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What do you think of Internet spelling? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Remster Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 4805 days ago 120 posts - 134 votes  Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: German, French | Message 1 of 17 04 October 2011 at 11:17am | IP Logged | ||
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Welcome, I hope you will find this interesting to read.
I decided to ask about this because of a past experience with the bad spelling some people use on the internet. As most of you know the rules state these sort of things are not allowed, I'm glad they've done that. When I was young, I sat behind a pc for the first time. I played an online game and quickly got absorbed in the ''language'' they were using''. Either because they were lazy, or they didn't have any time. An example I'll always remember is ''U'' instead of ''you''. I started using it as well, the result... I once actually used ''u'' all throughout an English test... From then on, I decided to quit using internet slang. What do you people think of internet slang and its current uprising? Have you ever caught yourself saying ''lol''? My opinion is that it's harmful to one's spelling abilities. I hope this is a legitimate thread, because I'm not sure whether things like this are to be discussed here, but I do not encourage it, on the opposite, I encourage people to stop using it. Seriously, one of spelling's worst enemies is internet slang. (I'm typing on a laptop, since there's no desktop at my school. I'm not used to laptops at all and often experience grammar/spelling errors as a result of the cursor ''jumping'' around.) I always try to learn new things, even in English, but if you see some bad errors here, they're most likely due to my inexperience with laptops). Edited by Remster on 04 October 2011 at 4:46pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4828 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 2 of 17 04 October 2011 at 3:35pm | IP Logged | ||
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It's an interesting subject.
While I don't say "LOL", I see no harm in using emoticons in email and forum postings, since it is often hard to convey emotion correctly in words alone, especially in a mixed-native-language environment. By the way, since you place high importance on spelling, please check carefully the difference between "it's" and "its". It's an easy slip to make, even for native speakers ("there" and "their" is another common one that I sometimes get wrong). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Remster Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 4805 days ago 120 posts - 134 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: German, French | Message 3 of 17 04 October 2011 at 4:54pm | IP Logged | ||
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Thanks for responding.
You're right about the difference between ''it's'' and ''its''. I actually know the difference, but sometimes it slips in. I guess it happens when I'm typing and reach a certain speed, I make a little mistake like that. Thanks for pointing it out though, it's a good refresher. Maybe I sounded too strict in my last post. I do think spelling is important, but I don't ''shoot'' people for making mistakes. I make them as well. I don't mind if someone makes a few mistakes. Some people might even be dyslectic, so I should not ''shoot'' them down for it. I don't mind emoticon's, just like you, they help convey emotion. Only the ''0mg 4ackz0rz 1337 every1...'' kind of thing really bugs me. I do think that proper spelling (or as good as you can) should be preffered above the ''slang'' type, but if people use it, that's okay, it's their choice. Edited by Remster on 04 October 2011 at 4:56pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tibbles Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5191 days ago 245 posts - 422 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Korean | Message 4 of 17 05 October 2011 at 8:21am | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not tempted to use internet spelling because I type reasonably fast, and it would probably slow me down having to remember that "you" is spelled "u". However, the one place I have been tempted to use the shorthand is when texting from a mobile phone because the typing interface is so slow.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Remster Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 4805 days ago 120 posts - 134 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: German, French | Message 5 of 17 05 October 2011 at 9:37am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, texting or sending an SMS takes ages, that's why I never use it. :)
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| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4828 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 6 of 17 05 October 2011 at 12:15pm | IP Logged | ||
I agree with you, and I hope you know I wasn't just being "snippy" :-) The slightly annoying thing with "it's" and "its" is that logically, anyone would think that the form with the apostrophe would give you the possessive. I can't now remember the historical development of this; it has a kind of logic of its own, but it is not logical on first sight. But language changes over time, as we all know, and who knows, one day this might change again. As well as human-induced typos, I often get the "sticky keyboard" problem on my old laptop, where keys I press don't come out. Luckily the browser spell-checker picks up most of them. In the early days of the internet, Usenet forums were the precursor to web forums like this, dominated mainly by American students and grad students, and inevitably, informality in the language became the norm, and that's where we got emoticons from as well. However, the type of language you cite above, as the Americans say, "gets old real soon". On forums such as this one, where a love of language is a given, it behoves us to make a bit of an effort, and I am glad the posting window has that spelling reminder, reminding us that a certain standard is expected. Edited by montmorency on 05 October 2011 at 12:17pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4828 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 7 of 17 05 October 2011 at 12:27pm | IP Logged | ||
I hate sending texts. Having been using computer keyboards every day for decades by the time mobile phones came along, I just couldn't get used to the mobile phone way of putting in text - it was horrible. There were (and maybe still are) ways of sending phone texts from your computer if you happened to be at it, but the phobile moan companies contrived to make it as difficult as possible, so I gave up trying. Given the choice between having a tooth pulled and having to send a text, the text wins, but only by a narrow margin and after careful thought. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Remster Diglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 4805 days ago 120 posts - 134 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English Studies: German, French | Message 8 of 17 05 October 2011 at 4:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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There are a lot of things that are just plain weird.
Gender nouns I think, is one of them, but on the other hand, it's what makes a language and its grammar interesting. The words ''it's'' and ''its'' do make sense, but I think the main reason it is often overlooked is because it sounds exactly similar and that... doesn't make sense. :P I just now noticed I also typed ''it is'' in the fourth line at the end. If people keep forgetting it, they could use that option. By the way, that's an interesting post about the origin of emoticons and stuff. I have to be honest, at first the motto above the (post reply) box was a bit intimidating, but I fully agree with it. It's good to have a place where people make an effort in their language. That's a good one ''phobile moan'', I like it! I guess there are people who simply can't get used to it. I myself shudder at the thought of texting something as simple as ''I'll be home soon''. (Edit): I wasn't offended, I know your intentions were good. Edited by Remster on 05 October 2011 at 4:46pm 1 person has voted this message useful |
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