Spelling!!!

[spunkypumpkn]

Doesn't it drive you BONKERS when people use 'text' english in questions? Is 'English' not taught in our schools anymore? Whats going on?? Its bizarre.

Its all about the grammar, people!! The grammar!

[Loosehead]

Yep I'm the same Andy. The 'text' speak is only one step away from illiteracy in my opinion.

[Cetti]

No, it doesn't upset me personally but I am concerned for the slapdash approach to English by some posters - and not all youngsters either.

It's probably because some of us are  from a different generation that poor grammar is so noticeable. I have a vision of my English teacher breathing down my neck so I tend to use capitals and proper punctuation even when texting.  My own sloppiness is evident in using frequent dashes so I must be careful when judging others. Tut, tut, must try harder!

[Xollob]

I can't stand txtspeak either and tend to ignore as much of it as I can. If you grow up with this nonsense, maybe it is as easy to read as standard English, but for me it is just too much like hard work trying to decipher it.

And - whilst I have never felt the urge to picket a cinema with an apostrophe-on-a-stick like the borderline-barking Ms Truss - I, too, have a problem with poor punctuation, but this upsets me less than txtspeak. Apostrophe abuse can be the result of sloppiness, ignorance or overexposure to bad examples, but txtspeak is more premeditated.

I'd like to hope that if we ignore it, it will somehow go away. But we're in the middle of a linguistic revolution the likes of which the world has never seen. I wouldn't like to predict the state of the English language in 20 years' time.

It's English, Jim, but not as we know it...

[jake-the-peg]

Yeah but nah but yeah but I read this and I was like Naaaahhh!

[maxi29]

Doesn't bother me particularly but I do despair of people who rant about poor grammar yet can't use apostrophes. People in glasshouses, ***********, people in glasshouses.

[delilahcat]

Like Andy, Loosehead and Xollob, I also hate textspeak and the misuse of apostophes. My number one pet hate, though, is the use of 'of' when the writer means 'have' - as in 'I should of told him'. How is it possible to use a preposition when you need a verb??!!

[delilahcat]

Damn! Obviously I meant apostRophes in that last post!

[ll_billym]

If I am typing a reply to a post or an email then I will type every word in full and use correct punctuation but if I am typing a mobile text or using live chat then I will shorten everything down purely to speed things up.

cuz every1 stil nos wat im trying 2 say.

[Gilli]

I totally agree !

In fact, when sending texts, it would take me far longer to use "text" than proper English.

My 15 year old son uses "text" when emailing his similarly minded pals - which infuriates me - though knows better than to use it with me, via mobile or email.

This really gets on my wick - I'm the sort of person who can't help but "proof read" newspaper articles, signage and so on (maybe because I'm a Linguistics graduate ??!!) .... I'm always finding mistakes, and can't read a book (which in all probability has been proof read) without finding at least 1 or 2 errors.

Call me old fashioned but English language standards in schools these days seem to be way below what I had to aspire to. I've worked with young graduates who simply didn't get what the apostrophe is for, nor see anything wrong in using "of" inappropriately - as Delilahcat points out. I think that beyond defining a noun or an adjective, English lessons no longer seem to bother with what I'd describe as grammar.

Okay - "text" may have advantages for those happy to use it .... but what makes me despair is when it crosses over into non-mobile situations and furthermore, accepted as the norm !

[Guinevere]

I also use full punctuation and capitals when texting! 

Bad grammar really does drive me mad though. 
I witnessed a prime example today: a presentation that had been put together by 2 senior members of staff in our company, that formed the major part of a pitch to win anothers year's business with a key account.  Not only was the lay-out messy and over complicated but it was also full of grammatical errors that could have been weeded out with a simple sense check.
Fire exists instead of fire exits
Your instead of you're
And so on.

The 2 members of staff no longer work here.  We also lost the business.
I know if I had been given that presentation I would have been less than impressed. I find it so frustrating!

[crayola]

I do use text speak but only for texting and even then i only use it if i haven't got any space left to say what i want to say!

