Is txt mightier than the word?
Is text messaging infecting or liberating the English language? Judge for yourself, as we rewrite classic texts in txt.
When a 13-year-old Scottish girl handed in an essay written in text message shorthand, she explained to her flabbergasted teacher that it was easier than standard English.
She wrote: "My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc Bt my Ps wr so {:-/ BC o 9/11 tht they dcdd 2 stay in SCO & spnd 2wks up N. Up N, WUCIWUG - O. I ws vvv brd in MON. O bt baas & ^^^^^. AAR8, my Ps wr :-) -- they sd ICBW, & tht they wr ha-p 4 the pc&qt…IDTS!! I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C my M8s again. 2day, I cam bk 2 skool. I feel v O:-) BC I hv dn all my hm wrk. Now its BAU…"
The girl's teacher - who asked not to be named - was not impressed, saying: "I could not believe what I was seeing. The page was riddled with hieroglyphics, many of which I simply could not translate."
Text messaging, e-mail and computer spell-checks have long been blamed for declining standards of spelling and grammar. A publisher of a new dictionary warned last Friday of a "degree of crisis" in university students' written English.
Despite the advent of predictive text, which completes words as you write them, and even the launch of next generation mobile networks, it seems that the simple texting skills people have learnt in the last three or four years will be around for a while yet.
But could the anonymous Scottish schoolgirl be right? Could txt take over more of our expression because addicts simply find it easier than normal writing? And could this mean the liberation of our use of language?
Already, text message shortcuts have been adopted by those keen to get their point across in as little space as possible, be it advertising copy, poetry or Biblical passages.
Even Shakespeare - famously inconsistent in his own spelling - might succumb. Is it a great travesty to render his more famous passages in text message shorthand?
2b/-2b=?
a @(---`---`--- by any otha name wd sml swEt
rm rm w4Ru rm?
Surely such treatment would make epics such as Tolstoy's War and Peace - at present a whooping 1,400+ pages - into a handy pocket-sized read.
But linguistics expert Dr Joan Beal doubts such a tome will grace the nation's bookshelves any time soon. "The only books I can envisage written in text message shorthand would be aimed at the teenage market, if at all. For it would rather spoil the pleasure of reading, having to work out all those abbreviations."
Adapted from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/2814235.stm
Published: 2003/03/04 14:32:07 GMT
© BBC MMIV
and It's Magazine
Exercises
1. What's the meaning of the following words and expressions from the text?
text messaging shorthand launch flabbergasted shortcuts riddled with work out predictive text 2. Are the following sentences true or false?
1. the teacher was surprised with the composition.
2. The teacher could understand the essay easily, despite the way it was written.
3. The people's level of grammar and spelling is lower nowadays because of computers.
4. Texting has existed for a long time.
5. Texting will not last long.
6. Texting is currently being used in publicity.
7. Shakespeare already used some sort of text messaging.
8. There are plans to translate War and Peace into text messaging.
9. There are some books for teenagers written in text messaging shorthand.
10. Reading texting abbreviations is a pleasure.3. Translate the Scottish girl's composition into standard English.
My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 :- kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc Bt my Ps wr so {:-/ BC o 9/11 tht they dcdd 2 stay in SCO & spnd 2wks up N. Up N, WUCIWUG - O. I ws vvv brd in MON. O bt baas & ^^^^^. AAR8, my Ps wr :-) -- they sd ICBW, & tht they wr ha-p 4 the pc&qt…IDTS!! I wntd 2 go hm ASAP, 2C my M8s again. 2day, I cam bk 2 skool. I feel v O:-) BC I hv dn all my hm wrk. Now its BAU.
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
If you need help, check the following web pages:
www.smsglossary.com
www.mantex.co.uk/samples/texting.htm
4. What abbreviations do you use in your own language?
Translation:
"My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place, but my parents were so worried becaue of September 11th that they decided we would stay in Scotland and spend two weeks up noth. Up north, what you see is what you get - nothing. I was extremely bored in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but sheep and mountains. At any rate, my parents were happy - they said it could be worse, and that they were happy for the peace and quiet. I don't thnk so! I wanted to go home as soon as possible, to see my mates again. Today I came back to school. I feel very saintly because I have done all my homework. Now it's business as usual."
Núria Brichs
nbrichs@xtec.cat
