Code Talking - How Tweeting And Texting Have Changed The Way We Speak
Posted: Saturday, September 18, 2010
by Grace O'Malley
I admit it. I am a vocabulary snob: of the worst kind. I don't mean to be that way. Unfortunately the good sisters who taught me instilled that idea in my head. It did not hurt they had rulers 10 feet long that helped drive their point home either.
It makes me crazy when people bastardize words when they speak. Sometimes I wonder what language it is I am hearing. I am not talking about slang here but something lazier.
Case in point: a 30 year old woman who is single and currently enrolled in College. She is attractive and personable. To look at her most people would think: Wow, she's got a lot going on. Until she speaks: wit, dat, cuz, yous, k, nada, da. (Translation: with, that, because, you, okay, nothing, the). Her essays reflect her habitual speech patterns and need such an intense amount of editing, it is no wonder she becomes frustrated and wants to give up. The sad part is, she no longer has the ability to convey what she wants without sounding like Ozzy Osbourne on a bad day.
Thanks to texting technology and the advent of Twitter this phenomenon is growing. It will not be much longer before this type of code talking will become the norm. I am looking forward to the day when employers do not look for an applicant that can communicate well but for an applicant that is able speak and write in phrases of 140-160 characters or less.
Every person's vocabulary has a wealth of possibilities; too many though, have a poverty of interest. Take charge. Stop going with the flow. Lemmings drown when they jump off that bridge.
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Top-level comments on this article: (9 total)Yes Grace!! I even hate it when words are deliberately mis-spelled for advertising. I like real words. Mind you, I've started using btw - oh noooooo I'm losing my grip...and I haven't even started tweeting yet!hehe, I do that too when I'm writing for personal use. You and I aren't made to Tweet I don't think!Grace
I enjoy reading books written previous to the 20th century simply because of the words. Why did we stop teaching our children to speak and write this way?I'm not sure Abe but it would be nice to go back to basics. I too enjoy older reading simply for the flow.Grace
Hey Grace! Very true. In the "Bay Area" which is what the locals call the area around San Francisco, they use all kinds of funky language, and it spills over onto academic papers and other places where you just shake your head and contemplate what schools in this country are teaching our kids.. I mean, as you know, it can get out of hand. But, I suppose we have to be thankful for those that still see the beauty of using language to its full extent. I know some professors that specialize in rhetoric, and it is basically the opposite with them... they can write documents in such a way that make you smile because so few people use language so artistically. Anyway,.. thanks for the article! Great stuff as usual! -BrombergDo they even still teach creative writing in school? Or is creative writing now how to write a short story with 140 characters? Oh dear, I hope that remains a joke!GraceGood Lord, that is funny because it is probably true.
I enjoyed your article very much Grace. I bought an electronic dictionary because of lack of a good education but I work on it, and even I don't understand what my kids and grandkids are sometimes saying.Linda, that's a good thing you did! You are striving to learn more and that's a great thing. Keep using it!Grace
I hate short texts. I feel disrespected when somebody sends a sms with short texts which is not in the dictionary and won't be in the dictionary (hope so). I usually write a full English word.Anyway, wonderful article. I enjoyed reading it. God bless you...As usual a creation of a genius called GRACE.ChiradeepAww thank you Chiradeep. I can see why someone would use short texts but all the time?GraceHave you received the link about Gladys Staine that I sent through email?I have not. Can you send it again?
I completely agree. Although I'm more in the generation you are talking about, I never like it when my friends talk like that; and I have a lot of friends that talk like that. I have even joked around about all I want is to find a girl who can correctly spell "definitely." It's definitely a problem, but I feel that when our phone technology gets better, this whole texting language will quickly disappear.And how many people do you know in general who can spell definitely instead of def? I hope the technology gets better before this kind of thing becomes normal. Thanks for coming by and commenting.Grace
Tsk, tsk, tsk. Grace, Grace, Grace, Grace, Grace. Are we having a hard time accepting the changes that occur with time? I feel ya! :-) It's ok sweetie, you've still got a while 'fore you start hearing the whispers of, "she doesn't understand, she's old". You know, I read a study that determined that kids that text more often than those that don't, got better grades on reading, writing, and comprehension, despite their shortening of words. I can't remember why, but if I can find it I'll share it with you. I'm for anything that helps in those areas. My daughter is excellent in all of the above categories and she does nothing but text. I don't think she even knows how to use a phone. Great article.I know David, I know. I'm showing my age? My kids text constantly too but at least they draw the line at abbreviating when writing outside of a cell phone. If you can find that article, please do share! I'd be interested in reading it.Grace
Yea I think that the code will become a fad too. It is enriching our youth beyond the 'normal' standards of the english language. Sometimes my daughter will say O.M.G. literally when I'm joking with her.How do you react to your daughter when she does that?Grace
Hi Grace.There was no way I wasn't going to read this one. Couldn't even wade through other articles in the Reader's Club hoping this one would come up!I have a friend older than yours by quite a bit (what's it say about you when all your friends are 50 or older? :)) who went back to college recently to become a paralegal. Her spelling was never the greatest, but now that doesn't seem to matter. She uses those silly codes and abbreviations in all the writing she does to me (which hasn't been all that much lately since she moved back East and is living with her parents). I'm talking about e-mails because my cell phone is always off unless I have an emergency and it doesn't allow texting anyway.But, unfortunately, as I just mentioned to Shari Vaudo in a response to her comment to me, language is fluid and changes as usage changes. It saddens me from time to time. It really does. But who am I to hold back progress?? (One question mark for grammatical correctness, the other questioning whether or not it really is progress.)In closing (ordinarily I would write "anyway" but thought better of it and maybe I should go back and edit this in case I have used any contractions :)), I agree with you completely.Great article!Hugs,DianneDianne it's so good to read a comment from you! Language fluidity is normally progress and each generation has slang but is this kind of thing simply a fad or is it the wave of the future?GraceI don't know to that last question. But I love our language so much and the creative use of it that I fervently hope it is not the wave of the future.
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