I stand corrected: I Googled "internet speak translator" and came up with a good one: noslang.com.

Apparently, you can type in whatever it was you were texted and have it translated into plain English! Acronyms, L33T speak ... whatever.

This should help with the confusing "tX"s you've been getting.

"Special language" like slang, jargon, argot and all the other variations of non-standard usage, is whatever someone says it is, or whatever becomes standard (or popular) within that particular lanugage variation. My casual observation is that the more "outsiders" are irritated by it, the more the "insiders" are apt to use it. Kids love it because it's easy, in the first place, and drives their parents nuts, in the second place. Or maybe I have that reversed. My daughter thinks I'm hilarious because I go to a lot of effort to spell everything out. I prefer not to abbreviate because I want there to be no doubt in the mind of the receiver what I wanted to say. I checked out noslang.com and it's very good, in my estimation, although I did see at least a few things that I don't think are "standard" within the context of text-speak. And, of course, because it's an invented "language," it will all change in the blink of an eye. :)

JQ, here's another good place for translation: www.netlingo.com

Secret Agent...did you stay on the site long enough for the little surprise?