I think this particular pattern is a fad. It's interesting linguistically because the rules are relatively simple, and it's easy enough to analyze it in the con

I think this particular pattern is a fad. It's interesting linguistically because the rules are relatively simple, and it's easy enough to analyze it in the context of changing social dynamics, but most people writing like this are doing so to declare membership in some particular social group and as it becomes more popular it will no longer be a status symbol and fall out of favor. The linguisitic construction might survive to serve a different purpose later though. Even now I see people mimicking it to convey a certain type of sarcasm (and I suspect almost everyone who uses it is at least somewhat sarcastic about it). But the point that trjordan brings up in their top-level comment, "Figuring out ways to invent slang so it cleanly translates to written text is pretty hard," gets closer to the core observation, which is that the new phenomenon of informal written communication transmitted in small chunks (IM and tweets, mostly) will have, and already has had, a profound impact on language. Another observation: I spoken communication I try to avoid phrases like "to be honest," "if I recall correctly," etc. because they should be implied: "to be honest" only indicates that previously you may have been lying, and "if I recall correctly" insults your correspondant's ability listen to you critcically — of course "if you recall correctly," everything is "if you recall correctly." But in IM, dropping an extra "tbh" or "iirc" or "idk" into your message changes the inflection of the message, and in a medium so devoid of inflection, that small change can significantly impact meaning. Such phrases are the part of the "body language" of textual communication. And I notice these communication spilling over into spoken communication. When I speak with somebody now, especially if I usually communicate with them over text, "to be honests" abound! I predict that in 50 years we'll see that instant messaging has transformed human communication more than the telephone or printing press ever did. The shift will be second only to the rise of mass-literacy.