Online pet peeves

You know, nothing bugs me more than people who intentionally write stuff wrong when writing it correctly is about the same amount of effort. Yeah, I can see if you are using a mobile phone or something, and it's hard to type. Shortcuts are a real time saver. But if you're sitting at a nice keyboard and you have all the time in the world, and you know how to type, why the hell would you write useless abbreviations and misspellings that make it hard to read your ignorant shit? I know some people just can't spell, and I don't have any problem with that. At least you make an honest effort and it just doesn't work out. But..."ne1 gn0 whut up? 2 cool 4 u, fukkas!!! LOL!" Holy crap, when I see that, all I can think is "What a goddamn moron!"

posted by Zach Beane on Jul 21, 2003 12:25PM

I have to agree. I mean, let's face it: language, both spoken and written, evolved to a point where higher ideas could be communicated back and forth between individuals. Once this level of complexity was reached, conventions and rules on language solidified the medium to allow for clarity in understanding and correspondence. It is good to have a unified mode of discourse so that all interested parties can relate to the subject matter represented. To depart from this and go in a direction of confusion and fuzziness will only bring general misunderstandings between those who try to converse. This is not positive and doesn't allow ideas to be clearly and efficiently created and expressed. I think it is sad that some people are purposefully making it difficult to understand what they are trying to relate when it is very easy to communicate in a way that is available to all where everyone has easy access.

posted by Cody Phipps on Jul 21, 2003 12:42PM

Phlux uses their own secret langauge that isn't unified discourse. Whenever I hear about "shooting cows with the rock smock" or whatever I get confused and start to feel dizzy. I think you should stop it!!!

posted by Zach Beane on Jul 21, 2003 12:52PM

stop yo hatn yall! lol, jp. ok, i try to clear up my language so you can read it better. abbreviations jus tbecome a habbit

posted by Corey Thompson/Parlemos on Jul 21, 2003 01:38PM

lol. well, i have my own lil abbreviations. instead of typing saying, i type sayen, or somethen (something) like that. i jes (just) got used to doin (doing... you get the idea) that. if you want me to, i can clean up the shiznit a bit so it seems more legibal. ~and cory, you make more spelling errors than any1 else i know anywayz. so either way it aint legible, lol.

posted by Cean Lakranski on Jul 21, 2003 01:45PM

Yes. Please clean up your posts on this bulletin board so that we don't have to. A lot of people are complaining about the fact that most of your posts are illegible and have little to no intellectual significance whatsoever.

posted by Cody Phipps on Dec 03, 2003 01:33AM

Id have to say that Im in the middle of the road on this one. I think that language evolves just like everything else. Perhaps most times it goes forward and perhaps depending on point of view sometimes it goes backwards. personally I think that at times things can go overboard with the 'shortcuts,' but I think there may be a couple of reasons for this. Myself as an example....I tend to drop the "G's" off the end of "ing" ending words, among other things...simply because I want the words im typing to look more like I sound and give a bit of personality to the voiceless typed font on screen. Make my words more like me talking than just typing. Maybe like the bubble over a comic character perhaps if you will. I also think that in this age of technology and the internet and most especially the beloved chatrooms. It creates a sense of shorthand (kiiiinda like the person in the courtroom recording everything on that wierd typewriter). Having 20 people in one room and seeing the sentence you just wrote disappear in about 10 seconds to the top of the screen (or bottom if your on phluxnet) sometimes you dont have the time to write that whole sentence as it properly should be to stay on topic and get your point of view in all at once. I think in this case it then just starts to become habit if you do it enough, and it bleeds into normal life and messageboards and many other things. Certainly (and personally hopefully not that something like "NE1" is going to become as common) there must have been a time when everyone said "do not" and not "don't." Perhaps those who first started saying "don't" were also origionally laughed at, ridiculed or insulted for this as well, but now its common practice.

posted by StU aRt on Dec 03, 2003 10:01AM

i thought that the word "don't" came from people waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay way way WAY back sluring in their speach and jus sayin "don't" instead of "do not"... say it to yourself, it sounds alot alike. "don't... do not..." say do not fast enough it sounds like don't... maybe that's it too? i dunno... (sry i've kinda ben drinkin a bit tonight)

posted by Cean Lakranski on Dec 03, 2003 08:33PM

I hear you. I have a similar pet peeve...the morphing of words from a meaning most people understand to a meaning that many people don't. Usually it's completely different or even the opposite of the original word. I call these words "antagonyms". The antagonym du jour is "sick". Since when did sick come to mean cool, groovy or kind? (All of which used to mean other things before they got morphed. In fact, "cool" is another example of an antagonym. Getting a cool computer is a lot better than getting a cool reception.) The English language is already peppered with antagonyms without adding more. Take, for example, "anxious" (distressed vs. eager), "mad" (filled with desire vs. filled with anger) and "riot" (violent disorder vs. revelry). Even Michael Jackson taught us that "bad" was actually "good"--but then again, what was "good" for Michael Jackson turned out to be "bad" according to a California grand jury. (See how confusing!?!) And then there are the oxymorons--phrases with contradictory terms like "military intelligence", "government organization", "Reagan memoirs" and "friendly fire". Throw in the computer terms innundating our speech and it's amazing anyone understands anyone!?! Every time I hear someone say, "My computer went down on me" I wonder, "Where can I get one of those?" I don't know. I just know we have a hard enough time understanding one another without making it any harder. In fact, we've created a "fine mess" here! Thank goodness English is my first language. I couldn't imagine trying to learn it!?!?!

posted by c -- on May 19, 2004 02:47PM

lolol....that was great!

posted by StU aRt on May 19, 2004 03:23PM

my computer goes down on me... you can get them at the store you know :P

posted by Cean Lakranski on May 19, 2004 07:48PM

Oh! I forgot one of the most salient oxymorons facing us today--"pre-emptive war". We have only to look at the news to see how war was not at all pre-empted by us starting a war. The whole idea of a pre-emptive war is the kind of circular logic that allows our government to defy the United Nations to teach Saddam Hussein he can't defy the United Nations--or use weapons of mass destruction to teach Saddam he can't use weapons of mass destruction...

posted by c -- on May 25, 2004 02:13PM

That reminds me of the article in the latest Onion. U.S. To Fight Terror With Terror WASHINGTON, DC—In a response to recent acts of extreme violence against Americans in Iraq and mounting criticism of U.S. military policy at home, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld announced the government's new strategy of fighting terror with terror Monday.

posted by Zach Beane on May 25, 2004 02:15PM