Recently as I was buying a new pair of cross-trainers at a mall sporting goods shop, one of the cashiers started having problems with her register tape. She paused, then exclaimed: “Oh. Em. Gee!”

Translation: OMG. Translation of that: Oh. My. God!

And that’s when I knew that SMS abbreviations are now an official part of popular lexicography. Sure, there are some language conservatives, the kind who probably don’t even like to use contractions, who will scoff, or decry the destruction of the English language, or dismiss usage of text-speak as a mere fad—like they’re today’s versions of “the cat’s meow” or “daddy-o.”

But they’re wrong. For marketers, understanding SMS acronyms (and emoticons, which are pictures drawn with words, letters, and/or punctuation marks, like the ubiquitous smiley face) is as important as any grammatical rule about pronouns or verbs.

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