I recognize that our language is a living, evolving thing. The advent of social media has made it abundantly clear how rapidly it is changing. I readily admit that I had to google some of the jargon coming from Bonnaroo tweets and that doesn’t bother me. Young people should have their own dialect.
The line I draw is the use of text speak when you are not texting. Text slang does not belong in schoolwork, professional correspondence or spoken conversations. As much as I expect my children (and teens) to be polite and honest, I also expect them to speak intelligently and not like illiterate hillbillies. Consequently, I have established a new household rule that anyone using text speak out loud will be required to use five alternative examples of how they should have expressed themselves.
I casually posted this rule on another social media site and the general reaction was… laughter. I’m a curmudgeon and fighting against the current for choosing this battle. I’m denying my teenagers a way to express themselves without cursing. Except, I just don’t believe those are anything other than excuses. I will have my children memorizing roots, prefixes and suffixes before I will allow them to eliminate words from their vocabulary. Our family will have a household new word a day before we will devolve to grunting out initials. Speaking in text speak isn’t a natural part of the growth of language. It is the death of language.
Cathy, I am a professed Pollyanna and absolutely agree.
So, if you ever worry that it makes you a curmudgeon to care about language, I’m at least one example of a happy-go-lucky girl who will stare down any of her four children who can’t bother to use real words when speaking.
I admit that I give them grief when they send me 2-letter text messages, too. They have callouses on their thumbs from endless texting with every kid within a 10 mile radius. So, I figure, they can spare a few extra characters when responding to the person who pays for those phones.
Lead on! Lead on!
Gina ;~}
I agree with you, too. Although I’m a copy editor by trade and have an English degree. I love social media, but it’s depressing how it’s dumbing all of us down. We don’t need to get lazy or complacent with how we speak/write across the board. Ask me again how I feel about this when my daughter hits her teens. 😉
Agreed! There is a time and place for text-speak, (I’m guilty when I comment on blogs,) but SPEAKING is not one of them. Ever. Especially when you’re speaking to someone of a different generation/level of tech expertise.
Thank you for not laughing at my pet peeves.
aspie logic here.
ok i wont say WTF anymore… ill use correct intelligent words and not abbreviate.
😛