This should read: I've been bothered by this for quite some time and I hope I don't step on toes here, but I'm very disturbed by a trend I see with the younger generation.

As texting has become so prevalent, grammar, spelling and basic functions of our language have all been forgotten.

The quote at the top is one example from another message board of an actual person's signature.

Do you think teens/20-somethings are just lazy and will grow out of this phase and at some point begin to type so the rest of us can understand them?

I totally understand typing stuff like that on text, but not on a message board where the world is scratching their head wondering what in the world you mean.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

It's laziness. I think that since phones with QWERTY keyboards are becoming more popular, it's going out of fashion to text like a moron. At that point, Twitter will become the new evil. I personally have to use TweetDeck and UberTwitter's "Shrink Tweet" function because I stopped texting stupidly loooong ago. It's to much effort to not use real words.

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I love my work Blackberry... I don't have to butcher my sentence. On my regular phone, I have predictive text turn on, so at least I don't have to sound stupid.

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I agree. I absolutely despise common grammar errors & mistakes. Granted I purposely don't use g's on the end of some words (Knowin, thinkin, etc.), I'm not always the most perfect poster, but still I know that I have the grammar & common knowledge to sound at least somewhat mature.

As far as texting, I don't care how long it takes me, I use complete sentences, periods, etc. Not that hard to text I don't know instead of idk. Lame.

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Wes, you just posted a simple typo. That's not really texting killing the language. Texting, e-mail and Internet chat really are when kids type "u" instead of "you" and other things like that. Apparently it's showing up in some people's English papers. If I was an English teacher, I'd automatically give the kid an "F" on the paper if I saw that stupid Internet shorthand.

The whole thing annoys me. It's just laziness that has become stupidity. I bet they think "idk" instead of "I don't know" now. My first roommate in college told me once that he thought "lol" in a conversation with friends. Horrifying. But really, it's laziness. Why type six letters when you can just type "pls" or "plz," and your peers won't think you're a moron?

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I hate looking at my cousin's facebook messages and seeing them write like they belong in second grade; it annoys the hell out of me.

But, I've also seen it in papers of upper year high school students. When I edit my girlfriends sister's essays I see mistakes that shouldn't be made in grade 12. Things like your and you're, their, there, and they're, and for some reason our and are are all interchanged and used in the wrong places. Then there's things like commas and other punctuation that I won't even get into.

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ThrillNetwork Moderator
The user formerly known as WildeFyre
UOIT Mechanical Engineering Student

I write all my messages out, pretty much completely with grammer, the such. I stopped using the word "text" when I went to Poland and saw my cousin use the acronym "SMS." I pretty much call everything "messages" and prefer using the term "mobile" because I'm always for the alternative. On the Verizon commercial they still call it "messaging phones." I still refuse QWERTY devices because they are too small for my man fingers and I want to carry a real phone not a Franklin electronic dictionary on crack. I was scolding my youngest teen sister years ago for writing like a retard.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

Not every teenager does this, but most of them do. I don't do this because a lot of the shortened versions can mean different things, then I have no idea what someone is talking about. Also, what is with people putting numbers into words like "c u l8r?" Someone who doesn't text has no idea what that means.

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This thread really struck a nerve with me so I going to rant. First off, it's not even just being lazy anymore but rather stupid.

Fact- 90% of people really are truly stupid and should just be shot in the face...with a shotgun...multiple times. I feel a little bit better. Ahhh...[smiles]

Where was I? It isn't just text messaging but everywhere on the web. I see a lot of idiots on here as well. I have no problem with the occassional mispelled word but it's the simple words that never cease to amaze me. Here's one example, people who don't know how to drop the "e" in words.

Make=Making
Write=Writing

If I'm not mistaken, I learned that somewhere between first and third grade. So why are adults still make the most basic mistake? Or how about the different spellings of two, too or to? Don't people know the different. How about the word "know"? Why do people think they're smart and they no everything? Or the word "they're" meaning "they are"?

The problem is that is has become acceptable or even cool to be stupid. I see people all the time who can't make a single sentence with proper grammer, pronunciation or without swearing in every single sentence.

Like I said, a shotgun could solve so many problems.

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YOUR HATRED AMUSES ME

As a 17-year-old, I'm completely used to the "txt spk", although I avoid it if at all possible. I think that a few shorthand abbreviations here and there on a message board isn't the end of the world, but the minute that slips into a formal English Paper, it's crossed the line and should be stopped immediately. However, I read somewhere that there are reputable people out there who truly believe that the introduction of txt spk into our language is actually a stage in the evolution of the language, much like certain slang words have slowly become accepted as everyday conversation. So, calm down a bit and let nature run its course, k?

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AP Classes are so worth it...

The problem is the teachers in some areas are just getting ridiculous when teaching simple English skills early. My mother in law is a teacher and she lets people (who take her french class) write in English and BAD English at that! I correct it (when I grade for her) to make sure they understand what they misspelled.

I am ornery when it comes to English skills and I don't expect perfection but a little effort sure does go a long way.

Teenagers anymore are just plain lazy. Anyway to cut time out to do something more constructive, they will do it. And teachers, parents and the real world let them get away with it. If people start cracking down then the this country will be better off. Effort is all it takes people.

Ugh, now I am done ranting! LOL!

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lolwut?

TL;DR


Kidding. I agree with you. I also have a blackberry, but I do type out full words. Actually, there is a website somewhere that has a GIANT list of acronyms that people have come up with over the years. It is just annoying when I try to talk to someone at work and I can't understand them. I usually end up walking away.

