Our Newest Vices: Smexting and Smirting

Nothing creates a buzz like a crrrrraaaaaazy combination. Like PUGGLES!! And MEGGINGS!

Which is why “Smexting” – or, the combo of “texting while smoking” is all the rage for people who need their fidgety fixes. Recent research shows that as more and more smoking gets prohibited in restaurants and other public places, the number of sent text messages increases.

UK’s phone brand, Orange, coined the term after discovering that, in the two weeks following a workplace smoking ban in England, text traffic went up by seven and half million messages!

Okay, it’s not exactly a phrase that rolls off the tongue, (“She’s been smending me creepy mext smessages,” “He won’t stop smexting me!” etc, etc) but smexting totally makes sense.

Engadget.com says, “…smokers freshly ousted outdoors to get their smoke on need something to do to pass the time — out comes the phone, and, well, you know the rest. Secondly, smokers that are working on quitting as a result of the ban are turning to texting to give their fidgety, nerve-wracked fingers something to do and to seek support from friends.”

Even though I’m not a smoker myself, I definitely have been comforted by the art of the text – sitting alone on a bench, awkwardly standing in a silent elevator, waiting on my friends to show up at party (what, they were late, ok?) and feeling that burning desire to whip out my phone and start texting like a crazy person, just to keep busy, look distracted and not look like a complete loser with no friends. Read More »