Since when did proper english become obsolete? Oh right...in the midst of text messaging replacing every other form of communication.
Forget letter writing, when was the last time you picked up your cell phone (who has land lines these days) and called a friend to make plans? You know, actually called them. Talked to them, and arranged plans.
Now don't get me wrong, I like texting. It's a great way to stay in touch with people while you are doing other things at the same time. We all love to multi-task. But, since when is it ok to write abbreviations for every single word in the english language?
I kid you not, here is a text that I recieved:
"Js g2 chk wit parents bt im nt at hme nd can u send me ur adres"
These kinds of text messages drive me crazy. Not only does it prove you are one lazy person (how much longer would it really take you to write an "a" in front of "nd"?), but it takes me longer to read them because they are so ridonculous.
I understand the whole 'letter limit per text' argument. But how many people aren't on a text plan these days? Most companies offer unlimited text options for pretty low rates. So, if you are an avid texter, you probably have a good texting option built into your phone plan. If you don't, then don't write long texts. Messages such as the above, typed in proper english, would not exceed the letter limit of a text. And what happened to punctuation?
Sometimes I wonder if the generations of the future will regress back to caveman grunts for communication.
Or perhaps I'm just an old soul.
You are an old soul in a young body. :)
ReplyDeleteBut, the regression to a state of poor spelling, grammar, and punctuation has a longer history than text messaging... when e-mail first became popular, followed by instant messaging services like MSN and ICQ (do you even remember ICQ? hehe!), that was when the abominable shorthand for the uneducated came to be.
Let's remember, though, Professor Higgins from My Fair Lady and his tirade, 'Why Can't the English Teach Their Children How to Speak?'
Before texting was the cell phone, before the cell phone was email, before email was letter-writing, before letter-writing we had morning visits and afternoon tea, or if we lived in the Americas, we packed up our few possessions and trekked across the frontier to visit our dearest friends for months on end....
So, the 'degradation' of our language has a long and venerable history... text messaging just being the latest 'incarnation' of a pre-existing condition!
I've come to realize that, however frustrating and annoying it is when people misspell or misrepresent words, it's the human interaction that counts. It's really inconvenient to NOT have text messaging on my plan, yes... but at the same time... extremely refreshing. I waste a lot less time on my phone and just CALL people. And people have to CALL me! It's amazing!
Steph