webspeak: the death of language?

[Guest bluey]

ok, so i copy pasted this article/post from another site - but i for one find needless webspeak very annoying... well, not VERY annoying, usually only passingly annoying but after a few msn chats with a girl i used to work with that almost exclusively feature me squinting at the screen trying to read her bright pink squirly girly typeface only to find she's written something like 'i fink so but hu nos'.

do just a disclaimer: i'm not writing this - i found it elsewhere and thought it was an interesting topic of discussion (so i nicked it! ^_^ wooyay)

 

I, and I'm sure many of you as well, am one of those people who you will find picking at the terrible nature of the typed word in most internet chat rooms. "It's an affront!" we say in indignation at the sacrilege around us, and no doubt it is for sure. When 'u' has replaced 'you' due to the sheer laziness of the human being, who cannot say that English is a dying art? Well, I'm here to argue somewhat against that.

 

But first, this isn't to say that I expect everyone to talk online or in reality as though they are Oxford dons with a dictionary shoved where the sun don't shine, (Irony, yes) that'd be both impractical and impossible. (Not to mention that I myself am a known abuser of many of the codes and conventions I've had pummeled into me during various English courses. *Yawn*) Instead, I suggest a median, to those few who aren't already using proper spelling or punctuation. Talk in a language we all understand, and put in the extra button-press or two necessary to at least type the word out in full.

 

Sure, in chat rooms and IM conversations online you will find unbelievable use of such abbreviations as make up WebSpeak, but more and more you see people rebuking this. It used to be 'coolz, lol' to speak like that, but now we Language-is-art types are fighting back, and spreading. There is a revolution within the online world. You see spelling corrections, even punctuation where a year or two ago there would have been nothing but rife flaunting of the simple rules of English. It's fantastic in a way, that the underlying linguistic sense is fighting back.

 

The other factor is that use of WebSpeak is becoming synonymous with 'idiotic n00b' to many of the more experienced users. An inability to express ones opinions in the articulate manner of properly spelled words and coherent sentences has been considered stupidity for quite a while, and generally leads to the ideas being discredited, no matter how worthwhile they may be. In terms of chat room discussion, that is rarely a loss due to the unsubtle lack of mind-stretching conversation, but as online discussion becomes more of a part of global communication, some good ideas are likely to be lost in the depths of WebSpeak and all its dirty little children.

 

This isn't just a problem for the younger people online, the Pixel Generation so to speak, who have grown up with the Internet and online world shoved in their faces. It's also an issue when it comes to older gamers who first generated WebSpeak as a way of shortening messages and reducing effort. All sorts of people from all sorts of demographics need a kick in the backside in regards to their hacking and burning of language.

 

So yes, I'd love to hear various opinions on this. Is language dying online or are we clawing it back? What sort of lexicon do you use online? Rant away if you want. Hell, I did.

[EEVILMURRAY]

He talks about sheer laziness, yet he's using stuff like "I'd", "It's" and the like.

 

Hypocritical lazy bastard.

[James_banned]

Webspeak or text speak is terrible.

 

Not only is hard to understand half the time but if you complain you get flamed and called a retard or something like that because apparently "its easy to understand".

[conzer16]

It's not pretty to look at or read - but language evolves. Look at how Shakespeare wrote.

 

Languages, spoken and written, evolve.

[Shino]

I honestly can't understand webspeak (English or Portuguese version), neither do I think that someone who writes like that has something interesting to say. I understand some abbreviations in cellphones or chat rooms, but when they start changing letters randomly with out any benefit, that's when I stop reading.

[Dyson]

There's Portuguese webspeak? *hides*

[nekunando]

I find it infuriating! In some instances I find that people seem to put in the effort to talk in such an inconsiderate and impolite way. There are times when it would clearly have taken people longer to type in 'txt spk' or webspeak than to just type the word(s) out correctly.

 

I find it disturbing that it appears some people use it because it is 'cool' other than to serve the purpose of saving them some valuable time. When creating a text message, it is obvious that due to character limitations some words may have to be abbreviated in order to fit in all that you want to say but when it is used for other reasons I fail to find a suitable argument.

 

I can't wait for the day when it becomes 'uncool' to speak in this way, but I fear that the only way for that to become the case is for when this language becomes the standard

[Sanchez]

I think calling it the evolution of language would be better.

 

I don't like it, and I don't use it. I think it would take me longer to think of how to abbreviate words than to just type them out in full. Your casual txt hardened internet user might have a better state of mind for it.

[thirtynine.]

u guyz r n00bz if u cnt get it its fun 2 tlk lyk dis ure all dum

 

But seriously, the way saying lolz in real life is becoming more acceptable is not a great thing.

