Internet Shorthand :: Communication Language Computers Essays

Internet ShorthandTranslate the following conversation, if you canGUY1 wuz up?GUY2 nm, just chillin, u?GUY1 co, btw did u hear about joeGUY2 noGUY1 imho, hes crazy ) he told julia that he wanted 2 8==D her the mallGUY2 roflmao ) ur right, hes crazyGUY1 4 factualGUY2 hey, I g2g, ttylGUY1 l8rAny guess on to what is going on? Well, Ill go ahead and give you the basic rundown on what the conversation say Guy1 was commenting on how is friend Joe asked a girl (Julia) if they could befuddle consensual sex together in the local mall. Guy2 found this exchange very amusing, as he was rolling on the floor laughing my ass off. Furthermore, Guy1 also interjected his own personal opinion that Joe was/is crazy. Finally they agreed to converse at a later date. All that from 43 separate symbols and words. Welcome to the future. However, in my humble opinion, you can exchange the word future with hell. The internet, chatting and the glut of instant messengers have helped create a subculture of the English langue that is starting to creep into everyday life. Its a disturbing trend. I feel the line needs to be haggard between the fast flowing conversational style shorthand of internet writing and formal English style before the way we write as we know it makes a radical change towards simple pictures and codes. Maybe part of my opinion is based on spite If I had to learn all the commonwealth and donts of modern English, so should you. But I think its more then just that. I can see the writing on the wall and its not looking too bright. Dumbing down the language to simplest terms can be a very dangerous thing. Dont believe me, flip through a copy of Orwells 1984 and youll see how Big Brother has developed a plainspeak directive. In fact, Im not alone in this belief. In Sven Birkets article Into the Electronic Millennium he discusses the devolution of modern language The complexity and distinctiveness of spoken and indite expression, whic h are deeply bound to traditions of print literacy, will gradually be replaced by a more telegraphic sort of plainspeak (70).