[hondateg91]

Can't think of a time when I have ever talked like that and that's one thing I cant stand either is the "text talk". Even on my old t9 phone I would always type out the full word. Some things I just won't understand.

[iN8ter]

I could not agree more... The issue with the newer, younger, generations is that everyone is computer savvy, and 7 year olds are walking around with an iphone4... All the class work from grades 3 and up is done on the computer. Everyone is so used to spell check, and not writing things free hand, that when it come times to actually write something without computer guided assistance, they simply can't do it...

I remember being in elementary school, we didn't have a computer in the classroom until grade 3, but we had one really old mac with a 5 1/4 floppy drive. All work was to be written by hand. In grade 5, I typed up an assignment vs. free hand writing it. My teacher would not accept it and made me write it out...

While I am familiar with the txt lingo, and might use it to txt, or maybe on MSN Messenger (<- my generation, lol) etc... I am fortunate enough to also be quite familiar with the actual English language, and know which one to use, and when...

I am not saying that I am better than anyone, I blame the uneducated youth on a terrible education system, that keeps lowering the bar, to accommodate below average students...

I agree. Another side effect of this is that a lot of these kids have really poor handwriting. Like, really poor. People tell me I write like a woman because my handwriting is so good, but it's because when I was in elementary school the teachers made sure you learned how to write well and that your writing was very legible...

Not these days.

This used to be stereotypical of male students, but now it's male and female students who have terrible hand writing.

And it gets on my nerves. If your handwriting is good and you misspelled some words... Well, maybe you just made a mistake. If your handwriting is terrible and you misspelled some words, then my opinion of you dips dramatically.

The reason why these kids are tethered to computers ie because it's easier to push buttons than to learn how to write cursive properly.

And yes, spell check, grammar check (boy, some teachers applaud your grammar skills when all you did was set Microsoft Word to Strict Grammar Checking...). ****, these days they don't even have to look into a thesaurus because even that's embedded into the computer word processors.

The word processors even make it impossible for them to really know how to properly format something as simple as a business letter by hand, or fill out an envelope.

I'm all for computers. I love them. I don't know what I'd do without them. But from a Language Arts and communication perspective they are dumbing people down at an accellerating pace.

I feel sorry for the up and coming generation (e.g. those born 1995 and later)...

Oh, and am I the only person who gets FURIOUS when someone with terrible handwriting leaves a note or takes a message (written down) for me? Why bother, when I'm going to have to conference with you to know what the **** it is, anyways?!

[iN8ter]

Okay, that's completely understandable if you don't have an unlimited texting plan. But what is the point of doing it while you are on the forums? It doesn't cost to put the 2 extra letters to make 'your'.

I know most people on this forum are capable of proper grammar, let's see it happen!

People multi task on their computers and on various devices. Think of a whole day of communicating on a computer, mobile phone. Email, Forums, SMS, IM, etc.

Those saved keystrokes add up at the end of the day, and when you use these devices heavily there is always the risk of overuse injuries like CPS. There is valid reason for shortening words, especially on a computer keyboard seeing as how they still aren't really good when it comes to ergonomics :P

But there is a time and a place for everything :P

Don't think I'd send fax the cover letter attached to my resume with a bunch of that crap on it... Hrm... No, I wouldn't.

[Masahiro]

People write cursive these days? :P I thought I was the only one.

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[cbreze]

NO.
not enough justification for more essays.

Apparently LOL, ROFL and <3 are in the dictionary now.
Yes.
<3 is in the dictionary.

When I was in school <3 meant "less than 3". is that not it?

[Laura Knotek]

When I was in school <3 meant "less than 3". is that not it?

I have no clue what other meaning "<3" might have.

[Snick Snack]

I have no clue what other meaning "<3" might have.

Love It's a heart on its side. Perhaps you're just joking!

[cbreze]

Love It's a heart on its side. Perhaps you're just joking!

A sideways heart? DOH!(face palm)who'd a thunk it? Probably not somebody over 20. 30 tops.

[Laura Knotek]

Love It's a heart on its side. Perhaps you're just joking!

Seriously, I had no clue.

I know LOL, ROTFLMAO, TTYL, BRB, but not many others.

[ekafara]

I love this thread. I'm glad there are a lot of people on here that think grammar and writing skills are on the decline. I don't forsee this changing though.

It would be great to get the input of a teacher(low grade, around 1 or 2). I'm sure they teach the kids how to print, but do they learn cursive anymore?

