[perpetuallysad]

I know by saying this I am only going to look like an old pedantic fool, but is anyone else bothered by the complete butchering of the English language that text messaging has caused?

I take two neighborhood teenagers to school everyday and they say that they even use the abbreviated spelling (usually phonetic or just initals) in written letters, emails, etc. I have a nephew who is 15 and that child's writings is completely incoherent with the numerous spelling, grammatical and punctuation mistakes.

Anyway, I am an English major and I write, so maybe this is making me cling to something that is dying, but it just seems a crying shame to see written language butchered as such.

(By the way, I am not talking about just random, occasional misspellings, but the complete obliviousness and lack of regard for spelling, grammar and punctuation rules.)

Does this bug anyone else, or am I alone here?

[Sabrina]

You are not alone. I am on a tangent in another forum about this. I just can't let it go.
I simply refuse to bother with posts where people can't be bothered to speak correctly.

[lynn P.]

I'm with you, I don't like it. The other day there was a question in Q&A and I had to ask the person to explain better because there were so many short abbreviations. So the person retyped almost the identical thing, with just a sentence different lol. I always use commas when I write and think spelling is important.

[Sabrina]

Yes, another peeve is when people choose not to use commas and full stops. Makes reading very hard!

Just a few minutes a day and you too can be a text guru: http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/t...reviations.asp

Lmao people are often saying 'meh' in the chat room and I just say yeah ! Pretending I understood them.

Just looked up the site you suggested and now know it means 'shrugs shoulders' .....

[Rhapsody]

If I can understand it I dont mind- but if it gets to hard to read then I move on.

Its the way of the future I guess ! So I try to learn but I am not very good at it.

[perpetuallysad]

Oh, I am so happy to know that I am not alone!

Have any of you read "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"? She did a great job of summing up my frustration over all of this.

[Sabrina]

Why am I so belligerent over this? I can't accept this "speak" and choose not to study any internet sites about it. Why can't people just talk normally? What is so hard about that?

Sorry!

Personnel taste so nothing wrong with not liking it ....

[Sabrina]

That is true. This is my own issue and I guess I must deal with it and let other people be.

After all, nothing says I have to read their posts if I haven't a clue what they are trying to say anyway.

[NuckingFutz]

This bugs me too. It seems we are in too much of a hurry to spell things out to get our point across faster that one can totally miss the point.

[Shangrala]

I admit, I abbreviate some, myself, but not to the point that I'm making my posts a challenge to read...lol...(I don't think so, anyway).

For those who know me well, (in private convo's), I get lazy and revert to my usual typing mode, which omits alot of proper grammar and punctuations.

It'S WhEn PeOpLe TyPe LiKe ThIs ThAt DrIvE mE nUtS...lol.
Makes it so difficult to look at, as well as more of an effort to even type out... (never could understand the popularity in that).

Shangrala

[purple_fins]

Originally Posted by perpetuallysad

I know by saying this I am only going to look like an old pedantic fool, but is anyone else bothered by the complete butchering of the English language that text messaging has caused?

I take two neighborhood teenagers to school everyday and they say that they even use the abbreviated spelling (usually phonetic or just initals) in written letters, emails, etc. I have a nephew who is 15 and that child's writings is completely incoherent with the numerous spelling, grammatical and punctuation mistakes.

Anyway, I am an English major and I write, so maybe this is making me cling to something that is dying, but it just seems a crying shame to see written language butchered as such.

(By the way, I am not talking about just random, occasional misspellings, but the complete obliviousness and lack of regard for spelling, grammar and punctuation rules.)

Does this bug anyone else, or am I alone here?

I can totally understand your feelings with this, beings you are an English Major. It must be so frustrating and disappointing for you at times.

I am only bothered by it if the person really has no clue how to write in standard English when needed. then that's when it bugs me. I figure, if someone wants to short cut their message it's OK with me-- just think it's good to know the "long" way too.

What bugs me too is when educated professionals in the public eye don't pronounce words properly..... they are role models and should know how to speak properly...... like Dr. Phil-- he says -- amotional(like the "a" in appendix) .... instead of "e" motional........
blah.... that just bugs me... coming from a professional.....

fins

[Shangrala]

Originally Posted by purple_fins

I can totally understand your feelings with this, beings you are an English Major. It must be so frustrating and disappointing for you at times.

I am only bothered by it if the person really has no clue how to write in standard English when needed. then that's when it bugs me. I figure, if someone wants to short cut their message it's OK with me-- just think it's good to know the "long" way too.

What bugs me too is when educated professionals in the public eye don't pronounce words properly..... they are role models and should know how to speak properly...... like Dr. Phil-- he says -- amotional(like the "a" in appendix) .... instead of "e" motional........
blah.... that just bugs me... coming from a professional.....

fins

This reminds me how (a few times), it was brought to my attention that the way I talk seems quite fast and careless to how I pronounce "each" word so they are heard individually. (Apparently some of us Californian's allow our words to blend into eachother....lol). I never thought I conveyed myself to where I was difficult to understand.
It wasn't until I realized that it was those from the east coast (New York), who were telling me that my western accent was so different to theirs. I never really thought there was THAT much of a difference until I heard these individuals for myself.
I love all accents..especially the European.

Maybe Dr. Phil thinks he's being cool by pronouncing in his own way...setting a trade mark for himself...lol...Hmmm.

[perpetuallysad]

I get billegerent about it too Sabrina, so don't feel badly. It is a huge, gigantic trigger for me to hear (speech) or to read (say in a commercial) improper grammar, punctuation and spelling. You would not believe how often I hear this crap in commercials. Uggg. It does drive me nuts. I'm really, really bad about correcting people's grammar. I know its very annoying to the other person, but if I don't say something, the wrong way they said it will run through my head over and over, sometimes for days. The way I figure, if I were saying something that wrong, I would want someone to correct me. Of course, I live in the South, so proper grammar is not a high priority.

Blah, mostly I'm in a *****y mood and something got me going earlier about this. Thank you all for listening to me rant.

[ADoseofReality]

it bothrs me 2 in fact it just makes me SEETHE with raeg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[notz]

My pet peeve is the inability to use paragraphs! I've even sputtered about it in my blog. I simply have a hard time reading and comprehending, when a post is just a hurling of sentences without the faintest thought to construction. Drives me nuts. Most of the time, I just don't read them. I have to draw a line somewhere.

Of course, I had to start a second paragraph! I do use shortcuts in chat or instant messaging where the pace is fast. But typically, I write very formal but my personality isn't.

Love to all!

[perpetuallysad]

Gee ADoseofReality, I'm guessing that's sarcastic?

[ADoseofReality]

Gee ADoseofReality, I'm guessing that's sarcastic?

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[Yoda]

@re you h@ppy th@t my f@mily bought me @ new computer @t Christm@s @nd now I c@n post with @ll the vowels?

[Yoda]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon

[Shangrala]

Originally Posted by ADoseofReality

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ADoR....I think what perpetuallysad was meaning that your reply:

"it bothrs me 2 in fact it just makes me SEETHE with raeg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It was typed out using the very structure that (I believe) this thread is about. And because of that, maybe your response seemed to have a sarcastic nudge to it....?

Shangrala

[modelcarguy]

I am so far behind the times I guess. I don't even know what some of the comments mean. I posted some information on a board a few days ago and got a response from someone. I don't know if they agreed or disagreed. No idea. They just posted "WORD!". I have no idea what they were trying to convey. Maybe they were insulting me, I don't know.