Communication isn't an option. Everybody communicates with a myriad of people in countless ways every day. Communication occurs both orally and in written form. The typical person wakes up in the morning and switches on the news. An anchor communicates important stories, traffic and weather. When the newspaper is read, recent stock activity, upcoming events, and current events are communicated to the reader. When in a car, the driver communicates with other drivers by activating turn signals. Road signs communicate important information. Stop. Yield. Right Turn Only. Gas Ahead. Slow Children Playing. Blind Drive. Everyone needs to be able to communicate effectively. If a person wants to be taken seriously when communicating orally, he or she needs to be able to speak clearly, confidently and concisely. If a person wants to be taken seriously in the written form, he or she must write sentences that are appropriately structured and have little to no spelling or grammatical errors. Between instant messaging, text messages, emails, and the excessive use of abbreviations and acronyms, people have become lazy and have aborted the English Language.
I blog on a local news station's website. That is to say, I post comments about reported stories. Some of the comments left by bloggers are posted for shock value. Other comments are quite insightful. Many comments are so riddled with errors they are difficult to read. It's even more difficult to take the person seriously. Below is an example of such a comment. To offer some background: the story reported the death of a woman and the injury of a man after they hit a deer while they were riding a motorcycle. Both the man and the woman had been drinking, neither were wearing helmets and the man, who was operating the bike, was driving at excessive speeds. Many bloggers commented that these two individuals brought this tragedy onto themselves because they had made bad decisions. Another blogger, who for some reason was very sensitive about this story, protested. This is actually the third comment she posted on that story.
"show me where i said it was ok to drink and drive open ur eyes all u do is judge without knowing thats IGNORANT 3 children lost there mother where is the compassion for these kids grow up"
I had to read this a few times in order to fully understand it. It almost sounds as if she were sobbing inconsolably and directly scribed what she was vocalizing. When we speak, our words and sentences blend together. Our brains are able to sort this out through our auditory ability, but visually it is more difficult to decipher. Therefore, proper grammar, sentence structure and spelling is necessary. I count at least 19 errors which consist of grammar, spelling, structure, punctuation and malapropisms. Because I'm anal, I've rewritten this woman's comment so it's intelligible.
"Show me where I said it was ok to drink and drive. Open your eyes. All you do is judge without knowing; that's being ignorant. Three children lost their mother. Where is the compassion for these kids? Grow up!"
A few punctuations and spelling corrections later the comment suddenly becomes more perceptive. Perhaps this woman simply did not possess the skill to write. If this be the case, how did she manage school (if she graduated)? As I recall, all twelve years of school involved some form of writing. Each year I would learn a new skill and the next year I'd build upon that. By my senior year, I had mastered writing. Even if a person doesn't master it, we all learn through rote and repetition, so how is it possible for a person to omit basic punctuation and spelling after twelve years of writing? What's more surprising is most writing programs offer spell check and grammar check. Even if a person lacks the skill he or she can simply click one button, and that button will find mistakes which can then be corrected. Was this woman simply being lazy? If this be the case, how can she be taken seriously when she can't be bothered to put in the effort to effectively communicate in written form?
Other computer speak that drives me mad is when numbers and single letters substitute words.
"B4 u leave 2day b sure u call me. i want 2 get 2getha with u if ur free."
I've been blessed with an abundance of friends and family, and none of them aborts the English language in such a lazy and moronic manner. To be honest, I don't think I could have a close relationship with a person who wrote to me like that. I'd never take them seriously. I'd read their letter and think to myself, "My God! How much time are you saving, really, by typing '2' instead of 'to', or 'ur' instead of 'your' or 'you're'? Are you trying to be clever or silly, because I just find it annoying. If I speak with you, will you speak with equal ineptitude? I worry it'll be damaging to my ears..."
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