Emerging new writing style

@dalehileman,

Dale, when you reply to posts do you see the words open BBCcode Editor above the response box?

or do you see Close BBCode Editor above the response box?

1 Reply

@roger,

roger wrote:

It's not lazy. It's disrespectful. Kind of like walking into someone's house, plopping you boney ass in a chair, and putting your dirty feet on the table.

This kind of abbreviations has been on the internet for longer than you have. (If you search the Usenet archives, you will find them used as early as the late 1980s.) So if anyone is failing to be respectful here, it's you. You're the one demanding that netizens change their long-settled ways for you.

EDIT: I see Sozobe has done me one better. (1984, wow!)

1 Reply

@ehBeth,

Quote:

BBCcode Editor above the response box?

Oh yes, thank you Beth, but I'm throughly familiar with it and avail myself of its provisions most frequently. I simply wasn't clear on exactly what "img" is supposed to do; to which Andy responded so admirably

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@Thomas,

Thomas wrote:

EDIT: I see Sozobe has done me one better. (1984, wow!)

And that's just when I got my first tty, because of my hearing. The textspeak/ abbreviations et all were already accepted by that time. Not sure when all of that started, but well before 1984.

1 Reply

@Lustig Andrei,

Quote:

and here's Ceili:

Evidently a very pretty girl
At my age and marital status I nonetheless reflect longingly

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@sozobe,

Some of these abbreviations go back to the 1920s when cable and teletype were the new graphic communications media, threatening to replace the telegraph key. Ernest Hemingway, working as a reporter for the Paris edition of the NY Herald-Tribune comments somewhere or other on how enamored he has become of this 'cabelese' style of writing.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Quote:

this 'cabelese' style of writing

Yes Andy and one can't help wondering why this particular Internet forum seems to attract that style

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

Yes Andy and one can't help wondering why this particular Internet forum seems to attract that style

You want to reconsider your implied premise here. As Sozobe, Merry Andrew and I just told you, it has nothing to do with this particular internet forum. The conventions you falsely describe as an "emerging new writing style" have been around decades before A2K. Indeed, if Merry Andrew is right, they have been around decades before the internet itself.

There is no "emerging new writing style" in this picture. There is an old writing style, established for many decades. And there is a bunch of emerging old geezers, discovering the internet, expecting everybody on it to abandon their time-honored traditions for the newcomers' convenience. Failure to adjust this expectation is a gaffe. (Compare Eternal September, a staple of ancient internet folklore.)

1 Reply

@Thomas,

Thomas wrote:

You want to reconsider your implied premise here. As Sozobe, Merry Andrew and I just told you, it has nothing to do with this particular internet forum. The conventions you falsely describe as an "emerging new writing style" have been around decades before A2K. Indeed, if Merry Andrew is right, they have been around decades before the internet itself.

The problem with this sentiment is not that this style has been around for decades but that you and the others bringing up that fact are failing to connect that the people using this style aren't particularly schooled with the medium of CB radios, telegraphs, or early BB (bulletin boards), etc.... You're simply giving them motivations they don't have at all. This particular set of individuals are ... 1. in a set (and very recent) generation; 2. tend to use their smart phones for internet access; 3. are used to sending out very informal texts to friends and family so grammar and spelling isn't a high priority.

Quote:

You want to reconsider your implied premise here.

I think Dale's implied premise is actually on the target. These two (in my mind) separate but very strikingly similar (heck why not say carbon copies) writing styles are distinct given their writer's motivations. Long ago, the size of the message and method of technology limited the writer to force them to abbreviate. These technological limits no longer exist with this generation of uberphone-texters. I still suggest this is laziness though I think disrespect is a tad too strong UNLESS the writer is using this truncated style of writing for his/her academic career (college research papers, etc...).

2 Replies

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

Long ago, the size of the message and method of technology limited the writer to force them to abbreviate. These technological limits no longer exist with this generation of uberphone-texters.

They may no longer be technological limits, but they continue to exist as human limits. The purpose of texting is to be as similar as possible to talking. By abbreviating frequently-occurring words and phrases, texters decrease the amount of latency and uncomfortable silences in their conversations. This benefit will endure, no matter which new superpowers smartphones may accrete in the future.

2 Replies

@Thomas,

What do you think of certain (rare-ish) reckless students who try to pass this low level of grammar/poor spelling in their high school/college classwork?

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

tsarstepan wrote:

What do you think of certain (rare-ish) reckless students who try to pass this low level of grammar/poor spelling in their high school/college classwork?

I think of them as fools. The language of an essay, which is at least notionally written for eternity, differs from the fleeting language of life conversations, and of texting conventions adopted to emulate them. Failure to distinguish between the two manifests idiocy.

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@Lustig Andrei,

I forgot that about Hemingway, the journalism stints (oh, how could I?). I suppose that is how he met Martha. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Gellhorn

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@Thomas,

Thomas wrote:

The purpose of texting is to be as similar as possible to talking.

Texting is the same as all other forms of communication: its purpose is to communicate. Whether that is done by mimicking speech or writing or the beat-beat-beat of the tom-tom, if it is able to communicate a message to someone else, then it has accomplished its purpose. Likewise, if it is so garbled and obscure that it fails to communicate a message, then it has failed to accomplish its purpose.

Thomas wrote:

By abbreviating frequently-occurring words and phrases, texters decrease the amount of latency and uncomfortable silences in their conversations.

You're kidding, right? Texters abbreviate common words and phrases because it saves time and effort. There are already plenty of long silences in a text conversation. If someone wanted to eliminate those, they'd use their phones to call the other person.

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absos wrote:

kaka wat aka is that how u get sayin smthg, a ke very well dave

http://able2know.org/topic/199631-1#post-5132189
Can anyone decipher the above ... ((cough)) ((cough)) sentence?

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@tsarstepan,

Quote:

Long ago, the size of the message and method of technology limited the writer to force them to abbreviate.

Well, it wasn't that long ago, only long ago in the hypercompressed world of electronic technology. Text messaging began in 1992, but was slow to take off. Originally, the message was limited to 140 bytes, which, using seven bit encoding, gave you about 160 characters. So, you're absolutely correct, to stay within the 140 byte limitation, the abbreviations were necessary. Some SMS services allowed "two-part" messages which would allow the sender to go over the 140 byte limit, but charged outrageous surcharges for exceeding the 140 byte limit. SMS plans now have bulk pricing, so much per month, so it doesn't really matter how many messages you send, or how long they are. The companies who provide these services, though, have been steadily increaing their rates over the last few years because of the dramatic increase of the volume of text messages.

0 Replies

Emerging new writing style

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