Keysmash
![]() | The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. (February 2021) |
![]() Examples of keysmashes | |
Meaning | Used to convey laughter or other intense emotions |
---|
A keysmash (alternatively 'key smash' or 'keyboard smash') is a written form of internet slang. Steadily gaining popularity since 2018, it is often used to convey intense and/or indescribable emotions[1] and can also be used as an expression of laughter.
History and usage[]
Dictionary.com lists keysmash as both a noun ("I typed a keysmash") and a verb ("I keysmashed a response"), dating the term to sometime between 1995 and 2000.[2]
It is quite possible that the keysmash originated from the Turkish internet sphere, where the so-called “random laugh” has been used since at least 2010 to convey more genuine laughter—implying a user laughed so hard that they fell on their keyboard.[citation needed]
The term is often associated with Stan Twitter users, VSCO culture, and members of the LGBT community, but is not restricted to these groups. Keysmashing has occasionally been referred to as "gay keysmashing" due to this association.[3]
Variations[]
Keysmashes of any kind can usually be seen in either all lower case, or all upper case letters.[1] Despite how random many keysmashes may appear to be, there are societal patterns and norms to what a keysmash is supposed to look like.[4][3] Keysmashes that fail to visually appeal to the ones typing them have a chance of being completely rewritten or having a few minor adjustments made (i.e. removing or adding new characters).[1] The overall format of a keysmash is one that is usually dependent on the type of device or keyboard that is being used[4] and therefore makes different keyboard layouts more acceptable for keysmashing than others.
QWERTY[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/KB_United_States.svg/220px-KB_United_States.svg.png)
Keysmashes typed on QWERTY keyboards are not as randomized as the action of keysmashing tends to imply. QWERTY keysmashes consistently begin with the letter 'a', which are often followed by the letters 'sdf' which can combine to form a strand of letters commonly associated with keysmashing.[1] The letters 'asdf' appear as their own slang term in several online dictionaries such as dictionary.com.[5] The typical keysmash tends to be much longer than 'asdf', because of this it rarely appears as a keysmash on its own. QWERTY keysmashes tend to be made up of letters and characters from what is referred to as the keyboard's 'home row' which includes the letters a,d,f,g,h,j,k,l,s as well as two special characters, the semicolon (;) and apostrophe (').[6] When keysmashing, these letters do not usually appear in this exact order and are more often be seen alternating and repeating to form a randomized pattern. Keysmashes can include letters and characters from both the top and bottom row as the keyboard as well, though more commonly from the top row (qwe...) than the bottom (zxc...), but rarely includes numbers.[1]
Smartphone keyboards[]
While a majority of smartphone keyboards continue to use a type of QWERTY layout, the positioning of a user's fingers over a phone screen vary from that of a mechanical keyboard. Because of this the increase in smartphone technology has led to new combinations of keysmashes that look different from their mechanical QWERTY predecessors.[1] Examples of these new patterns can include 'gbgdgdhfbhfchd', 'akskskdkfjansnf' or 'hdhfhdjs', all of which are the effects of users' fingers hovering over the center of smartphone keyboards rather than QWERTY's home row.[4] Keysmashes made using this method rarely include numbers or special characters.
Dvorak[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/Dvorak_keyboard_layout_diagram.png/220px-Dvorak_keyboard_layout_diagram.png)
The home row of Dvorak keyboards varies greatly from that of QWERTY keyboards, beginning with the vowels 'aeoi' instead of 'asdf'. In a study by Gretchen McCulloch, she talked with several Dvorak keyboard users who had given up keysmashing because the layout of their keyboards produced patterns that were "socially illegible".[1]
Other languages[]
![]() | This section needs expansion. You can help by . (March 2021) |
Other languages may have special characters, such as accents, different symbols, and more.
VSCO culture[]
In VSCO culture there is a variant of the standard keysmash that uses a repetitive pattern of 'sksksk' that replaces the stereotypical smashing of random keys from which keysmashing earned its name. Generally the usage of 'sksksk' is similar to that of the usual QWERTY keysmash in that it is often used to express a form of laughter or other unidentifiable emotion.[7]
In 2019 the usage of 'sksksk' became most commonly associated with what the internet refers to as VSCO girls, but there is evidence on Twitter which dates its usage back to 2009 among Portuguese speakers located in Brazil.[7] From 2010 on it could be found used by a growing variety of people on social media including people from the Black, LGBTQ+, and UK communities.[7]
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g McCulloch, Gretchen. (2020). Because Internet : Understanding the New Rules of Language. Thorndike Press. ISBN 978-1-4328-7307-3. OCLC 1138716342.
- ^ "Definition of keysmash | Dictionary.com". www.dictionary.com. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Prem (2019-06-18). "Taylor Swift needs to do her homework if she wants to be a true ally to the LGBTQ+ community". www.laineygossip.com. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Our Language Is Evolving, 'Because Internet'." All Things Considered, 31 July 2019. Gale In Context: U.S. History, https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.library.astate.edu/apps/doc/A596564896/UHIC?u=akstateu1&sid=UHIC&xid=379fd2f8. Accessed 3 Apr. 2020.
- ^ "What Does asdf Mean? | Slang by Dictionary.com". Everything After Z by Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- ^ Ygartua, Hayden Tusa. Linguistic Feature Spread in Online Social Networks. Diss. University of Oregon, 2018, https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1794/24149/Final+Thesis-Ygartua.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "What's The Story Behind Sksksk?". Everything After Z by Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2020-04-03.
- Internet culture
- Internet slang