Good spelling still matters

[Rob Lister]

Originally Posted by BeccaPrice

my kids, bless them, say that txt-speak is for poseurs. Their texts to me are short, but well spelled and even punctuated properly.

For a long time I refused to text. As the father of three young teens, I actually called to ask 'Where are you?', 'What are you doing?', 'What time will you be home?', etc.

They would always encourage me to text them instead because actually having to answer and talk was so ... they had no word, but the word they were looking for must have been profane if the looks on their faces while mentally searching for it was any indication.

We finally reached a compromise. I have one multipurpose text that asks all of these questions. I text ...

A

... and that means, 'Where are you?', 'What are you doing?', and 'What time will you be home?'. It worked well for years. So long as I get a response in a reasonable time, I won't call.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

That's even shorter than text code! But I suppose as it really is a code, as opposed to abbreviated-to-a-letter words, I'd be okay with that. (Shouldn't you be typing "W"?)

I'd try it with my wife, but she hates it when I check up on her. She's the kind of person who leaves her phone off until she wants to call someone... turns it on, makes the call... and turns it off again, even if she only left a message. Texting her is pretty much pointless.

[Rob Lister]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

That's even shorter than text code! But I suppose as it really is a code, as opposed to abbreviated-to-a-letter words, I'd be okay with that. (Shouldn't you be typing "W"?)

I'd try it with my wife, but she hates it when I check up on her. She's the kind of person who leaves her phone off until she wants to call someone... turns it on, makes the call... and turns it off again, even if she only left a message. Texting her is pretty much pointless.

Where longer texts are required, I admit to the occasional 'r', 'u' and 'y'.



My kids use T9, or some similar function, that guesses at the word they're trying to text and completes it for them. This has resulted in some humorous (and not so humorous) misunderstandings.

[morriss003]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

"Amercia" is a perfect reference to the later point in the article. I heard about that gaffe on Friday, and thought it was hilarious.

And it's so indicative of the concurrent lack of proofing and editing that's being done on documents. The one downside to the web and instant communications is that everyone wants to post their content NOW, they won't take the time to proof anything.

Very true, and posts in forums are an obvious example. I'm as guilty as anyone.

[ApK]

I'm not a texter, but when I do text, I'll take any avenue of brevity possible, because:
1. I don't have a keyboard on my phone...any text entry is annoying so I won't type two chars when one will do.
2. I don't have unlimited messaging, so it costs me money to send messages, and more if I go over 160 chars (or whatever SMS length is).
3. It's fun to see how few characters I can encode meaning into, like in the story about the Voltaire/Frederick dinner invitation.

[Andrew H.]

Here are links to a couple of interesting articles (with links to more interesting articles) on "hopefully" as a shibboleth.

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3982

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3983

[FizzyWater]

I actually got an email from a colleage at work recently with the subject line: R U in 2Day?

I almost hit the SPAM button because I thought it was just impossible that someone at work would use text-language for business! When I (not so politely) checked to make sure it really was from her, she said she was typing on her Blackberry and wasn't good at typing out long words.

Interestingly, she hasn't sent any more of that crap since I asked.

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I can wait.

I mean, seriously. I'll be glad to wait a long, long time.

Ohhh I hear you, I hear you loud and clear.
Amen to that my brother.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by ApK

Ok...but then by what standard does anyone claim to know "what a word means?" What informs your disagreement?

The point is that no English dictionary (that I know of) claims to be an authority. If the majority of English users start referring to cats by the word "dogs", the Oxford English Dictionary will duly change the definition. The "vox populi" is the standard, according to all the dictionaries.

I think that this can result in some useful distinctions between words disappearing. If 99% of the people start spelling lose as "loose", that doesn't necessarily require me to follow suit.

On the other hand, some of the old rules seem stupid. English infinitives consist of two words, unless clarity is destroyed, I feel free to split them. I see no reason not to put a preposition at the end of a sentence.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by ApK

I'm not a texter, but when I do text, I'll take any avenue of brevity possible, because:

I don't always text, but when I do, I text Dos Equis.

[VaporPunk]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

I don't always text, but when I do, I text Dos Equis.

If I had any Karma left, you good sir (or lady), would be receiving some.

I hate misspelling. Still, I do it all the time. Self-loathing is a heartless bitch.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

I don't always text, but when I do, I text Dos Equis.

da*n straight!

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Ninjalawyer

A dictionary is just a useful tool, and it becomes a lot less useful if the meanings of words have shifted to the point where the dictionary meaning isn't in sync with the way the word is commonly used.

That's precisely why dictionaries are important, because they track the changes in the meaning of a word over time. A good example is the word "nice", which has radically changed its meaning many times over the centuries.

[EowynCarter]

Originally Posted by Rob Lister

For a long time I refused to text. As the father of three young teens, I actually called to ask 'Where are you?', 'What are you doing?', 'What time will you be home?', etc.

They would always encourage me to text them instead because actually having to answer and talk was so ... they had no word, but the word they were looking for must have been profane if the looks on their faces while mentally searching for it was any indication.

We finally reached a compromise. I have one multipurpose text that asks all of these questions. I text ...

A

... and that means, 'Where are you?', 'What are you doing?', and 'What time will you be home?'. It worked well for years. So long as I get a response in a reasonable time, I won't call.

I used the T1. Was faster than translating to text . Now i have a smartphone, works better

[rhadin]

Originally Posted by Steven Lyle Jordan

I'd try it with my wife, but she hates it when I check up on her. She's the kind of person who leaves her phone off until she wants to call someone... turns it on, makes the call... and turns it off again, even if she only left a message. Texting her is pretty much pointless.

I use my cell phone exactly the same way. In addition, I have all texting blocked and never do it myself, which annoys my children to no end