From: Scott Chase (ecphoric@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed 05 Mar 2003 - 06:18:39 GMT
>From: "Wade T. Smith" <wade.t.smith@verizon.net>
>Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>To: Memetics Listserv <memetics@mmu.ac.uk>
>Subject: Fwd: The direction of the English language
>Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2003 08:35:47 -0500
>
>
>
>Begin forwarded message:
>
>British Girl Baffles Teacher with SMS Essay
>
>Sun Mar 2, 9:14 PM ET
>
>LONDON (Reuters) - An English essay written by a British teenager in
>text messaging short-hand has reignited concern among teachers that
>literacy standards are under threat.
>
>The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on Monday that the 13-year-old's
>teacher could not decipher what the youngster had written.
>
>"I could not believe what I was seeing. The page was riddled with
>hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate," the teacher
>told the newspaper.
>
>The teenager's essay which caused the problem began:
>
>"My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :
>kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."
>
>In translation:
>
>"My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to
>go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three
>screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place."
>
>Judith Gillespie, of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council, told the
>newspaper a decline in grammar and written English was partly linked to
>the text messaging craze.
>
>"Pupils think orally and write phonetically," she said.
>
>
>
I don't think that the language submitted in shorthand would be appropriate
for a chool esay, but I don't see this shothnd way of expression as a
decline. It's more of an adjustment to certain circumstances maybe. I'm not
familiar with the ins and outs of text messaging, but if people are loooking
for ways to convey messages in a very concise and efficient manner,
shorthand of some sort would be the way to go. It's LOL and AFAIK writ large
with a smiley icon on top.
If Shakespeare were alive today he'd probably be posting in electronic fora
an be using net lingo and other such stuff himself. He may have thrown a
couple disses and beee-ach's in there too.
Language changes with the times, unless like you're totally stuck in the
olden times or something. I ain't got no problems with the new grammar ;-)
[obligatory degenerative wink emoticon]
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