Comments on: Keep Your Asterisks to Yourself: Why Communication in the Digital Age Still Matters, Dammit

By: Nehemiah_1314

Nehemiah_1314 — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:22:59 +0000

Wow, I really regret missing this article when it initially appeared in HSM. I think you hit the nail on the head regarding dialects Fleetfoot. I just can’t help wondering if one’s distaste of a given way of speaking -or abbreviating- may in some way be driven by one’s distaste of a given culture.

By: Kid Fleetfoot

Kid Fleetfoot — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:48:30 +0000

Nah, I didn’t write it right to make my point.

People of different ages and decades and centuries talk differently and also if from different areas and cultural upbringing. You say, “Let’s go to Walmart.” in whatever dialect and I say “Let’s go Walmart.” in Yooperese (a real word). I wish I could use a different example that popped into mind but it’s obscene.

Peeps often talk the way their peers do. As for the shortcut typing you cited, it’s a shortened way of communicating, that’s all. If one doesn’t understand it then they either they learn or go elsewhere. I go elsewhere.

You’re correct as to dialect and accents. But couldn’t the shorten typed words be looked at as dialect?

People should use proper English if they wish to communicate to a wider audience. If to a closed audience… well, whatever.

It was a good article and makes good points.

doo wap she bop

By: Orion_NGC1976

Orion_NGC1976 — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:11:24 +0000

I wasn’t meaning acronyms, as they relate to correct word spellings. I was meaning texting word spellings such as “wat”. What gets me most about “wat” is that I have never heard anyone actually say “wat” in real life. I can accept an evolution of language that incorporates phonetic alternate spellings, but not “wat.”

By: kozfear

kozfear — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:48:17 +0000

I think you’re mistaking changes and additions to vocabulary, as well as slang, vernacular, accents, and dialects with the subject I was addressing. I have no problem with the aforementioned—Shakespeare himself invented thousands of words. As a student and writer of philosophy, I often have to create words to please the jargonites (see, I made up a word right there).

What saddens me is that many people no longer give a damn about the quality of their language. They don’t feel it’s important. All the things you mentioned serve to enrich a language, but when people stop caring, it falls into decay. That is my lament.

By: Kid Fleetfoot

Kid Fleetfoot — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:39:37 +0000

Darned good thing people don’t talk like they did in the 50s saying stuff like be bop a lula and other such things. And the beats came along with their crazy words and then what? Just when language was getting normal which made some teaches happy the hippies came along with their verbiage. Lord have mercy! And the press!!! Yes the press I said. Some nutty writer dissected the words to Puff the Magic Dragon and proclaimed it to be a song hidden with drug references which hurt the feelings of the writers. Little Jackie Paper might have have been the newspaper writer’s name but since it was such a long time ago I don’t remember. I thought language was getting back to normal in the 80s and 90s but boy was I wrong. Yes I was. Along came rap. Nuttin’ gainst rap but I didn’t have a clue on what they were talking about. Kind of like be bop a lula revisited. And what about the jazz lexicon from before the 50s? Answer me that. I apologize for not knowing the meaning of the word paragraph. One thing I noticed in my travels is that people in different areas talk differently than peeps in other areas. Way different. Sha boom sha boom.

By: Gideon

Gideon — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:59:52 +0000

will text shorthand effect the english language?

already has:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/lol

By: Gideon

Gideon — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 01:56:15 +0000

Wat R U Talkn bout Koz? I c nothn rong wit the way peps talk n Home!

Jokes aside, I completely agree. People on Home, and the internet, butchers language. You can, however, imbue your conversation with personality using little langustic quirks. I have a friend who sort of adds a lisp to their text conversations. Some like it, some find it annoying.

Of course… the inability to USE a language doesn’t count as a quirk.

By: Orion_NGC1976

Orion_NGC1976 — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:42:56 +0000

Wonderful article. On many occasion I have not been able understand what someone was saying to me in their broken, cryptic text. Is it really that hard to put the “H” in “what”? It is obvious that they intentionally spelled the words the way they do. I wonder why they do, knowing how to spell it correctly. Are they saving keystrokes? “Wayz” is the same either way. Do they think they are being clever? Being hip? I had a discussion at work about whether texting spellings are going to have an effect on the English language, where it will evolve to include these alternate spellings. Again a very enjoyable article to read.

By: Queen_Eli

Queen_Eli — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:02:03 +0000

Terrific article Koz! I’m glad someone (you!) had the courage to step up and call foul on the blatant and obvious destruction of our beloved language. Two-thumbs up!

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:31:31 +0000

Welcome back Koz! We missed you! I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment Koz, I sometimes want to break out and sing the song that Professor Higgins sings in My Fair Lady, “Why Can’t the English Learn How to Speak!” We are as he says, “Murdering the English tongue.” That is why when I have heard as many WASSUP as I can take in a day I start to reply with quips like “everything but my paycheck!”
Swearing is a real bother to me as well, both in real life and in Home. I don’t swear, I learned not to when my son was a baby, so that he wouldn’t learn it, and I have never looked back. Even though the censors catch most of it in Home, many have found their way around it by purposely misspelling the words. To me doing a lot of swearing is just a sign that someone doesn’t know how to express themselves with words. It is being lazy.
Great article! I look forward to your next contribution.

By: TheBrightestGlow

TheBrightestGlow — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:16:20 +0000

Well done Kozzmopolitain, well done. I certainly enjoyed this article. KK BAI LULZ.

By: Kassadee Marie

Kassadee Marie — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:13:53 +0000

Those pictures remind me of how I tried to talk on Home last summer while I was trying to fit in. Thank goodness I found literate people to be friends with and can be myself once again.