The article I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language, by John Humphrys, addresses text messaging as a threat to people's ability to engage formally in use of the English language; especially in the younger generation. John Humphrys takes a unique perspective when analyzing the practice of text messaging. Humphrys focuses on the present and mainstream uses of text messaging, without analyzing the historical processes and the language values of the so called text speak. This paper will argue against John Humphrys' claim. Text messaging is a valid form of language as it; has been created through historical and social processes; holds a set of unique and evolving characteristics; and therefore in no way harmful to the users' abilities to use the English language.…
John McWhorter present extensive arguments on the interpretation of texting. A lot of people believe texting is killing language, but that’s not the case. Like McWhorter states, “Texting is a new way of writing young people are creating”, and there is nothing wrong with that. The reason people say texting kills language, is because they compare it to writing. These people need to understand that texting and writing are not the same thing, each is a separate thing and do their own job. “WYD”, “LOL”, and “OMG” are just a few acronyms used in today's texting, all these acronyms do is shorten up the conversation. McWhorter makes an excellent point when he explains how people don't think about punctuation when they are speaking, so why think about…
This noticeable feature, however, dates back centuries. Rebuses, or characters used to represent words, were being used in the 1600s, with the creation of IOU (I owe you). As discussed by David Crystal, there is no difference between S.W.A.L.K (sealed with a loving kiss), which was used in the war to shorten letters, and today's modern LOL (laughing out loud). Abbreviations have been created as a natural, intuitive response to what people have encountered in other…
Texting helps us communicate with family, friends, or co-workers to get an idea through or a time to go to the mall or just saying that you're going to the person's house. On the other hand texting could be bad, in “Text-Speak Is Harming Teens’ Writing Skills”, it says that 13 year olds through 17 year olds sometimes use slang like LOL or UR2K meaning laugh out loud or you are to kind.…
Abbreviations can be found as late back as 1618 with IOU (Crystal 338). He states that “English has had abbreviated words ever since it began to be written down” (Crystal 339), so it’s odd to be so critical of texters when exam, fridge, and bus are common everyday…
Michaela Cullinton used evidences from sources like USA Today, Jacquie Ream and Naomi Baron whom all agree that texting has a negative affect on academic writing. Jacquie Ream was a teacher and author of K.I.S.S.-Keep it Short and Simple. In this book she wrote, “We have a whole generation being raised without communication skills.” I agree with Ream, our generation does not use the same communication that we used in past centuries. People of all age know what a text message, email, or…
When I am texting a friend, I often do not use the correct words because it is easier because it is much quicker to type it than spell the whole word out. This makes it more like a face to face conversation because I often use acronyms like ‘OMG’ (Oh my God) or ‘lol’ (laugh out loud). Sometimes when texting on my phone I tend to use acronyms quite often. For instance in a conversation with my friend Charlie I said ‘OMG, you have to watch this video LOL’ to which he replied ‘OMD that is so funny’. In a face to face…
Before probing into the cons, one must recognize the most favorable aspect of texting. The idea of being able to contact someone via text, whether next-door or on the other side of the world, is truly an amazing thing. Children these days seem to be getting cell phones earlier and earlier, if not only because parents love the idea of being able to reach their kids when they are at school, with friends, and so on; friends and family members are able to keep in touch without the hassle of making a phone call…
In addition to having the ability to sustain, strong friendships technology also, helps ease social pressure in a kid’s life. By not always talking face to face kids are able to be more honest and say or ask something they would not if they were in person. Nathan Freier, Ph.D. and professor states, "Short text messages relieve kids of that anxiety” (Mejia 1). The kids are at an age where they do not want to be hurt or embarrassed. With this, other way of communicating kids can avoid some of those awkward moments.…
Text messaging is the central structure of communication for teennagers. While teens may think shortcuts are helpful they may not understand the damage they are doing to their writing. While older generations consider it to be degrading to the English Language, over half of teens have come to the conclusion that texting has made their writing inapplicable. Although to some teens, shortcuts and proper English can still be effective. Researchers show that text messaging has been proven to have a negative effect on society, and to the English Language.…
Cellular devices and other technology has grown to be extremely popular. With this popularity technology has pervaded our lives and changed social interaction. Text messaging also known as texting is when people with cell phones send short typed messages. The rate of Americans sending text messages drastically increased year by year. Teenagers are large contributors to the presence of text messaging in society. The majority of the people into the texting frenzy are usually between 13 and 17 years old. In this paper we will discuss both the pros and cons of texting.…
"It's kind of funny because 'LOL' now means 'laugh out loud.' But when I was a kid, we would write 'LOL' on notes and stuff to our friends and it would mean 'Lot's of Love.' Whenever I read that, I still find myself thinking 'Lot's of Love' and then I'm like 'No, Laugh out Loud!' It's kind of funny," said Lane laughing (Lane 2010).…
So many people text nowadays and it’s become an important part in our lives, allowing us to contact anyone at any time. However some people, such as John Humphreys (a descriptivist), believe that it is demolishing our English language. Humphreys recently wrote an article called ‘I h8 txt msgs: How texting is wrecking our language’ in which he states his strong views against texting. He firstly mentions how the ‘OED is at risk’ with over 16,000 words being changed to meet the demands of text talk, which in his eyes is ‘absurd little smiley…
What are the some of the effects that texting is having on the teen literacy? Text messaging has increased in popularity ever since the very first text message that was sent in the year of 1933 by a student who was working for the Nokia Corporation (Druoin and Davis 49). Centre of Science Education at Sheffield University discovered that more than ninety percent of the youth have cell phones and ninety-six percent of them use them to text. (Plester, Wood, Bell 137). The establishment of cell phones and texting has made a huge encounter on the way people communicate. Most people use their cell phones to text more than they do to make phone calls. Teenagers have observed that an average teenager sends a hundred textsin a day and 3,033 in s month. (Cingel and Sundar 310). Teens have the highest numbers of sent texts and the number is rapidly going up. Studies have shown that this form of communication is destroying the way people read,…
It’s eleven o’clock on a Thursday night and right before you go to bed, a tone too familiar pops up. Your friend asks through a text to read his essay, finding poor grammar and spelling abbreviations such as “bc” and “prob” , you begin to think to yourself, “ How can texting really find its way into my friends paper?” According to Michaela Cullington, in the article “Does Texting Affect Writing” Cullington had done some research of texting and how it will affect a writer’s behavior and grammar. There are definitely a large amount of people who believe that texting in fact, does affect a writer’s grammar. In response to those who believe that there is a negative effect are those who side with the idea that texting has a no…