Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2020 September 16
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September 16[edit]
Hello tweeps![edit]
On Wednesday Lynn Parsons re-tweeted the following message:
Hello tweeps! I'm researching a project & could do with some info from some night time lorry drivers. I need five mins to ask a few questions. If you can help, please DM me. Ta!
I guess the "M" in "DM" is "mail", but what does "DM" mean? Does the phrase "hello, tweeps" mean "hello, Twitter people" or something else? The answer to the first question may explain how the lorry drivers get in touch with the researcher. Anyone reading this who is a night time lorry driver - over to you! 81.134.169.140 (talk) 09:06, 16 September 2020 (UTC)
- DM = direct message --Khajidha (talk) 09:28, 16 September 2020 (UTC)
- [Edit Conflict] I would take "tweeps" to be a jocular neologism meaning "those who are reading these tweets"; perhaps a portmanteau of "tweet" and "peeps" (a well-established semi-humorous rendition of "people"). "DM" surely means "Direct Mail": the tweeter is asking for responses not by replying tweets (which would be visible to all with access to the tweets), but by one-to-one email messages (which would be visible only to the sender and recipient). Nothing about this is specific to lorry driving. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.218.14.16 (talk) 09:29, 16 September 2020 (UTC)
- "Direct messages" seems to be a Twitter thing. See [1]. 81.134.169.140 (talk) 09:53, 16 September 2020 (UTC)
- I suspect that "Hello tweeps!" is a paraphrase of a 1980s catchphrase of British comedian Harry Enfield, specifically used by one of his characters, "Stavros, a Greek kebab shop owner with fractured English", who generally started his act with the phrase "Hello peeps!" (i.e. "Hello people"). [2] The character's habit of omitting the last syllable or two from various words was used to much comic effect, especially given that he was an Arsenal supporter. Alansplodge (talk) 16:46, 16 September 2020 (UTC)