."
These days, nearly 20 billion messages are dispatched worldwide every 24 hours.
These media-rich short message services (SMS) can include photos, videos, GIFs, personalised stickers and any number of 3000 emojis.
They are still sent person to person but are also used by businesses and governments to issue 'push notifications' like payment reminders, weather alerts, appointments and critical health messages.
But the language used in some of these messages would probably be unintelligible to Mr Papworth and his contemporaries.
An informal, adapted language has developed for people who communicate regularly over text.
Some who are truly fluent can participate in entire conversations using emojis almost exclusively - like former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop, who once conducted a media interview using emojis.
But this is nothing to fear, according to two Australian academics who have contributed to a book that explores changes in linguistics with a chapter on how technology has altered language.
In Exploring Language in Global Contexts, University of South Australia linguist Dr Antonella Strambi and Flinders University lecturer Dr Olga Sanchez Castro say texting hasn't undermined language but enriched it.
"Text messaging has changed the way we communicate and while deep concerns have been expressed about how detrimental textspeak is to literacy and grammar, there is no real evidence to suggest that is the case," Dr Strambi said.
"Despite the concerns often expressed by language purists, nearly three decades of electronic communication have demonstrated that speakers learn to switch confidently and accurately between formal and informal.
"It has even been suggested text messaging may in fact enrich literacy, rather than hinder it."
Young people have always been protagonists of change, she says, so their impact on the development of texting lingo is not surprising.
"Ironically, once new expressions enter everyday language and become common, they lose their novelty and appeal for young people who then create new words and phrases to differentiate their identity and social group," Dr Strambi said.
Once these phrases become 'cool' with more mainstream users, they are dropped by the young who further change the way they speak.
The same trend can be seen in the way they ditched Facebook as soon as their parents started using it.
This constant and irrepressible evolution of language should be celebrated, Dr Strambi says.
"There is evidence to show language is becoming more informal and more efficient - both influenced by technology - and text messaging has led that transformation," she said.
"It is an asset, not an issue."
