L33t Speak = Newspeak?

[ssurgul]

I think I finally started to figure out why I get soooooooooo annoyed with 'u' and 'lol' and other little Inter-nuggets like that. And it happened when I rewatched V for Vendetta last weekend. Words will always retain their power. Yet when our expression is being more narrowed by everything from the vaguely, mildly humorous to the outright side-splitting is now expressed (by the majority, not all) as a 'lol' and when every combination of the 'you' sounds being replaced by the 'u' and so forth, we are indeed moving toward the 1984 version of language. Removing nuance helps immediate understanding, but also helps to limit and control emotion in subtle, unpleasant ways.