Tired of reading "texting" type posts

[WB9YZU]

I'm seeing more folks using texting syntax and spelling here.
It is hard to read and harder to understand for those of use which were brought up using the basics.

I'm thinking it should be a board rule.

"You must exibit the Spelling and Grammer skills of a 4th Grader to use this Forum"

I would have considered a 6th Grade level, but since the local paper is written at that level, and most folks now days can't read that...

 

[ECKSJAY]

OMG, h8r

WTF iz 'zuki' N E wayz?

 

[zachxj01]

its a lot easier to type like that and some things like using u for you is just a lot easier and accepted now and if u cant figure that out well im sry after 4 yrs in highschool and always texting on my phone i dont think i could even type 100% gramatically correct without taking like half an hour to make sure i didnt shorthand anything

 

[ECKSJAY]

its a lot easier to type like that and some things like using u for you is just a lot easier and accepted now and if u cant figure that out well im sry after 4 yrs in highschool and always texting on my phone i dont think i could even type 100% gramatically correct without taking like half an hour to make sure i didnt shorthand anything

Sad, really. I'll bet you never took a typing class, either. Mastering the English language is a dying art.

 

[GrimmJeeper]

omg. wtf. tsinf.... idk wtf ur prb is bt w/e stfu

 

[RCman]

Sad, really. I'll bet you never took a typing class, either. Mastering the English language is a dying art.

Very sad. Very sad indeed.

Heck I'm only almost 21 and maybe I was raised old fashioned, but I can't stand it. I'm not saying my grammar is correct all the time, but I sure try my best to make complete meaningful punctuated sentences.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, kids under the age of 16 (maybe even 18) with iPods, cell phones, or whatever else is the newest electronic 'fad' is ruining "Good Accepted" speech and general people skills. Take yesterday for example, while picking up a gallon of milk at the convenience store the young lady who rung me out was listening to something ridiculous on her iPod while waiting on customers. She didn't even mention the total cost just sort of pointed at the screen. As I was leaving I was appalled at how "Have a nice day." was somehow turned into a robotic "Hav-nic-da" or something to that effect.

I'm done with my rant now. :gag:

Oh, and I'll second that proposal Zuki-Ron. I for one can't stand the lack of grammar and spelling on the boards these days.

 

[5-90]

And probably at a ridiculous volume.

I've said it before - I'll say it again. The decline was in sight and underway about the time that men wearing hats indoors became commonplace, rather than the exception. Unrelated? Hardly - symptomatic of the decline in common courtesy, personal respect, and formal/semi-formal interpersonal relations.

Texting? I've got a cellphone - with voice mail (which I loathe) and text messaging both disabled. I don't send text messages, I'm not going to bother reading them, and I got the 'phone for my convenience, not yours anyhow. There are about a half-dozen people who have the number - no-one else needs it (and it's for emergency contact only. If you don't have an emergency when you call me, you will when I get there.)

English was already being tossed onto the scrap heap of languages after Latin anyhow - texting is just another nail in the coffin.

And, while I'll admit that "Have a nice day" is robotic and overused, there's no reason you can't give with some sort of well-wishes - just to help brighten the day. I try to make people laugh at least once in a conversation - it seems to work better than "Have a nice day" anyhow...

 

[Ramsey]

its a lot easier to type like that and some things like using u for you is just a lot easier and accepted now and if u cant figure that out well im sry after 4 yrs in highschool and always texting on my phone i dont think i could even type 100% gramatically correct without taking like half an hour to make sure i didnt shorthand anything

Oh please be a troll.

 

[Sniggs]

OMG WTF BBQ?

ell oh ell
Lollerz :looser:

 

[WrenchMonkey]

...some things is just a lot easier and accepted now... i dont think i could even type 100% gramatically correct...

Accepted by whom? Not by me, not by the guys who have posted here, not by the HR department at your next job interview. And, it appears, not by the Forum Gods...

In general, messages on the Forums shall be written in English unless the writer’s native language is other than English. Forum participants who elect to respond to non-English speaking participants in a language other than English are encouraged to do so when it will facilitate communication. In such instances, the non-English text shall include a translation into English in the same post.

... and while that alphabet soup may qualify as a lower form of communication, it is not, by any stretch, English. Maybe we can start reporting "texted" posts as non-English, and requiring that translation?

Robert

 

[5-90]

... and while that alphabet soup may qualify as a lower form of communication, it is not, by any stretch, English. Maybe we can start reporting "texted" posts as non-English, and requiring that translation?

Robert

Now there's a thought...

I recall taking a course in Linguistics (Humanities requirement) a few quarters ago. One question I had was this - "Is 'ebonics' a subset of the English langage corrupted, is it a dialect of the English language, or is it simple laziness?"

I never did get an answer, come to think on it. I couldn't fit it in as a pidgin or a creole, or even a trade dialect - because it couldn't fit any of the three (all of which are the intersection of two languages, often forming a third "sub-language," like Spanglish.)

Whatever. I don't "speak ebonics" - I don't recognise it as a valid form of communication. I don't speak any language other than English here in the States - I flatly refuse to.

I don't consider "text lingo" a valid form of communication, either. I won't answer it without a translation into a language I do understand, with distinct preference for English.

I'll learn and speak other languages when I'm overseas, but I'm only going to speak English here - unless I have a very specific reason not to (and no, I'm not going to rattle off in Spanish just because I'm in the barrio. You're in my country now, please speak my language. English is not a "second language" option for you, except that you're learning it second. However, it's just become your first language. What happened to that mentality?)

