Can someone PLEASE explain something to me?

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060705/ap_on_re_us/simpl_wurdz

First of all...I dont believe that spelling the way we hear things will cause the rate of illiteracy to go down.
secondly:
This article has me thinking about the way some people spell on the internet. Is it cool to spell 'what' like 'wut'? Is it laziness? Are we just not checking before we submit?
(ok so my screen name and spelling reputation doesnt make me the best person to talk about this...but when I signed up alicialovesdisney was too long i think)

Discuss :wave:

 

[wannab@dis]

The article was almost as hidious as some of the posts on this forum. Spelling MISTAKES are one thing... but shortcuts are just a sign of being lazy. Exceptions, as pointed out in the article, are one thing... but "u" and "wat" are annoying.

Your nickname, that's fine!

 

[minnie2000]

I don't like this idea of changing spelling. Our language has a history, and is derived from other languages. We can't change it just like that!

They had a spelling reform in Germany a few years ago. It was supposed to get rid of capital letters for nouns (in German all nouns had a capital letter until the reform) and to stop using umlauts, so that 'umlaut o' (sorry can't print this) would become oe. I don't think this has been popular at all, and from what I see, many people are still using the old ways.

Anyway, if we spelled words the way we said them, what about regional accents? Everyone would spell things differently, and we wouldn't understand! I don't know how much accents vary in the USA, but in the UK we have lots of very different accents, and this phonetic spelling would cause chaos.

 

[Amber]

I don't understand it either. How many posts have we all seen here that use words (if you can call them that) like "b4" "cuz" and "wut" that we just pass over because:
1. they seem unintelligible
2. they are difficult to decipher.

If we communicated as a country (or world) by text message, that may be a different story. But we don't. We are intelligent people, but no one would ever know that if we were to start spelling things incorrectly.

 

[Connor002]

I find it excessively irritating...

EDIT: On tangent... I found this article very difficult to read. Does that not say something about the proposed "new system?"

 

[nicholas]

I don't understand it either. How many posts have we all seen here that use words (if you can call them that) like "b4" "cuz" and "wut" that we just pass over because:
1. they seem unintelligible
2. they are difficult to decipher.

If we communicated as a country (or world) by text message, that may be a different story. But we don't. We are intelligent people, but no one would ever know that if we were to start spelling things incorrectly.

I don't even write like that in text messages. I spell things out fully and even punctuate.

 

[Amber]

I don't even write like that in text messages. I spell things out fully and even punctuate.

Actually, I don't either. I very rarely use text messages, but when I do, it makes sense and everything is spelled correctly. I didn't mention it because I thought I was the only person who did that.

 

[CoffeeJedi]

I find it excessively irritating...

EDIT: On tangent... I found this article very difficult to read. Does that not say something about the proposed "new system?"

Hmmm, perhaps that was the author's point all along?
I tend to get extremely irritated by the "kids" who come on this board and don't punctuate, spell correctly, or use proper grammar.

The point about accents is a good one. While we don't quite have the specialization of accents that England has, we definitely have a few "major" ones based on general region. I would imagine that under this system, southerners would spell things very very differently than New Yorkers.

 

[CoffeeJedi]

Actually, I don't either. I very rarely use text messages, but when I do, it makes sense and everything is spelled correctly. I didn't mention it because I thought I was the only person who did that.

With the T9 input system on most phones, its actually FASTER to use full words, and it automatically spells everything correctly for you.

 

[TAC]

I give you:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?p=1725492#post1725492

Language developed approximately 5,000 (just a guess) years ago, and modern language has been used since the 1500's (again a guess), and now because it's getting "hard" there is a "movement" to drop the correct spelling of words ?

No, incorrect spelling will not cause the illiteracy rate to go down. However, those that want to be part of civilized society will either adapt and use tools at their disposal to type/write cohesive sentences or they will fall by the wayside.

You can ask people from each generation if when in grade school were there good spellers and were there not so good spellers. And you'll get the approximately the same answers each time (with a true scientifc survey). The same goes for math, history, sports, etc. Some people excel in some things, some don't. It's the nature of the beast.

When the American Literacy Council succeeds at this, then maybe they can work on having mathematicians use only addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

 

[popsicletrees]

Hmm, maybe next they'll lobby to change "ask" to "aks" considering a growing percentage of people pronounce the word that way. :brick:

 

[Tim G]

IMO milyonz of peepl send text and instant mesejez evry dae uezing thair oen formz of simplified speling...



And I'm getting pretty tired of it...:lol: :lol:

 

[talkinghands]

IMO milyonz of peepl send text and instant mesejez evry dae uezing thair oen formz of simplified speling...



And I'm getting pretty tired of it...:lol: :lol:

I text message with deaf as well as hearing people and find that the deaf community uses it's own shorthand for texting developed from the shorthand they use for tty. I know I have to remember which type of person I'm texting and use the proper language for each. Gets confusing at times.

 

[TAC]

Hmm, maybe next they'll lobby to change "ask" to "aks" considering a growing percentage of people pronounce the word that way. :brick:

I thought that was axe.

But if you get stuck, you can always use this:

http://ssshotaru.homestead.com/files/aolertranslator.html

 

[Lil'mermaid]

I try to avoid typing, writing and texting in shorthand only because I did it for so long. I used to do it because my spelling and writing skills aren't exactly the greatest. I found it easier to do everything in shorthand because for the most part everyone knew what I meant and I didn't have to worry about spelling something wrong. My notes were worse than before and I had a harder time trying to figure them out. I knew it was time to switch back the first time I did an assignment entirely in shorthand. You cannot communicate like that in the real world.
My IMs and texts are all fully spelled out, and for the most part punctuated. Strangely enough, its easier this way.

 

[maggiegrace1]

The article was almost as hidious as some of the posts on this forum. Spelling MISTAKES are one thing... but shortcuts are just a sign of being lazy. Exceptions, as pointed out in the article, are one thing... but "u" and "wat" are annoying.

Your nickname, that's fine!

I completely agree.
I think it is a sign of being lazy.
My niece's friends,6 year old brother is a prime example, he really believes that certain words are spelled in the way his sister and her friends talk,whether online or in text.
Very sad when you ask him to spell what and that and he spells them..wat and dat.

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

I don't even write like that in text messages. I spell things out fully and even punctuate.

I do too...we're text message nerd buddies!

(what's that mean? :lol: )

 

[AliciaLuvzDizne]

and actually...the plethora of VMK threads that have been really popular lately...that's what prompted me to start THIS thread...

it really seems like the internet community as a whole doesnt want to be bothered with half of the letters in the English Language.


Do Text messagers or IMers in Europe shorthand their language as well?

 

[DDuckFan130]

I'm kind of back and forth on this issue. I admit to using shorthand in instant messengers, text messages, and chat rooms. However, I know when to use it and when to write more formally. I do get lazy, so sue me I'm studying to be an English teacher so perhaps I'm not setting a great example But a lot of kids I have seen know when to turn off the "shorthand."

I pride myself on being a very good speller and having pretty good grammar (in English and español :lookaroun) so sometimes I like to be lazy :lol:

Wat where we talkin bout? :lookaroun

 

[CoffeeJedi]

I give you:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?p=1725492#post1725492

How did i know that thread would come up....? :lol:
On message boards, i feel that it comes down to respect; if you don't feel the need to at least try to come across as intelligent, then you don't really care that much about the other people on the board, or the subject matter. It's disrespectfull. i know that i'm extremely bad with capitalization (basically to save time), but i'd like to think that everyone can understand what i'm trying to say.