A former student asked me whether we could say ‘to whatsapp somebody’.
This reminds me of the evolution of the word ’email’. its first occurrence (15 years ago?) was usually in full form: ‘electronic mail’. Later, it was abbreviated as E-mail, then Email, and still later, as ’email’. Still it was usually used as a noun. I remember in those early days, we had to say something like ‘to send someone an email message’, instead of ‘to email someone.’
But of course, it didn’t take long for people to use it as a verb, which would be much more convenient.
A recent similar example is the word ‘facebook’. Initially, you would have to say ‘let’s communicate/meet on Facebook’. Now, you simply say ‘facebook me’.
Hence, the answer to the question from my former student regarding ‘whatspp’ is obvious. Below is an example taken from Urban Dictionary:
‘Can we meet up later?’
‘Sure, whatsapp me.’
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