Hi! I'm new here,so I hope you wont mind me jumping right in here,but there is something that is really getting under my skin lately. Is it just me who is afraid that the English language is about to die and be replaced by Textish? (Outside of it's proper place-the phone) Texting,..the new language that abbreviates everything it can get away with. It's no longer just on phones,where I can understand the need to abbreviate(money for each letter or word),..it's on Youtube,most forums I have run across,emails,etc.
It frightens me to think that in 10 years,the English language could possibly be replaced by texting. No more "You too!",..but only "u2".Or,..um,..dv8 instead of deviate.Or "4 1nce",as I saw it posted on Youtube the other day.As it is,people seem to be losing the ability to spell correctly in tons of places online. They dont seem to care that "they're" is a different word than "their",or "there". I saw "reason" typed as "reson",dropping the 'a' because you can still tell what word it is without having to type it correctly..It's like everyone is beginning to drop letters they dont think they need,to get the word across..in other words,..laziness.It's really beginning to scare me,since I love words and all their differences.
Please let me know if any of you are as spooked about it as me.Or,am I the only one,...

Hello Whiskeyriver and welcome to the site. You will find we are an amiable enoough bunch here and I am sure you will enjoy your stay.

Your point is well-made, of course, but the practice of simplfying the English language by geeting rid of some of its many spelling eccentricities is not new; indeed, it was your very own Noah Webster who used the practice in his 1806 dictionary when he changed words like colour into color, programme into program and honour into honor (although there are changes in the opposite direction, of course, as your own nom-de-computer shows, where US English speakers put an unnecessary "e" into "whisky").

And in the last century, when telegrams were commonly used and were charged by the word, abbreviations and word combinations were frequently used to save costs - for example the four-word "Thomas Cook and Sons" head office's name became "Cookbook".

What seems to be different now is that the perfectly understandable use of "tstspk" to facilitate the use of the unfriendly telephone keypad, seems to be spreading to normal writing, as you have observed. Whether or not it becomes acceptable and thus, eventually, the norm, must depend on the recipients of the messages. I suspect that, when the present younger generation, with its acceptance of txtspk as normal, becomes the older, employing, generation, then the change in the language will become permanent - as have so many previous changes.

The efforts of all the lexicographers in the world have always been powerless to change the writing and speaking habits of the populace; all they can do is to record them.

Welcome, Whiskeyriver!

I agree that certain sites on the Internet do seem to have been afflicted by txtspk, especially in the comments sections of places like YouTube. Since I've found the comments on that site only marginally literate at best I don't bother with them nowadays, so probably don't get as worried about this as some people.

As Richard says, it may be that the 'younger generation' will force through a change in the way many words are spelled although I don't imagine it will happen for many years yet.

Of course, as XKCD indicates, the poster using txtspk might be a senator.

Also as Mark Liberman says on Language Log,

quote:

... the teenagers that I know are scornful of txt-speak abbreviations, and see them as something that clueless adults do.

There is a good chance that the use of txtspk is simply a phase, and will die a natural death after a few years.

Richard,

quote:

US English speakers put an unnecessary "e" into "whisky"

I think the Irish might argue about that. I didn't know you are Scottish.

quote:

Originally posted by arnie:
I think the Irish might argue about that. I didn't know you are Scottish.

Not being Irish but living within 30 minutes' drive of the homes of Tullamore and Kilbeggan Whiskeys I happily confirm "we" do add the "e".

However, I don't seem to know too many txtspkrs who appreciate a good dram.

Bea

Is it just me who is afraid that the English language is about to die and be replaced by Textish? (Outside of it's proper place-the phone) Texting,..the new language that abbreviates everything it can get away with. It's no longer just on phones,where I can understand the need to abbreviate(money for each letter or word),..it's on Youtube,most forums I have run across,emails,etc.

No, it's not just you. You have company. Whether txting is a threat to English, I would have to say "not at all". In fact, a while I ago I blogged about how txting caused the fall of Rome (link).

A bigger threat of texting on mobile phones is not its impact on the English language, but the unintentionally funny texts that get sent because of the auto-correct feature.

If English can survive our silly and basically stupid spelling "system" for the past couple of centuries, it can survive anything.

In Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal says the things some people seem to think about texting aren't true. From Language Log:

quote:

Text messages aren’t full of abbreviations - typically less than ten percent of the words use them. [Frequency Illusion]
These abbreviations aren't a new language - they’ve been around for decades. [Recency Illusion]
They aren't just used by kids - adults of all ages and institutions are the leading texters these days. [Adolescent Illusion]

quote:

Originally posted by arnie:
Welcome, Whiskeyriver!
Richard,

quote:

US English speakers put an unnecessary "e" into "whisky"

I think the Irish might argue about that. I didn't know you are Scottish.

I did wonder whether to make this point but decided not to.

Of course, in the UK "whisky" means Scotch; "whiskey" means Irish - but in the USA all whiskies are spelt "whiskey" and a useful distinction is thereby lost.

