Chat language and my grand dad

I already blogged about my grand dad and his chat lang.

Today I tried to explain him netetiquette.
I hate it when he asks a question followed by 2 question marks. As if he is screaming all the time...

Then he explained me 'The ?? is dating from telex time'.
My grand father used to work for Belgacom (when it was still RTT) and he was one of the first to work with the telex.
(Actually he started as an operator switching plugs to connect telephones from one city to another. Yep those days existed long ago.)

The telex was revolutionary since it allowed to pass typed text through the telephone line to a paper printing it out.
And they were typing messages and apparently a lot of bullshit too.
Like
'ik nu bibi' which meant 'I am away now'
or
'syl' (see you later)

As I am reading what he writes, I am stunned.
Actually my grand father must have been chatting years ago.
That's why he knows the lang so well...

Technorati Tags: chat lang, grand father, telex