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February 29 Chatspeak: The Erosion of Intelligence.I know I haven't "blogged" in a long time
and this is hardly the topic to make my big "comeback"
but seriously, what on earth has happened to the English language?
I've been mulling around this world wide web as we call it for a few weeks now in the wee hours of the morning...
partly to keep myself abreast of the political situation in my dearly missed "second home" - Kenya
and partly to numb some of the time spent in my expanding insomnia unpleasantness...
and often, as I'm sure some of you have experienced, I am sidetracked by flashy sites and end up taking IQ tests on tickle.com
or getting sucked into TV show recaps (because the 27 channels of basic cable limits my viewing access)
and of course the abundance of poorly produced films on youtube
-I've linked them but don't go there... it's a waste of time.
But lately, the thing that has been catching my eye and could quite possibly be the cause of my insomnia...
is the absolute lack of eloquence that young people possess today.
I find it slightly amusing that I am referring to young people as a generation outside my own, (I still don't feel like an adult sometimes)
and yes, I know that not all teenage north Americans lack the wonderful skill of articulation,
but the blatant absence of an attempt at presenting oneself as literate to the world is more than slightly embarrassing.
the culprit - chatspeak
yah.. everyone over 30 just went "what?"
which is exactly why I am placing the blame on the young people.
since the dawn of SMS messaging (texting on cellphones) and instant chatting
there have been people trying to condense our beloved language into 200 characters or less
the result is nothing short of horrific.
for years we have been allowing this, not only within the world of IMs and texting
but it has creeped into emails and even every day conversation ever so slowly to a point where
I literally have a hard time reading anything written by a non-professional on the internet.
for instance a group of words like this...
Agricultural practices lie on a spectrum dependent upon the intensity and technology of the methods.
At the one end lies the subsistence farmer who farms a small area with limited inputs and produces only enough food
to meet the needs of his or her family. At the other end lies intensive agriculture which includes traditional labor intensive farming.
takes me about 9 seconds to read
whereas the following group of "words"...
lyke du u wnt 2 b friends? Wil u do a rq 4 me? omg did u c da show las nite? it wz sooo funny lolz
i wuz l00kin 4 ma bf n he wuz workn so i had to jus chill till he wuz dun
n i txt him n he wuz like yo jus hang by da celly n il ttyl rofl lol heheheee
not only takes me triple the amount time to read but makes my head explode
causing me to waste more of my precious time just cleaning up my keyboard after bits of my brain bounced all over the tab key.
the following text is aimed at my fellow internet users who are uneducated on the matters of chatspeak verses the young people of the world.
Or a little topic I like to call... Chatspeak: The Erosion of Intelligence.
it's not just the abbreviated form of words and common sayings like...
BRB= be right back
which I have used on occasion -in the exclusive location of the instant messaging window.
but it's the usage of numbers, like...
4 = for
2 = to
gr8 = great
c00l = this one is obvious but with the zero key being directly above the O key.. WHY?!?!
the English alphabet consists of letters...
NOT numbers, in fact there is no use for numbers in speak or type unless you are referring to those numbers themselves.
appropriate= my favourite number is 4
inappropriate = h3110 (hello)
you know what else? adding a z to the end of words does not make them cute, trust me!
for instance...
byez, lolz, luvz etc.
lol should not be used unless you are in fact laughing out loud.
rofl should never be used because if you were rolling on the floor laughing you would no be able to reach the keyboard to type it.
haha is sufficient, HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA just makes you look like an idiot.
I won't even go into spelling and grammar but I will say...
in the age of laziness that we live in, if you don't feel like proofreading, have the computer do it!
Try this out for size- google toolbar with spellcheck -
you are one click away from appearing as if you speak a known language fluently.
All I'm saying is, give spelling a try, put some effort into your grammatical repertoire.
Leave the numbers for mathematics and use letters to show the world that you value your education.
And for goodness sake, keep the SMS talk in the cell phones... but not my cell phone,
cause if you text me with that garbage you can expect an immediate deletion followed by a non-reply.
kewlz?
peace
p.s. the use of chatspeak is also acceptable when used in a satirical or sarcastic manner, says I. |
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