Language over the years has not proven to be an immutable thing. It is vaguely reminiscent of the argument rock and roll will destroy music. R&R and rhythm and blues allowed music to progress, and the queen’s English will progress also. If music did not progress we would still be listening to waltzes. If language did not progress there would be a lot more thee and thou.
Correct me if I am wrong but I conclude your argument is that posting in internet text shorthand should be viewed as some sort of “progress” in regards to written communication?
I am not saying I love bad spelling or grammar, though I have been guilty of both, but In response I say sure, why not consider common use as an improvement.
lol!
“I haven’t told my new boss “irregardless” isn’t a real word.I am trying really hard to hold back. Also, it is really depressing Firefox doesn’t recognize “irregardless” as a misspelled word.”
Keep trying. If it’s not a real word how can it be a misspelled word?
Ever seen a truck marked “inflammable”?
Because you don’t know what is being said and to whom it is being said for starters, this is my complaint with written communication in text shorthand. Poor grammar and spelling are the least of my concerns, as long as the message gets through I am satisfied, but the problem is that the message is not getting through.
Because you do not understand it, as in many cases I can not say the post is irrelevant. I really try to understand, maybe it is not possible I understand but I try. I have been through a lot (note the space) of stuff as have we all, and know a guy who can weld cast iron though the consensus is it is impossible. He is not a college grad, but a guy who has been welding stuff and does it well. Pics on my 1898 stove leg available by request, as it means an effort to say it is possible, only in case you dismiss the possibility.
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Language is acquired, not taught
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Correcting someone’s grammar does no good.
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People have been complaining about the decline of language for some centuries now. So far, we can still communicate with each other.
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I believe we are undergoing a language shift because a) Much access to written language is through the Internet and b) Much written communication is performed through the relatively informal modes of e-mail and texting. I have no proof to back this up.
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Language changes–some of the forms that are important to the older generations may very well no longer exist in a generation or so.
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Standard Written English is very important for certain tasks, such as getting a job. It would be very nice if more people knew SWE. But see 1) and 2).
“bastillion”?
I once took a coure on the classics of email and texting, short course, because there are no classics written in text shorthand . Comparing the works of Faulkner,Buck,Steinbeck,Williams (all American winners of the Nobel Prize in Literature) with what is considered to be a simple “language shift” provides the needed contrast to become aware of the severity of the problem. I am taken to none of the places that the great writers I just mentioned have taken me by text shorthand. After reading the “Grapes of Wrath” or some of Faulkner’s work it is clear that a great story can be told using the “language of the day”, this is not true of text shorthand. How did a stove leg become part of this conversation?
It’s cranky old me, back with another observation regarding contemporary language usage.
In many posts (todays’s question regarding the timing belt on a 2005 Odyssey is the most recent example), people ask when a certain part “needs replaced”.
When did the correct expression, “needs replacement”, or “needs to be replaced” somehow become altered to this all-too-common bit of mangled English?
I agree. One of the main reasons I started following these boards is because they are written in standard readable English.
Or look at it this way: If someone couldn’t take the time to type out their question in complete sentences, then it must not be a very important question.
To those who lament the decline in educational standards in the U.S.: You forget that the people who really run this country do not want an educated population. They want people who are smart enough to run the machines that keep society going, but not smart enough to figure out how badly the system is taking advantage of them. For example, they want people to spend their weekends watching football, not writing letters to their congressperson demanding to know why this country is being sold off piecemeal to the Chinese government.
Sorry, I’m cranky today too.
The text shorthand should be confined to just that, text messages. Not using proper grammar, at least in my opinion, is a sign of laziness, trying to be cutesy, or possibly a sign that the person just flat does not know how to use proper grammar and punctuation in the first place.
Considering the state of the public education system the latter would not surprise me at all.
I suppose the next step would be converting classic literature such as War and Peace into 30 pages of mangled grammar? Maybe we could revert back to a caveman system of grunts and moans along with whacks to the head with a piece of wooly mammoth tusk for those who don’t get it? 
Compare the original post here to the text message version.
The original.
I see the youngsters who write in text message shorthand have started to post on this board.
They write u instead of you, r instead of are, etc.
I hate that.
I’m not helping them.
I’m really cranky today.
Thank you.
p.s.: apologies to T. Monk
The actual translation into text messaging, as per the translator.
IC d youngsters hu wrt n tx shrth& av strtd 2 post on dis board. dey wrt u Nstead of u, r Nstead of r, I h8 dat. I’m nt helpin em. I’m realy cranky 2day. Thank u. p.s.: apologies 2 T. Monk
Now, if one were dealing with academics, employment, or a critical medical report about whether I live or die it’s not difficult to decide which form that I would prefer.
I understand when people abbreviate when typing on a crappy cell phone keyboard, but hopefully everyone has a proper keyboard attached to their computer. People don’t seem to realize that even if you don’t bother to graduate from high school, that the most important thing you can take away from school is the ability to write without sounding like a moron.
Even if you end up with a job shoveling manure, you will likely still have to write sometimes. And you may not even get that job if you can’t fill out an application without looking like a fool. Everyone should be given a chance, but a first impression is important.
And let’s not even get started on usage of “your and you’re”, “its and it’s”, “lose and loose”, and adding apostrophes to things that should never have them, like plural words.
And it annoys me when someone says their car is “shuttering” or that there’s a problem with the “breaks”
OK, I feel better now that I’ve gotten the grammar Nazi tirade out of my system.
“And it annoys me when someone says their car is “shuttering””
There have been several of those posts recently, and I have been tempted to ask those folks to describe the type of siding on their car, and how the “shutters” are attached to that siding.
;-))
Thanks to all for making such a fine thread!
Happy 75th!
Here’s a word misuse that bugs me: using jives when it should be jibes.
Jive is for jazz, dig?
How about "I am looking for some “advise” instead of “I am looking for some advice”? Or one of my favorite mid-west sayings, “Can you borrow me $10.00”? instead of “can you lend me $10.00”? I say mid-west but I have heard people from the East do this also.
p.s.: apologies to T. Monk
Just to help you along, perhaps you shoudl have written: "post script: aplogies to Thelonious Monk.
I guess one man’s abbreviations are better than the next?
T. Monk looks cooler, and according to Richard Davis that’s how he would introduce himself.