Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-03-2008, 05:19 PM
 
Location: Ohio
24,623 posts, read 19,068,157 times
Reputation: 21738

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by paperhouse View Post
Irregardless.

TN has a point. However, I was very surprised by my CSpan experience this week. I watched almost every morning as they have a call in show. Every time a caller sounded like a hick (from SC, so I know hick), I deducted 10 points from his IQ. Many times, I felt a need to add 20 back to the original after the caller was done. Some people do have a grasp not just of language, but of words. I refer to this often, but Frank Luntz says it's not what you say, but what they hear.
Rome.

The colonies and barbarians used Vulgate (Vulgar) Roman which then crept back into Roman language in the last century of the (Western) empire's existence.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-03-2008, 05:20 PM
 
4,173 posts, read 6,671,027 times
Reputation: 1216
Quote:
Originally Posted by norcalmom101 View Post
I don't think that what you refer to necessarily detracts from the language, any more than anglicisms adopted into the French language have created a lesser language. I actually believe quite the opposite is true, but only for those who were fully literate in the first place.
Agree. I had a conversation with my (pretty bright) kid who texts quite a bit. Her messages are full of short-cuts. But, when she sits to write an essay, she understands that the expectations are completely different and she does quite well in her essays. Her argument is that the LOLs etc are almost like an "alphabet" in her messaging world and wonders about the need to type the extended versions using the keypad of a small phone.

Last edited by calmdude; 10-03-2008 at 06:03 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 05:27 PM
 
13,053 posts, read 12,914,737 times
Reputation: 2618
Quote:
Originally Posted by TnHilltopper View Post
As time marches on and the internet age enters full swing and the era of the quick cell text message is now the standard for communication, do you feel this has an impact positively or negatively on society in general?

To give a little more insight, I'm sure many older and even a few younger members may notice a trend towards a more vulgar use of the English language in our daily lives. Terms like "Milf, Gilf, WTF, WTH, along with numerous other examples have become almost standard usage in everyday life. From work to school, even in the heart of politics on the very floor of Congress. Once reserved for bar rooms, boys hanging out at the basketball court or at the poker game, has now become common.

Even the use of forum or chat or cell text short hand such as LOL, ROFL, BRB, etc... all contribute in a minor way to a loss of nuance and complexity in our language that has developed over hundreds of years. The use of grammar and punctuation to show inflection and give emotion to the written word seems almost lost in today age.

Curious to peoples thoughts on this both specifically and generally.
I don't see a major problem with it when it is used by those who are able to communicate in other fashions and only use this form in limited ways, but If I see someone comprising their entire speech pattern of this form, I can't help but think they lack the education or understanding to communicate by any other fashion. There is a time and place and those who do not understand that or who can not do that are the ones who worry me in this issue. -
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 06:12 PM
 
Location: Wilmington, NC
8,577 posts, read 7,809,499 times
Reputation: 835
I would rather see someone use something like LOL for laugh out loud, than see someone just flat out murder the spelling of words. U kno wut i'M sayin cuz? that bothers me the most.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 06:15 PM
 
Location: southern california
61,289 posts, read 87,169,949 times
Reputation: 55550
Quote:
Originally Posted by TnHilltopper View Post
As time marches on and the internet age enters full swing and the era of the quick cell text message is now the standard for communication, do you feel this has an impact positively or negatively on society in general?

To give a little more insight, I'm sure many older and even a few younger members may notice a trend towards a more vulgar use of the English language in our daily lives. Terms like "Milf, Gilf, WTF, WTH, along with numerous other examples have become almost standard usage in everyday life. From work to school, even in the heart of politics on the very floor of Congress. Once reserved for bar rooms, boys hanging out at the basketball court or at the poker game, has now become common.

Even the use of forum or chat or cell text short hand such as LOL, ROFL, BRB, etc... all contribute in a minor way to a loss of nuance and complexity in our language that has developed over hundreds of years. The use of grammar and punctuation to show inflection and give emotion to the written word seems almost lost in today age.