I most probably forgot all the grammar when i left primary school and don't remember being taught it at secondary school (in the last year of my GCSEs we had a crash course in grammar by our English teacher who was appalled at the mistakes we were still making).

I think i learnt a lot from reading books mainly, and spelling is one of the few things i can do so i do it properly! 

It annoys me too when people use 'of' instead of 'have' but i think it's probably because of words such as "should've", maybe some people just don't realise that they're abbreviating the word 'have'.

[Hermia]

We have just been recruiting at work. If people apply via email they have to attach their CV and then write the covering letter in the email. It was worrying how many of the covering emails contained text lingo or had no punctuation or capital letters. They went straight into trash as you can imagine!

[smudge]

None of my family use 'text speak' in mobile messages or in e-mails.

I agree 'could of' instead of 'could have' is so irritating! 

We didn't sit our English exams for nothing did we?

[spunkypumpkn]

Here is an small part of a text message I received from my friends 14 year old daughter earlier today.

"meet me l8r on da road at da top. Fink mum will b pleezd wiv hr bthdy preznt".

Errrrr. Pardon?

[woofgang]

One more vote for real english and punctuation here. My mobile has predictive text and I love it because it predicts the real words, not the textspeak ones!!

[magicdice]

woofgang, you can add the txtspk words to your predictive text dictionary. the simple fact is that some people would rather pay 10p to say what they want to say than pay 20p to send the exact same message. i admit, i do abbreviate in my text messages - i cut out space after punctuation, i spell the "th" and i spell your and you're as yr & ur respectively if what i'm trying to say exceeds the length of a text message.

i don't see the use of txtspk as a real problem in text messages, but it drives me mad that my sister uses it on the internet as well.

incidentally, english is still taught in our schools. most of us know when to use apostrophes, which version of your and they're to use depending on the occasion, and most other things.

i'm seventeen so a lot of my friends persist in using text-talk with me (dyu wna cm out 2nyt 4 drnx @ stefs wer mtn der @ 7 tx bk) but that doesn't mean that we're all stupid and uneducated.

[acw]

I can't believe I didn't find this thread earlier!  Oh what a delight to see that there are people who CARE! :-D 

 

I suppose magic is right.  Txt-typers are not necessarily stupid or uneducated.  Perhaps people use txtspk more often because they're always in a hurry.  I personally do use it in SMS messages purely because I'm tight!!!  But I limit myself to 2,C,U,4 and droppping g's if necessary (from 'ing').  However I do hate to see txtspk in any other written format.  Yuck!

 

Finally, as I say in every other thread on this subject, people should stop blaming the schools (exclusively)!!  We can all play a role.  If you're at work and someone writes a note or email with similar style to that of ************'s daughter, then send a reply explaining that you're not at GCHQ therefore there is no need for code.  And ****** always has the option to correct his/her daughter if she chooses to use that form in NON text settings. 

 

Don't get me started on the wider issues of grammar....just don't tempt me! :p

[spudqueen]

Glad to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't use 'textspeak' even in in texting! Takes me ages to translate if someone does use 'textspeak' when texting me!

[littleoldme]

I never use textspeak either. To be honest, it would take me so long to work out the proper 'text etiquette' (textiquette?) that it's quicker to spell it out in full. I must admit I do occasionally use internet abbreviations such as LOL, BTW and IMHO - so I'm nothing if not totally hypocritical :-)

No - textspeak users are not necessarily stupid, but they often seem like it. One thing it's made me aware of is that when I read something, I tend to 'hear' the words in my head. If I'm having to read a message in a staccato fashion because it's full of 'c u l8r' and 'wot do u fink' and (worst of all) 'da' for 'the' - to me it makes the message sender seem like an idiot. They probably think it makes them sound 'street' or something (sorry, sumfink).

I've already posted elsewhere about the fits of apoplexy I suffer when I hear or read someone using 'should of' and I repeat my other bugbear, of which even very intelligent posters on here have been guilty, the inability to distinguish between 'lose' and 'loose'. Grrr.

Ah you see, you've started me off now.