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Wes, if you think our younger generations problems, or at least the biggest one, is texting habits, you're in for a rude awakening...

Yeah. I think shortcutting words is really not even the worst thing to think about with teens and cell phones. Guess what? Our kids are gonna be sending pictures of their private parts back and forth. Good luck with all that!

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I'm saying it as something pointing to something else. Like if they can't handle simple English, who knows what they will do when they get in Congress.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

People have been sending their naughty bits to people as long as naughty bits have existed, lol. Where there's a will, there's a way. That's when good parenting steps in.

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Our standards are going to lower that much lower that they will get into Congress?

Probably we'll know in the future how much sexting a new President had done as a kid.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I don't see the problem. I'm sixteen, have a phone (and text quite a bit), and can still speak my language properly. Actually, so can all of my friends...and their friends...and so on. The people who speak in txt spk or whatever daily aren't talking like that because they text. That's like saying everybody who plays Grand Theft Auto is going to go out and kill hundreds of people. If you're using txt spk in school or anything other than MSN, for example, then that's just your own intelligence, not texting ruining you.

I think it would be more correct that the title of the thread reads: "Lazy people has killed the English language." I don't think it's just text messages, but also instant messages, e-mail messages, message board posts, and any other form of electronic communication from which you send messages.

I have said this a million times: Nothing gets your point across more effectively than a message scripted flawlessly. My rule of thumb: if a message is written so poorly that I cannot understand it, I simply disregard it. And here is another thing: If you are not sure of the spelling, look it up and don't just put the (sp?) after the attempted spelling of the word in question.

Basically what I am trying to say is: If you really know how to write in English, then prove it! Demonstrate to us consistently that you know how to write in English.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator (Originally known as Hurricane)

It's time to play some DEFENSE!

I don't think that it concerns speach as much as it does writing.

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As a teenager who cares very much about his language, I think I should chime in.
Although texting certainly isn't doing English any favors, I don't think it's exactly killing the language. I think that for a very long time, English-speakers throughout the world have been pummeling their native tongue into oblivion. All languages have slang, but English just goes overboard. Speakers have tried for so long to make things easier that we've actually lost a lot of the richness of our language, even if we've gained a richness of vocabulary. It's too simple for English-speakers to say what they want to say. There's no need to pause and find the right word. Instead, we get people who pause to choose between words and people who are too lazy to care and use bad grammar and slang to hide it. Not just in the US, either. Cockney and comparable dialects have plagued England for quite some time as well.
Texting hasn't helped, like I said, but I think the Internet has done more damage on the whole. Typing with a keyboard is a heck of a lot easier than typing with a phone. And it's easier than writing for most people. You would think that would encourage users to type intelligably, but that obviously is not how it turned out. It all comes back to a laziness that seems to have been present in English since it was born.
Txtspk, I think, is more of a symptom of this epidemic of laziness than an outbreak in and of itself. It isn't Newspeak. It's just an obnoxious side-effect of a larger sickness that is murdering our language.

"Why can't the English[-speakers] teach their children how to speak?"

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That's how I pick up on newbie posters on our site. I just skim even faster then through that.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
2008 & 2009 TN Coaster Draft Champion
You knew I wanted the other repeat too

I have a QWERTY phone and in all honesty I have never found myself using the typical txt spk. Perhaps an occasional "LOL," but that seems to be about it. My real problem is speling.

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Was that intentional?

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Yes it was! My spelling is not THAT bad...

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Wes, stop being such a h8er!

My wife started trying the illiterate crap in texts to me. I nipped it in the bud quick by making her explain it. Spelling counts, and if you're to effing lazy to do the language right, call me, or forget it.

My pet peeve is the improper usage of their/they're/there and you're/your. Literacy- get some!

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator
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^ U no it G!

And to wickedtwist2, I'm not actually referring to how teens speak, but rather how they type on message boards, e-mail, etc.

Many teens don't fall into that category, I'm well aware, but there are many that do.

One of the easiest things teens could do, if they aren't great at spelling is to use a browser that has spellcheck built in. I do, because I'm not perfect and make mistakes too.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

The thing that really annoys me is when someone writes "should/could/would of" instead of "should/etc. HAVE". I think the problem started when people would hear the abbreviation should've, and then they didn't realize that it was an abbreviation. The sad thing is that I've actually seen this one creep into professional articles.

One of the most hilarious ones that I see way too often is the "your stupid" comment. It's amazing how ignorant people are of their own idiocy.

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^^I really do not think this can be limited to teenagers. At all. In fact, I've found that there is very little (if any) variation in Internet stupidity based on age. Sure, younger posters can be annoying at times (a lot), but not necessarily in terms of lazy English. Or at least, not any more than anyone else. There are plenty of middle-aged web-loiterers out there with atrocious grammar and unbelievable mistakes.
I would love to take this argument further than just Internet issues and into the realm of dialectical mutations and cringe-worthy grammar. But I will stay on topic this time.
In Facebook chat, nearly all of my friends use complete, coherent sentences with few errors. If anything, many disregard capitalization either partially or entirely, but I don't have a big problem with that as the Shift key can be a bit cumbersome at times. But my parents love using "u" for "you" and "2day" for "today." It's infuriating.

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Wait a tick, isn't this thread suspiciously close to my "Why the hell is texting so popular?"

Shoulda copyrighted that thing....

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