Curious to peoples thoughts on this both specifically and generally.
various opinions some say regression. some say progression, aka ebonics.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 06:26 PM
 
4,173 posts, read 6,671,027 times
Reputation: 1216
Quote:
Originally Posted by macmeal View Post
Reminds me of the award winning "Civil War" TV series a few years back. The author (Ken 'somebody'?) stated that much of his 'info' had come directly from the letters and diaries of the soldiers themselves...and he was continually astounded by the wonderful prose, penmanship, and 'command of the language' shown in entry after entry, MOST of which were written by what essentially were "teenage farm boys". Teenagers they were...but it those days, command of English and its most subtle sentence structures, syntax, and 'nuances' was regarded as absolutely essential to anyone who hoped to be regarded as 'educated'....a BIG change from the 'iPod' generation, for sure.
Both me and my wife have taught classes in graduate school - her more than me. This was in a world that predated the ultra-modern LOL lingo. Even then, we could see some degradation when we looked at some of the home assignments she brought home to grade. I bet the writing of grad students could not hold a candle to that of the soldiers you alluded to. Messaging using the phone keypads may have accelerated the demise for some.

I am guilty of not spell checking my posts. I don't worry about it as long as the post conveys my thoughts. My behavior is quite different at the office. Like paperhouse indicated - the explosion of knowledge and material available for digestion places limits on our time.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 06:36 PM
 
2,779 posts, read 7,504,859 times
Reputation: 745
Quote:
Originally Posted by calmdude View Post
Agree. I had a conversation with my (pretty bright) kid who texts quite a bit. Her messages are full of short-cuts. But, when she sits to write an essay, she understands that the expectations are completely different and she does quite well in her essays. Her argument is that the LOLs etc are almost like an "alphabet" in her messaging world and wonders about the need to type the extended versions using the keypad of a small phone.
I text in the course of my professional duties. One exchange with my superior today went like this:

me: 2pm
boss: K

Language is about communication. In this case, as in so many others, the abbreviated language of texting facilitated a real life business situation (she was intaking a new client during the exchange), just as a formal business letter might facilitate a different situation.

On this note, I will say goodbye, rather than God be with ye.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 07:12 PM
 
8,978 posts, read 16,520,468 times
Reputation: 3020
Quote:
Originally Posted by norcalmom101 View Post
Irregardless is not a real word. Are you being sarcastic?
Not sure about the intent, but sarcastic or not, I've heard of "bad" language eventually becoming accepted as "correct".

Examples? I argued at length one day with a similarly 'nit-picky' friend...I insisted "crispy" wasn't a 'proper' word, as the word 'crisp' already exists. "Crispy", it was my impression, was made up by some purveyor of food, to 'sound more intense' than 'crisp'...('Extra-crispy' vs 'Extra crisp').

I ALSO strongly felt that 'disrespect' at one time was rarely, if ever, a verb, until 'gang lingo' became popular. You could SHOW disrespect, (a noun), but you rarely heard of a person 'disrespecting' another. (usually, he 'failed to show respect'). I felt that 'to disrespect' (or to 'diss') was largely confined to rappers or gangsters, until it became part of 'polite society'.

I NEVER found out if I was correct in either of the above examples. But I DO remember reading an article on the use of the word "FLAMMABLE" as a warning on fuel-carrying trucks. The correct word originally was "INFLAMMABLE" ('capable of becoming inflamed')...but authorities worried that the "in" prefix would lead some motorists to conlude that the cargo was "IN flammable", (as in NOT flammable), so they allowed a 'made-up' word, "Flammable"..which was technically not a word, but conveyed the idea better...or so said the article.

Last edited by macmeal; 10-03-2008 at 08:07 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 08:00 PM
 
19,198 posts, read 31,397,594 times
Reputation: 4013
Always nice when someone undertakes to explain the tenants of their philosophy. :-(

Sometimes I think part of it is the spread of radio and TV. We read less, and we write less. We hear more, and we speak more. Language has become less visual and more oral. We know what a word means and what it sounds like...but not what it looks like.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-03-2008, 08:06 PM
 
8,978 posts, read 16,520,468 times
Reputation: 3020
Quote:
Originally Posted by saganista View Post
Always nice when someone undertakes to explain the tenants of their philosophy. :-(

Sometimes I think part of it is the spread of radio and TV. We read less, and we write less. We hear more, and we speak more. Language has become less visual and more oral. We know what a word means and what it sounds like...but not what it looks like.
You've given us much to think about here. I'm going to read your post over again, while enjoying a hardy bowl of soup. This entire subject has gotten completely psychological, in a matter of speaking.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Politics and Other Controversies
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top