Analysing a corpus of text messages, this article shows that apart from spelling variation also other creative ways of using language are characteristic of texting. The study presented identified two communicative functions of creativity that often work simultaneously: cohesion and evaluation. The patterns of creativity identified in the analysis often resemble those characteristic of spoken language, e.g., a playful manipulation of idioms and other figurative expressions. Playing with idiomatic language allows texters to construct intimacy and heighten intensity in concise ways.