[Jonnas]

There's Portuguese webspeak? *hides*

 

Portuguese webspeak may be even worse. It's come to point where "c" and "s" are always replaced with "x" for no reason at all.

 

Whenever I rexieve a mexxage like that I wonder if xomeone hax been xenxoring it.

[Shino]

There's Portuguese webspeak? *hides*

 

I believe every language has. There's a variant that's named after a slang word for young adolescent girls (Pitas, yes just like Pita bread), and its sole purpose is to make the text "look cute". In English it would be something like "I wuv u".

 

Edit: Like Jonnas did.

[Guest Stefkov]

I hate it. My parents, of all people use it in texts. I say what's the point, just type it properly so I can understand it.

They say it's quicker to do.... ...

 

And they wonder why children can't spell when starting High School. Seriously, my sister is one of them. Not long ago I'd spotted she spelt 'father' 'Farther'...

[jayseven]

It's not pretty to look at or read - but language evolves. Look at how Shakespeare wrote.

 

Languages, spoken and written, evolve.

 

The way language has changed from four hundred years ago to today is nothing like the rapid and bizarre introduction of the lazy world of online language. Mad props to it for introducing new words, but deteriorating existing ones simply due to sloth is just plain silly.

 

Anyone here read Will Self's Book of Dave? It's about London in the future after the sea level has risen, and everyone talks Liek dis becuz ov sum reezon.

 

Actually, the language Self uses to portray a futuristic, slightly savage clan of people is quite smart - he uses the phonetic alphabet instead of our silly set-up, which streamlines the language and removes any possible reading errors.

 

'Net speak sort of does the opposite. In a sense, the spelling itself is obsolete and it's all about the meaning of the word. Nice, but not practical in application to the real world!

 

So to sum it up;

lol noob.

[Charlie]

I find it disturbing that it appears some people use it because it is 'cool' other than to serve the purpose of saving them some valuable time. When creating a text message, it is obvious that due to character limitations some words may have to be abbreviated in order to fit in all that you want to say but when it is used for other reasons I fail to find a suitable argument.

 

Meh, even in texts I still type out everything out in full with full grammar. It's worth going onto a second page to make it legible.

 

There are a few girls who speak to me (I've deleted them, OK?) on MSN from time-to-time (usually when they want booze) and they spell "you" "yhoo" and other horrific things like that and it's just plain wrong. What's worse is when people speak like that in real life.

[Maiky-NiSuTe]

there should be only 1 main world language.

[Dan_Dare]

I hate it so bad I scare myself.

 

seriously, it's fucking retarded.

[Tellyn]

It's so bad it's not funny.

[AshMat]

Errr, i know a couple of people "hu tlk lyk dis". I mean come on, how hard is typing normally?

Then there's ReZ...

[conzer16]

The way language has changed from four hundred years ago to today is nothing like the rapid and bizarre introduction of the lazy world of online language. Mad props to it for introducing new words, but deteriorating existing ones simply due to sloth is just plain silly.

 

Well, you would have to link it to the rapid advancements in technology and not just brush it away because it happened too fast.

 

We can travel huge distances now because of advances in technology. We can even get to the moon. We have this internet thingy, we have huge skyscraper buildings, we have video-games, we have roads and cars etc etc etc etc etc.

 

Technology has moulded every other facet of our lives, why not our languages?

 

The wheel was invented some whatever number of millenia ago but the car is only 100 years old. English and languages in general evolve slowly but considering everything that has happened in our world since 1900 it's no surprise to see language change as raidly as it is.

[Ten10]

Poor grammar meant I couldn't be bothered to read much of it. I hate it when people try to write formally but screw up the grammar. But more on subject, the majority of the people that I have on my messenger contact list use the rather annoying text speak language. I think the way around it is to have a text speak translator app for people who don't speak it. But its less annoying than that back slang rubbish people were doing a while back

[Solo]

Someone sent me this, it's not pretty but hey it works.

 

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

[Roostophe]

Someone sent me this, it's not pretty but hey it works.

 

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

 

I can read that, but I still prefer 100% prefect spelling and grammer. <-Intentional

[thirtynine.]

It's not pretty to look at or read - but language evolves. Look at how Shakespeare wrote.

 

Languages, spoken and written, evolve.

Shakespeare made up how he wrote, at the time language wasnt standardized

If you look at other writers at the time noone wrote like that.

[Slaggis]

Someone sent me this, it's not pretty but hey it works.

 

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

 

That's wierd, I can read that like it's normal writing. The human mind is a strange thing.

[nekunando]

Someone sent me this, it's not pretty but hey it works.

 

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it

 

: peace: ..was able to read it! I hate the look of it, but it was magically readable