He said
Abbreviations may have gone too far. Abbreviations themselves aren't to blame, but the people who abuse them are.
Once again we will exercise our role as the word police to see if stopping short with the English language is in fact a serious crime. There is one thing that is certain: our proofreader is going to go totes banans reading some of this writing. I don't really know what that means any more than you do.
I recently exchanged a couple of e-mails with someone I spoke to for a story, and after giving a thank you in an e-mail I received this reply: "You're welks."
I have heard a lot of words or colloquial terms abbreviated but that was the first time I saw a "welks."
Like most peeps nowadays, I send lots of texts, an abbreviation of text message that I respect. I've never gotten into using the lingo associated with texting, and I fastidiously punch out each word to its full extent. I've never, ever typed LOL, though I don't spell out "laughing out loud" either.
Writing is getting so incredibly condensed that it's starting to take longer to decipher the message than it would have taken the messenger to write it out in full. I wish I was part of that world that doesn't give a hoot about grammar.
Language evolves over time and this is just the next step in the evolution of English, or at least western English, because from what I know of the Brits, they take the written and spoken word much more seriously than we do.
I'd like to be one of the early adopters of this new language based on 140 character sound bites. It's very anti-Dickens. I don't like being the old fogy who's stuck in his ways but prefer to embrace change.
Welks may very well one day be an official word, and welcome may well go the way of the dodo bird.
We've been simplifying English for hundreds of years. Sitting at the Festival Theatre, listening to recitations of Shakespeare, you can't help but think the language sounds more intelligent than today's.
The battle to save the language is a losing one so it's time to just go widda flo.
She said
I'm really on the fence when it comes to abbreviations.
As I stated in a previous column, I hate it when people use single letters or stupidly short abbreviations during conversations over text. I don't want 2 read ur stupid message if ur disrespecting grammar all over the place. You're not saving yourself a lot of time by chopping out crucial letters, and numbers do not belong anywhere near letters. That's yet another reason why I h8 math.
That said, I am guilty of using other, longer abbreviations myself in text messages. I def abbreviate "definitely" and I'll prob type a shorter form of "probably." I manage to justify this to myself because I only shorten words that are kind of long, and so actually would take me longer to type. But maybe my dislike for "u" and "b" subbing for stand-alone words is a bit hypocritical.
The worst abbreviating, though, does not exist in the text universe. Words shortened in spoken word, in daily conversations, are horribly annoying. Totes, cray, fav, pic. I cannot believe that these have become socially accepted among some people! Not to say that I'm not guilty of my own missteps with abbreviations and the English language, but I at least abbreviate with the knowledge that I end up sounding like a brainless moron.
For example (and it may be better to read this bit aloud for the best effect):
"I am totes packing myself my redic winter boots, just in case I get stuck outside. This weather is looking cray and I don't want to crash my fav car and end up a crim! LOL!"
Or:
"I am totally packing my ridiculous winter boots, just in case I get stuck outside. This weather is looking crazy and I don't want to crash my favourite car and end up a criminal."
I think it's pretty obvi which example makes you sound more like an airhead. Just for fun, I read the first example out loud and ended each word like a question. That really added to the effect.
Moral of the story: if you're an English speaking person, BE an English speaking person. You're an insult to our education system when you talk like that. Kk?