I'm sure tons of older things are on the decline, not just grammar and writing skills. I remember learning long division but I'm sure that's long dead. If kids now-a-days didn't have a calculator because they forgot it they could whip out their phone which has one on it.

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[BoldtotheMax]

I know quite a few people who text like this, some old, some young. I for certain think it lazy and or poor education. Yes a little of both...my older friends who type that way say they do it to save time.....I respond back yes, those few letters is really shaving off the minutes in a day, lol!

And thank god for unlimited texting! I may pay 20 bucks a month but I couldn't imagine having that one bad month due to not having unlimited because my step kid don't listen....and she usually dosent....12k in texting a month!

I have taken the phone, but sucks when one parent tries to put their foot down and the other over looks it....grrr...

[evil.bunny]

Seriously, I had no clue.

I know LOL, ROTFLMAO, TTYL, BRB, but not many others.

I didn't know that too. The above are some of the ones that I've used. My younger sister had this in her status on Gtalk, "DND". I sent her a message, "Dungeons & Dragons?" She corrected me to say it's Do Not Disturb.

[Thud Hardsmack]

It's been mentioned twice in this thread that part of the cause could be the 9-key keypads on older phones in the hands of exciteable youngsters with as-yet unsettled thought patterns. I'll expand on this and offer that the cause is pure laziness, because it's not relegated to just texting - there's evidence in preferring skype/other VoIP software to typing in a box. Which is just crazy if you think about it - give a kid a 105-key keyboard and all they want to do is talk or type half-assed; yet given a device that provides crystal-clear voice communications, they want to type as much as possible in as few characters as possible. Talk about having your priorities backwards.

[belfastdispatcher]

As I said, I prefer kids to type rather then hold a phone to their ears for hours. Some short cuts make sense, like LOL, TTYL etc.
And let's not forget there were shorthand alphabets invented hundreds of years ago to help people/journalists type/write faster, my mum studied it and there were lots of books around the house about it when we grew up. I believe it's still being used in courts to this day.
Just because teenagers invented one doesn't mean they're less useful or make less sense. It's all to do with the need to communicate faster and more efficient.

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[T�nis]

I go back and edit my cb posts if I see that auto complete entered "we'll" when I meant "well." It's a good point about how the heavy texters often have many conversations going at once, but to me it just looks like the person doesn't give a sh*t. So, I do tend to skip over any posts with gibberish for text; I don't care how much the person is multitasking or how many other conversations s/he has going, thereby necessitating use of the "shorthand." Also, am I the only person who's not on facebook? (I actually take pride in that, but it also means I have no friends.)

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[belfastdispatcher]

I go back and edit my cb posts if I see that auto complete entered "we'll" when I meant "well." It's a good point about how the heavy texters often have many conversations going at once, but to me it just looks like the person doesn't give a sh*t. So, I do tend to skip over any posts with gibberish for text; I don't care how much the person is multitasking or how many other conversations s/he has going, thereby necessitating use of the "shorthand." Also, am I the only person who's not on facebook? (I actually take pride in that, but it also means I have no friends.)

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Yep, we're to the point where people will think there's something wrong with you if you're not on facebook. Just give in lol.
By the way, shorthand should be strictly for messaging not writing on forums.

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[Thud Hardsmack]

As I said, I prefer kids to type rather then hold a phone to their ears for hours. Some short cuts make sense, like LOL, TTYL etc.
And let's not forget there were shorthand alphabets invented hundreds of years ago to help people/journalists type/write faster, my mum studied it and there were lots of books around the house about it when we grew up. I believe it's still being used in courts to this day.
Just because teenagers invented one doesn't mean they're less useful or make less sense. It's all to do with the need to communicate faster and more efficient.

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True, except that was/is for getting information transcribed - not communication. Journalists and etc. still filled out their sentences properly before making articles and such public. Just like a stenographer uses a near-incomprehensible language while taking down court proceedings, but the published documents are full and correct grammar.

As far as the need for speed goes with text communications the current record holder for texting used a full sentence with no abbreviations, and did so in about 25 seconds. I'm far faster than my wife on a touchscreen vs her full qwerty, and she uses a little text shorthand. I personally don't mind LOL, TTYL, and other full sentence acronyms, to be completely honest.

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[belfastdispatcher]

LOL, I just remembered a friend's wife thought LOL meant "lots of love" She wouldn't believe him until she asked the kids what it meant.

