"It is a tragedy that pupils are being asked to do this," said Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, in a report by the Telegraph.

But AQA defended the new module.

"Texting is a prevalent form of language in the 21st Century and it is right that it is given a place alongside other forms of language," an AQA spokesman retorted.

Total Telecom agrees that analysing text speak has its merits... if you're an anthropologist studying the linguistic codes of teenage subcultures found predominantly at bus stops drinking Lambrini.

*General Certificate of Secondary Education, usually taken at age 16, for all you non U.K. folks

Twitter feed lands TV deal
A Twitter feed that disseminates the foul-mouthed ramblings of a man's 73-year-old father has been picked up by producers at CBS with the intention of turning it into a sitcom.

Jason Halpern, who maintains a Twitter account colourfully entitled "Sh*tmydadsays", has attracted 800,000 followers despite only posting 75 Tweets.

Expletive-ridden gems include: "Son, no one gives a sh*t about all the things your cell phone does. You didn't invent it, you just bought it. Anybody can do that." And, "That woman was sexy...Out of your league? Son. Let women figure out why they won't screw you, don't do it for them."

The Wall Street Journal reported that Halpern, himself a writer, and his writing partner Patrick Schumacker met with "Will & Grace" creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, and between them they successfully pitched their 'Twitcom' idea to CBS.

The premise of the show is likely to share similarities with how Halpern's Twitter account got started – with a mid-to-late 20s man moving back in with his foul-mouthed father.

"Obviously, I don't think I can be dropping f-bombs, but I want to keep the same sort of aggressive nature of that character, my father, in the show," said Halpern, in the report.

Funnily enough Halpern said his father's initial response to news of the TV deal was "Somebody gave you a f*cking TV deal? Who would do that?"

Facebook alibi
Finally, a rude Facebook update about a teenager's pregnant girlfriend has provided an alibi for an armed mugging suspect, reports the New York Times.