LL-L "Language changes" 2007.05.11 (02) [E]

Fri May 11 22:07:10 UTC 2007

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  10 May 2007 - Volume 02

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language changes

Dear Lowlanders,

Further on the much discussed topic of language changes and alleged lowering
of standards, please find below an exchange that appeared in The Daily, our
local student newspaper.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

***

Text messages destroying our language

May 7, 2007
By Eric Uthus

I have speculated on this for many years, but it seems to have finally come
true: Cell phones are evil. Well, grammatically speaking.

In a report released from the State Examination Commission in Ireland, our
ability to write in English is slowly deteriorating. The main culprit behind
this deterioration? Text messaging.

That's right. According to this report, all those messages you send your
friends and family at work, on the bus or during class are leading to a
weaker understanding of correct grammar and spelling. We are forming shorter
sentences, using simpler tenses of verbs and, worst of all, little
punctuation.

I knew this was coming. From the first time one of my friends sent me the
message "I've got 2 go, talk to U later," I knew the end was near. The
English language as we once knew it is out the window, and replacing it is
this hip and cool slang-induced language, obsessed with taking the vowels
out of words and spelling fonetikally.

I'm glad they finally found something to blame 4 this mess. For a long time,
I thought ppl had just become lazy and didn't want to spend the time or
effort to type complete and coherent sentences. But, apparently, it's the
technology itself causing the downfall of writing.

Forget the fact that most cell phones these days have the option to use T9
or similar technologies that will spell words 4 U, making txt msging even
faster. Some people don't have a 2nd to spare; they have jobs, classes and
people to luv, so even contemplating the time it takes to write correctly
seems ridiculous.

I guess I feel kinda like a hypocrite, because I remember reading old
English novels and thinking, "Man, I can't believe people actually wrote
like this! This is soooooo boring and goes on 4ever." But now here I am,
complaining that people are writing in a way that I can't seem 2 appreciate.

Maybe it's cuz I'm afraid of the fast-paced society we live in, which is
partly 2 blame 4 the breakthrough in txt msgs. We are always on the run,
never stopping to say "Hi!" or have an actual conversation. Instead, we send
a couple of words to tell people that we still luv them. But really, who
looks at "I <3 you" and feels loved? Or worse yet, has NE1 actually laughed
out loud when they claimed that they were LOL?

What's really sad about the deterioration is that it doesn't bother us. I
remember in 1 of my Com classes, we learned 'bout a study that showed that
even when a bunch of words have spelling or grammatical errors or R hacked
up, we can still understand what is being written cuz our brains can
perceive the words no matter what. At the tme I ddnt knw wther 2 B amazed
that we had this ability, or scared out of my mind that we could reach the
level we are at now.

Which brings up the ?: Where is the line going 2 be drawn? Where do we begin
to realize that our language, somethin' that can be beautiful, eloquent and
can paint pictures that rival da Vinci's, is almost in the can? Has txt
msging begun a downhill slope that will lead to the end of good writing? Can
you imagine reading a good novel with descriptions in txt speak? Can you
imagine reading Hemingway or Tolstoy as a txt msg?

I hope that this report from Ireland gets more attention & leads to some
good discussions amongst the populace. As small as this issue may seem, it
has a bigger impact on the way we communicate than most people care to
admit. I don't know 'bout U, but I can't bear to see just how far the
destruction can go. Hope U feel da same way.

***

OPINION
Friday, May 11, 2007

Text messaging an evolution in communication

The same "deteriorated" English Eric Uthus addressed in his May 7th column
"Text messages destroying our language" was in full swing in computer-based
instant messaging years before cell phones were a common commodity. Delving
further back in history, people wrote notes full of abbreviations and slang.
To blame slang and colloquialisms, verbal or written, on cell phones is to
blame poor driving on the birth of the 2003 Chevy Aveo.

Slang's importance has been vastly overlooked. Even in the article
aforementioned, slang words previously adapted into the English language go
unnoticed. For example, a "bus" was once only known as an "omnibus;" a "cell
phone" was a cellular phone, which was in turn a telephone. Nobody watches a
"moving picture," hails a "taximeter cabriolet," or listens to "compact
discs." Slang is culture, and what more is language than people
communicating with one another?

All forms of writing and spoken language have rules governing grammar and
diction. Text messages are no different. One would just as soon submit a
senior thesis in "text speak" as they would compose Tolstoian text messages.
While the boundaries of appropriate language use are not entirely concrete,
other forms of written media are in little danger of being replaced.

Tony Andrus
Junior, Chinese

•

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