Has Texting Made Us Forget How to Write Proper English?

What do people do with all the extra time they save by writing “k” instead of “OK”?

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I don’t know about you but text message shorthand drives me nuts! There are books about it and websites dedicated to it. It’s bad enough that I have to look at these coded messages in a text, but text message shorthand has now crept into emails as well. If I get another email with “CU soon” instead of “see you soon”, I’m going to vomit.

I suppose that my aversion to the bastardization of the English language is due to the fact that I’m an old fart and a writer. I love language – the language of William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and Bob Dylan. At the age of 62, I come from the “letter writing age” which sadly has gone the way of cassettes, VHS and floppy discs. Personally I don’t give a hoot about cassettes, VHS and floppy discs. In fact, I embrace the cloud and on-demand viewing! But language is hallowed ground. I’d love to know what Oscar Wilde would have to say about text shorthand.

Another pet peeve from our new “age of abbreviation” is people that send you an email and only sign their first initial. I don’t know anyone whose name is so long that writing it would represent a hardship.

I suppose that this new fangled form of writing is considered progress. Although I embrace technology, I’m devoted to my Smartphone and I cut the cable cord and stream television, I can’t get on board with text message shorthand. I suppose that’s my line in the sand. I will continue to love language and to express myself with whole words, spelled out – even in a text message. So please if you’re texting me or emailing me, write out the words and write your name at the end of an email.

Was that semi-colon some kind of flirty wink or just bad punctuation?

Azadeh Aalai

Make someone smile today.

Geri