"Text Speak" is destroying the English language. DEBATE

FranticFrummie

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 11:18 am

As a former proofreader and copy editor, and also as a woman of a certain age, text speak makes my brain hurt. It's the grammatical equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard. I can't even parse it, it's like working out some kind of Mensa puzzle.

On the other hand, I've read that the English language is always evolving. We do not say "thee" and "thou" in common speech anymore, so is this really any different?

Is text speak the way of the future, and do I just need to accept it?

Is there any place left in the world for proper spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure?

(This is not about people who do not speak English as a first language. This is about native speakers who use shortcuts almost exclusively.)

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 11:22 am

It's not part of the typical evolution of language because it's actually existed since the telegraph was invented without being integrated into English.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 11:23 am

amother [ Amethyst ] wrote:

It's not a part of the typical evolution of language because it's actually existed since the telegraph was invented without becoming fully integrated into English.

STOP

Rutabaga

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 11:36 am

I have nothing against text speech when actually texting, although you have to know your audience. Not everyone understands all the abbreviations. I absolutely despise reading textish on message boards so I've just stopped reading any posts that contain it. If someone can't spare the 2 seconds to write properly then I won't spare the extra few seconds to figure out what they're saying.

malki2

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 11:47 am

FranticFrummie wrote:

I’m also a former proofreader and copy editor and I’m with FF 100% on this. I absolutely can’t stand it. Nails on a blackboard is a good analogy. It takes exactly three more seconds to type out a text in proper grammar and without typos.

FranticFrummie

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 11:59 am

To be fair, after my stroke I had pretty bad aphasia, and my spelling has gotten worse. My hand coordination is not great either. I go back and edit a lot of my posts, and rely heavily on spellcheck and Google to find the words I want. Grammarly is another good program, especially when writing business letters. There is no shame in using the tools that are available these days. If anything, there's no excuse NOT to use the tools that are available.

Autocomplete does more harm than good, but the results are often hysterical. LOL

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 12:10 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

Autocomplete does more harm than good, but the results are often hysterical. LOL

Autosuggest is better than autocomplete.

PinkFridge

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 12:20 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

I think I vote the first two.
So many random thoughts.
There's a fascinating book called Because Internet:Understanding the New Rules of Language by a linguist named Gretchen McCulloch. She heartily embraces the evolution (or what some of us might call devolution?) of language, and includes all sorts of non alphabet stuff, like emojis and gifs as part of contemporary language because face it, we're communicating by device. She categorizes internet users into a number of categories, which I'll paraphrase: the old timers, the old timers who somewhat move with the times, the old timers who very much do, contemporary millennial users, and people in between.

I won't say that while I'm texting anything goes, but I will not go back to correct typos so quickly and I'll often leave out final punctuation because I often make mistakes while doing so (erase, send too quickly, etc.).

I remember Rabbi Reisman once talking about contemporary communications. I can't remember how it tied in to the navi. But he spoke about the the good old fashioned art of letter writing and letters of the ages, including the Chasam Sofer. And writing properly, however you communicate. But texting was not his most preferred way of non-verbal communication.

Another random thought: Punctuation bchlal. I'm for the Oxford comma. Using they for a singular noun and verb is perfectly legitimate, and I suspect that gender confusion has hastened that particular new rule, but then again, s/he or he/she or whatever can get cumbersome.

One more thing: I like typing on a full sized keyboard. One major reason is that my fingers are just too big for my phone. And I can type faster. So that allows me to say more, quickly, and without too many errors. I cut slack to people who are using smaller devices. I think I'd say U and 4 more often myself if that's what I was stuck with.

Sorry for the rambling, I have to hang up some laundry before it wrinkles.

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 12:41 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

STOP

paperflowers

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 12:44 pm

Yes, language changes. However, there have always been more formal and less formal forms of spoken language, and I assume written as well, so it doesn’t have to replace English as we know it.

singleagain

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 12:46 pm

Exclusively text speak is annoyingly. But some sprinkled in.. shouldn't be an issues

amother

Maroon

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 1:31 pm

FF u r so rite! Txt spk is really bad! LOL

amother

Lavender

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 1:40 pm

I vote that u have 2 much time on ur hands.
Bcuz I'm rlly busy so I don't have time to write the full words.

avrahamama

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 2:18 pm

PinkFridge

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 2:22 pm

(Apply where appropriate. Gotta run.)

soap suds

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 2:48 pm

Texting shouldn't be seen as a way of writing, rather a way of talking. So just like I'm not irked by less than perfectly proper grammar in casual chit-chat, text speak in texts don't bother me either.

Emails are a different story. I hate when people text speak in an email!

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 2:52 pm

Texting really is just the modern form of telegraphy. Shorthand is used to save space, with the downside of being difficult to read.

amother

Amethyst

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 2:57 pm

When it comes to medium or long message board posts, if you don't have time to write, I don't have time to read.

ora_43

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 3:50 pm

OK but seriously, I think the English language is stronger than ever. It's the academic language, to the point where I regularly have native-born Israelis asking whether it's right to say "obtain" or "acquire" in a certain sentence. Sites like reddit, quora, and stackexchange have tens of millions of users, all using (mostly-) correct, decently-high-level English writing to communicate. Kids today read and write all the time.

Text-speak is parallel to regular English, not a replacement for it. Like how academic English or AAVE exist alongside mainstream English without replacing it.

ora_43

Thu, Feb 27 2020, 3:57 pm

Different forms of language are appropriate for different settings. I think text-speak is fine for texting, but annoying on message boards. And the other way around, too - I might write a loooong post in response to something on, say, this site, but people who send page-long stories via text message drive me up the wall.

(and even though I think text-speak is fine in theory, I'm too old or too much of a grammar geek or both to actually use it. Except the occasional emoji.

Although really, shortcuts are rarely that helpful these days, since smartphones have autosuggest features that make it possible to type an entire grammatically correct sentence in 10 keystrokes - at least, if you're as predictable as I apparently am.)