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[T�nis]

LOL, I just remembered a friend's wife thought LOL meant "lots of love" She wouldn't believe him until she asked the kids what it meant.

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That's what I always meant when I wrote it, lol.

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[Laura Knotek]

True, except that was/is for getting information transcribed - not communication. Journalists and etc. still filled out their sentences properly before making articles and such public. Just like a stenographer uses a near-incomprehensible language while taking down court proceedings, but the published documents are full and correct grammar.

As far as the need for speed goes with text communications the current record holder for texting used a full sentence with no abbreviations, and did so in about 25 seconds. I'm far faster than my wife on a touchscreen vs her full qwerty, and she uses a little text shorthand. I personally don't mind LOL, TTYL, and other full sentence acronyms, to be completely honest.

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My mother worked as a legal secretary. She used Gregg Shorthand to take notes. It looked completed indecipherable to me. However, the letters and documents she typed had no spelling or grammatical errors.

I belong to a local club, and their secretary still uses Gregg Shorthand to take notes. The minutes of the meetings contain no spelling or grammatical errors.

[Jude526]

to the OP with the teenager.........if she can't respect your wishes about having the phone at the dinner table then just take it from her ! Set ground rules for her with her texting. Let her know that family time is family time and when watching a movie.....the same thing goes..........no texting. We all got along before this technology and I think we can get along without it in certain situations. It is called being respectful and courteous. I am unemployed right now but when working, the worse thing a person can do is be on the phone when someone is trying to assist them or have a conversation with them. I won't help someone who is on their phone. They are being rude......and for the most part, they are just talking to a friend. They can put down the phone and get their shopping done. Another thing that bothers me is people who talk so loud so their conversation is being heard. I don't need to hear your business. It is so annoying.

[Laura Knotek]

I would have to say that it is not only teenagers who text at inappropriate times. I was at a movie theatre last year. Before the film started, an usher told the audience to put away their phones and that no texting was allowed during the movie. The audience was comprised of 90% adults, not teenagers.

[cmcichon]

Reading through the comments on this thread made me simultaneously laugh and fear for our future. Seriously, though, being able to effectively communicate in both written and oral mediums is still an important skill that everyone should have.

Now, I am not saying I am perfect, but I do try to correct myself when I commit grammar mistakes. I also have a bad habit of doing the same for my family, friends, and some coworkers, which typically results in getting "the look" from them.

This thread also reminds me of frustration I feel when I help my girlfriend, who is a math teacher in the Chicago Public Schools, make corrections on her student's papers. Last week Friday, I came across a student who actually wrote "b/c" on their assignments, instead of "because." Out of all the errors I encountered (trust me, there were many grammatical errors ), this was the one that sent me over the edge. Why do kids (I use the term "kids" loosely, since college students are known to have text-speak permeate their essays) think that this is an acceptable way of writing?

Yes, languages change (someone made the reference to reading Shakespearean era English in an earlier post), but this trend disturbs me. If kids pick up these habits at such a young age, how are they going to break them?

As side comment, I would like to add that, while all of this probably started with the use of instant messaging programs (AIM!), using those programs actually made me a faster typist. I find that to be funny; instead of sending me down the road of using "brb," "lol" and "ttyl" in essays, I would crank out typed papers in no time. Oh well, I guess I will just consider myself lucky.

Thanks for reading my little rant. Maybe if we all work together, we can put a stop to this text-speak madness! (Or not, but a guy can dream, right?)

[T�nis]

... when working, the worse thing a person can do is be on the phone when someone is trying to assist them or have a conversation with them. I won't help someone who is on their phone. They are being rude......and for the most part, they are just talking to a friend. They can put down the phone and get their shopping done. Another thing that bothers me is people who talk so loud so their conversation is being heard. I don't need to hear your business. It is so annoying.

I agree with the rules part and these things, too. I skip right over dealing with someone who won't stop blabbing on the phone. I don't even know why people who do that would want someone else listening to them. I'm a private person, and I won't talk on the phone in front of others even if the subject matter is inoccuous.

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[flyersfan76]

Im pretty shocked at the open season on younger people going on in this thread. I know plenty of older people who type in "text speak." ****, my own mother substitutes U for you!

I think a lot of the abbreviating grew out of having to type on the old dumbphones. it truly amazes me when someone with a qwerty phone sends me some sort of gibberish-filled message... it never occurred to me until now that they may have spent enough time on a 9 key phone that it just altered their vocabulary..

I always typed full words when I had a standard mobile phone so the transition was easy.