Well someone has to do it! I think I qualify.
OK! Champers on the post, and ice on your naked body.
I'm not sure that's quite right, but it'll have to do.
Only half naked? I'm so disappointed with this site! They promised me fully naked women in the imaginary jacuzzi when I signed up.
Hmmity hmm! Are there no words left that are safe to use?
Wait - I have a plan. Let's confuse copyright, trademarks, and patents even further. Raid the works of Shakespeare and claim prior art on the lot.
I favour either "Much Ado About Nothing" or "The Comedy of Errors". Suggesting "The Taming of the Shrew" would only get me into trouble with the girlies ("The Tempest").
So where does that leave me? What do I have to celebrate?
I would like to introduce you to Saint Bruce, the patron saint of Australia. Little is known for sure about ol' Brucie. He is rumoured to have been (among other things) an outlaw, a surfer, or a brewer. Although it is unlikely that he ever set foot on Australian soil, his relaxed attitude and "she'll be right, mate" outlook has earned him respect from Australians of every nationality.
St. Bruce's day is celebrated whenever anyone feels like it.
Don't be sad, Sappho! It isn't lost. Merely renamed. It will be back, with all the fun and all the frolics.
I put in someone else's name, and it still gave me my own photo. How do they do that?
English does evolve, but it does so relatively slowly. There's always a need to be understood by your audience. In a broadcast medium like this, the language you use will influence which people will read it.
Anything for you, Jags. Shakespeare used a lot of words. 17,677 different ones, according to this quick bit of googling. He wasn't just a show-off who knew a lot of words. He cheated. One in ten was made up.
Aggravate, critical, fragrant, hurry, obscene, radiance, and many more.
Of course, he wasn't much of a writer. Look at all those cliches!
I don't mean evolving in the sense that it will replace other forms of written English. It's a new language, developed to fill a new niche. I don't think it is appropriate outside that niche.
I wouldn't use colloquial written English in a job application, where formal English is more appropriate. Similarly, I wouldn't use txt in emails, where more colloquial English is expected. I certainly wouldn't attempt to use spoken English in any written context. Try recording a conversation, and write down exactly what is said: hesitations, repetitions, unfinished sentences, and all. It will look like complete nonsense, but when spoken it is perfectly natural.
My theory, entirely unsupported by experimental evidence:
I don't think falling education standards are to blame. I think that SMS has resulted in people writing more than they did in the past, and that has changed the language that people are most familiar with.
If you don't write much, you're not going to keep several different forms in practice.
Previously, the little practice that most people had in writing was in a context where the traditional forms of written English were suitable. Since that was the bulk of their writing, that became the standard form that they used everywhere.
Now, in addition to that writing, people are doing a lot more SMS messaging. txt is appropriate there. Since most of their writing is in txt, that becomes their (one) written language.
Does that make sense?
While googling for a reference to the GCSE story, I came across this: . It's interesting reading, if you find that sort of thing interesting.
If you take the view that "English" is in fact a collection of related but distinct languages, with written and spoken varieties ranging from colloquial to formal, then txt can be viewed as simply another language. SMS messages are an enormously popular form of communication. I suspect that for many people txt has become their primary written language (for writing if not for reading) because of this.
There have been a lot of replies from people who don't use these abbreviations, but none from people who do. I understand why: would you post in a thread in which your habits are being openly attacked? But I think it's a shame. I've said before that people fascinate me, and I have a never-satisfied need to know why people do the things that they do. I'm genuinely curious.
I can think up any number of plausible reasons, but I don't have any way of knowing which (if any) are correct. Why do people write that way?
Oh Sappho! You should know better than to complain about the amount of fun you're getting. Particularly in here!
Or are you fishing for offers?
Mogwai "Burn Girl Prom Queen" on repeat. It's impossible to have any kind of negative feelings after half an hour of that. I always have a copy with me at work.
I hate needles too. Just hearing other people talk about them can be enough to make me faint. (That's not an exaggeration. It has happened.)
A few years ago I was in a car crash. Apparently it's standard procedure to get blood samples so they can do an alcohol test. I told them how I react to needles, and begged for there to be another way. Any other way. No.
So I'm lying down waiting. They told me they were going to get the new person to do it. Then they stood at the other side of the room for a few minutes saying "Oh, it's one of those new needles. I haven't seen one of these before. How do they work?". Three of them, trying to figure out how to use it.
First try. She missed. I was the least happy I have ever been in my life. Second try. I was not looking. My eyes were closed. I was white. I was shaking. That one must have worked, because they left me alone after that.
Two minutes of absolute hell.
Oh, Wilma...
Since I don't want to be accused of third degree thread hijacking, I'll suggest that Scaf kiss it better.
When I was a much smaller version of the person I am now, I had a book. It was all about a duck called Ping. And now you've killed him, cooked him, and served him for everyone to eat. You cruel heartless woman!
(mmm... he's delicious!)
There's a sticky thread near the top of the page which has details of a magic avatar shrinking program provided by one of our marvelous memebers.
Ooh! For kisses from Sappho, I'd... I'd... I'd wear the rabbit costume!
Richly robed rabbits (resembling repentant rogues) roaming 'round requesting risque rendezvous.
).
:spit: :cheers: