Txt Spk – Yea/Nah?

The English language has undergone countless evolutions throughout the thousands of years it has been utilised.

From the Elizabethan Ages where Shakespeare captured the hearts of many with his eloquent dialogue in Romeo and Juliet, “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night,” and until now, where grammatical errors and misspelling plague the Internet on every platform of social media.

We’ve come a long way.

As I check my Facebook newsfeed in the morning, I cringe at what is written and refrain (with difficulty) from correcting ‘my friends’ in fear of sounding like a complete Grammar Nazi; “(Insert name here) I luv yooh so much, where 2getha 4eva baby.”  Or even, “Wat r u doin 2day? I hope your not busy babe.”

I think of the potential emotional impact words have upon us and then I read what people write and all hope just withers away into thin air.

Indeed, some people may just embrace the so-called beauty of the natural evolution of the English language, but I must ask, is this romantic in any shape or form? No. Is it necessary? No. Is this limited to Gen-Y? Probably not.

I believe the emergence of mobile phones and popular internet sites like Twitter (140 characters or less), Facebook and Myspace are partly to blame for the crumble of conventional language, which have lead users to transform words into acronyms and numbers that ignore conventional grammar rules.

The recent inductions of LOL (Laughing Out Loud), OMG (Oh My God) and LMAO (Laughing My Ass Off) among many others to the Oxford Dictionary is due to the growing utilisation of them in e-mail, social media and even sometimes in verbal conversation. No doubt, it would have sent literary guardians like William Shakespeare and Rainer Maria Rilke turning in their graves.

It seems language has passed an irreversible point in modern age.

However, the most disappointing thing of all is not that words are being morphed beyond measure, it’s rather the fact that we are the masters of our own fate; we control our own utilisation of language.

There is a silver lining though, amidst the craze of acronyms and dropping the ‘g’ off of words, Facebook groups such as “You use ‘your’ and ‘you’re’ properly? Excuse me while I undress myself” and “I judge you when you use poor grammar” are slowly gaining members in the shadows. Maybe some of my hope has been restored.