Whiskey drinkers are not usually capable of making a "useful distinction."

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
Of course, in the UK "whisky" means Scotch; "whiskey" means Irish - but in the USA all whiskies are spelt "whiskey" and a useful distinction is thereby lost.

I'm not sure how useful it really is, since it's only apparent in spelling and it's so easy to get confused. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, this is a regional spelling difference. whiskey is used by Irish and American distillers, and whisky is used by UK and Canadian distillers. However some writers, no matter which country they are in, like to use whisky for the Scottish and Canadian varieties.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: goofy,

quote:

Originally posted by goofy:
In Txtng: The Gr8 Db8, David Crystal says the things some people seem to think about texting aren't true. From Language Log:

quote:

Text messages aren’t full of abbreviations - typically less than ten percent of the words use them. [Frequency Illusion]
These abbreviations aren't a new language - they’ve been around for decades. [Recency Illusion]
They aren't just used by kids - adults of all ages and institutions are the leading texters these days. [Adolescent Illusion]

Thanks goofy. I was going to suggest the Crystal book but you saved me the effort of looking up the correct title.
I'm quite a fan of Crystal and go around recommending his books all the time. he manages the tightrope walking trick of being erudite and popular at the same time. Always worth a look.

Consider the brevity of old telegraph messages. So-called textspeak is nothing new.

Good to see another new member - welcome to the asylum!

Welcome WhiskeyRiver...and Bea, too. So nice seeing two new posters here!

I hear from family stories that my father and uncle used to argue every time they got together about whether whisky has an "e" or not. I guess it's better than arguing about religion or politics!

Around heah, the politcians get drunk on whisky/shiskey and then argue about how best to force their religion on everyone else.

quote:

Originally posted by Geoff:
Consider the brevity of old telegraph messages. So-called textspeak is nothing new.

Good to see another new member - welcome to the asylum!

True enough, but as I think I commented elsewhere, telegraphese stayed in the telegrams it was designed for. Txtspk, on the other hand, seems to be migrating to normal writing where it really has no place.

Edit to add link.
There is an amusing, if apocryphal story about telegrams and punctuation on Snopes today - http://www.snopes.com/language/mistakes/noprice.asp

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Richard English,

I review articles for publication and surely don't see that, Richard. Nor do I see it in other writing (reports, emails, letters, etc.). What is an example of textspeak migrating?

quote:

Originally posted by Kalleh:
I review articles for publication and surely don't see that, Richard. Nor do I see it in other writing (reports, emails, letters, etc.). What is an example of textspeak migrating?

It was whiskeyriver's contention originally, not mine. But I agree - certainly in online forums txtskp is getting very common and there is no need for it at all.

I have heard from those in the education business that it is creeping into students' work as well, although I haven't seen any example myself.

Like the old blonde joke about the sister who wanted her blonde sibling to pick up a steer. However she only had enough money for a one-word telegram so she sent "comfortable", since she knew the blonde would read the word VERRRRY slowly.

quote:

But I agree - certainly in online forums txtskp is getting very common and there is no need for it at all.

I could see it on forums, and I think that is fine. Where I haven't seen it is in business or academia. That has remained about the same, I think.

I have seen versions of txtspeak in a couple of forums I read, but not on others. I've also seen it in the comments on YouTube, and sometimes on Facebook. It certainly isn't everywhere, though. Most of the places I've seen it can be accessed easily by people using a smartphone, so they might be using txtspeak automatically.

“If u cn rd ths u 2 cn gt a gd jb w- hi pa”

A 1970's subway ad for stenoscript, an easier-to-learn alternative to Gregg shorthand, containing just a handful of symbols; you weren't likely to get up to 120 words/min like the Greggies, but 100 was doable.

As far as I know stenoscript never migrated off the secretary's pad (tho I used it in my journal for a decade..)

TeeHee ...

I used to write my journal in shorthand

Bea

I've never used shorthand, but I do remember it. Didn't it have all these squiggly marks?

Hi,all! Wow! Sorry,I was away for so long.I went out of state. I'm amazed to see how this conversation has grown. I had noticed what you call txtspk in a lot of different places,not only in places like Youtube,but in most chat rooms. I had visited a few,and found them hard to read,so backed out.I get curious about what people chat about when they have no clue who they are talking to at all.
As to Whiskey,..my Father was from Oklahoma,and they spell in that way. That's the only way I know.I lived in the UK for many years,at my Grandmother's,and never noticed the difference.Having dsaid that,I have seen one song that I love oodles spelled both ways.Whisky in the Jar,or Whiskey in the Jar.Also,..when I spell in without the e,my PC program says I have spelled it wrong.Lol.

quote:

when I spell in without the e,my PC program says I have spelled it wrong.Lol.

That's because your spellcheck is still in the default language - US English. Probably appropriate for you but a pain in the posterior for us. Fortunately it's easy enough to change - although in my experience there are many who either don't know or don't care - or both.

Great to see you back, WhiskeyRiver!