 

[87xjco]

I always kind of thought of it as using shorthand.

Shorthand used to be a required course in my mothers secretarial school, and businesses used to want secretaries who could do shorthand quickly. Because it was a quick way of taking dictation from bosses who didn't have the time or ability, to type out business letters themselves.

There's some instances where I prefer to use text messaging, not that i'm very good at it, of course i'm not exactly talkative anyways, and typing on those little buttons just pushes you to wanting a quicker way to type out messages.

Sure it induces a whole new form of slang into our culture, but young people have always tried to be different, cooler then their parents, if it wasn't this, it would be something else.

 

[Fergie]

I'm seeing more folks using texting syntax and spelling here.
It is hard to read and harder to understand for those of use which were brought up using the basics.

I'm thinking it should be a board rule.

"You must exibit the Spelling and Grammer skills of a 4th Grader to use this Forum"

I would have considered a 6th Grade level, but since the local paper is written at that level, and most folks now days can't read that...

STFU

Do you have a vagina for a penis or what?

Who cares.

 

[tommyr]

I recall taking a course in Linguistics (Humanities requirement) a few quarters ago. One question I had was this - "Is 'ebonics' a subset of the English langage corrupted, is it a dialect of the English language, or is it simple laziness?"

I never did get an answer, come to think on it.

I'm sure why you didn't get an answer was because the instructor thought the answer would be # 3, but to say that would not be politically correct.

I work for a governmental agency and the language in some of the 'official' documents is just incredible. Seems to have started about 12 years ago....

 

[MisterFubar]

I'll be the first to admit that my grammar while posting flat out sucks. I type like I speak, I overuse commas, putting them where I would pause while speaking and I tend to run on. If it bothers anyone I apologize. If I took the time to proofread every post I type up on every forum I wouldn't have time to get much else done.

That being said, I have to agree with the topic starter. I love sitting in a restaurant and watching a family send text messages back and forth to each other, ACROSS THE FUCKING TABLE. Since when does every other word end in Z? Common acronyms are one thing, but using LOL, H8R, WTF, IDK, BFF, STFU and ROTFLMAOWSOMOD makes you look like an ID10T.

The thing that really bugs me about it is that it seems that the only ones in my circle of friends that use this text-speech are the ones with the most education and a pile of degrees while us "simple folk" at least make an attempt to sound civilized.

 

[XJ Dreamin']

I work for a governmental agency and the language in some of the 'official' documents is just incredible. Seems to have started about 12 years ago....

I don't know about 12 years ago I've got some documents that were composed in the 30's and they're not much different than the stuff I see today. The urge to edit everything that comes across my desk is a source of both annoyance and a touch of entertainment. If that's what the boss wants the public to see, then who am I to correct him? If his choice of words creates an error in fact, sure but I'm going to walk into his office and tell him his writing makes him look like an idiot. I'm sure some member of the public calls him an idiot two or three times a day, anyway. It comes with the territory.

Basically, if you're texting use it, if that is the norm for texting. This isn't texting. I would suggest that standard military acronyms are acceptable: FUBAR, SNAFU, etc. Also, it seems that a selection of acronyms have become standard use at : STFU, ROFLMAO, etc. Y'all need to form a campfire committee at an event sometime and come up with a list. Sticky that list at the top of each forum and be done with it.

 

[FitchVA]

I'm seeing more folks using texting syntax and spelling here.
It is hard to read and harder to understand for those of use which were brought up using the basics.

I'm thinking it should be a board rule.

"You must exibit the Spelling and Grammer skills of a 4th Grader to use this Forum"

I would have considered a 6th Grade level, but since the local paper is written at that level, and most folks now days can't read that...

I find it highly entertaining that, in the line where you state your proposed "rule", you have not one but 2 errors yourself. The word "exibit" is actually spelled "e-x-h-i-b-i-t." The word "Grammer" is actually spelled "g-r-a-m-m-a-r." I would also like to point out that your last line has an errant comma after the second occurrence of the word "level." It is not needed in that context.

Typically, I hate pointing these things out. I normally type in very broken English with poor structure and a complete disregard to how "it should be." I am the last person that should give someone spelling or grammatical advice, but I am not the one that is suggesting we start implementing levels or standards when it comes to spelling and/or grammar.

 

[FitchVA]

and btw, i hope you guys are just kidding around with all of this talk about creating lists of acceptable things to say on here.

but if you aren't, you need to get a hobby or something that you can spend this free time on instead of being annoyed with this stuff to the point you want to create rules against it.

...where's that thread that dealt with the sad state of naxja again? <<scratches head in confusement>>

 

[karstic]

...blah, blah, blah...Also, it seems that a selection of acronyms have become standard use at : STFU, ROFLMAO, etc. Y'all need to form a campfire committee at an event sometime and come up with a list. Sticky that list at the top of each forum and be done with it.

Spoken like a true bureaucrat. J/K

 

[Beej]

It would be nice to see better English here and there, but we gotta keep a couple 'o things in mind.

Internet forums are more like informal friendly letter correspondence; it would be strange or stilted to use formal English.

There are a large number of people whose literacy is limited. This could be to 'laziness' or relative youth, but not everyone can write well or operate a typewriter quickly. My guess is that we're going to see a higher representation of lower literacy on a site like this, as opposed to a forum site for theoretical mathematicians.

Plus, "elitespeak" (or 13375p34k, or leetspeek), whether we like it or not, is already a language with its own rules and is being formed everyday around the world, just like every other form of human language...