Valerie Tuttle emailed from Browston: “Your article re: TXT speak reminded me of when my late father wrote this in my new autograph book in 1956 – when I was seven:

2 Ys U R, 2 Ys U B

I C U R 2 Ys 4 me.

He knew this little rhyme from when he was a lad, he said. So nothing is new under the sun as they say.”

I think Valerie may have hit upon the ultimate precursor of text speak. And do you know, I think my mum wrote the very same rhyme in my autograph book. There used to be a number of standards, including: “By hook or by crook, I’ll be first/last in this book.”

I was particularly fond of:

The thunder god went riding out upon his handsome filly,

“I’m Thor,” he cried. The horse replied: “You forgot the thaddle, thilly.”

There were also a number of variations on the final line of “Roses are red, violets are blue” such as: “God made me pretty, what happened to you?”

Ah, the good old days.