Then: I will see you later.
Now: c u l8tr
I may be one of a handful of people who really enjoyed diagramming sentences. I just loved how the words fell together in such a logical manner. To me, it all made perfect sense.
Nouns. Verbs. Prepositions. Adjectives. Adverbs. Every word had a job to perform (subject, object, predicate, etc) and a proper place in the sentence. When I finished with my diagram I felt like I had performed serious sentence surgery and the world was better off because of my performance. I’d go around diagramming in my head as the words floated into place.
But like I said, I was in the minority and eventually this method of teaching was deleted from the curriculum. I’m fairly certain there weren’t any tears shed by our English teachers. Or any students standing on picket lines threatening to stop going to school unless diagramming was reinstated.
But what about the words themselves? How did they feel being cast aside, having to fight for their proper place in between all those punctuation marks?
Well, they did quite well for years. For decades, actually. Until – the cyberspace revolution. And then it seemed as if overnight, all those wonderful nouns and verbs had been replaced by abbreviations, some even reduced to one single letter.
It’s like a foreign language out there in the world of e-mails and texting. TTYT. LOL. IMO. BTW. Everyday I get an email with some sort of code that I can’t understand. And believe me, I try to figure it out. I make up what I think the letters stand for and then hope that I’m wrong. How dare they say that?
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But once I learned how to text, I realized why abbreviations are being used. It’s so much easier and thus quicker than typing out the entire word. But why do we feel the need to make things easier? And why do we need this instant gratification of texting in the first place?
Cell phones are bad enough. With everyone plugged in like some space alien talking to themselves as they grocery shop or stand in line at the bank.
It used to be that we left work for lunch and bathroom breaks, but now work just trots along with us.
Where r u
P ing
And with texting comes a whole new set of anxieties. How come he didn’t answer right away? Oh, God…did he misunderstand what *I* texted? Was she being sarcastic? Or mean? With texting we lose the intimacy of a conversation, of voice inflections and pauses. Of giving a word a certain meaning in the way we linger over the syllables.
Text interpretation used to mean understanding what was in our school books. Now it means deciphering our instant messages. I can’t help but wonder if we’re opening up a whole new world for the psychotherapists.
But of course, I’m not one to be left behind. I’m going to keep up with all the new technology. It’s the only way to stay young.
So for now, this baby boomer is saying TTYL. The best thing we can do – is what we did in our youth – KOT
I loved diagramming sentences, too. It was also the only part of English that my mathematically brilliant brother enjoyed.
Plus, I understood language better and that helped when I started studying foreign languages.
I think we’ve actually hurt our children having this no longer part of the curriculum.
As a grammar nut, I empathize with this, Janie. On the other hand, grammar changes with usage. I suppose that spelling and the lengths of words can change, too. I don’t understand the English language as well as I used to, though–or at least the abbreviations.
I think this is a cycle that repeats itself over and over, with every generation. If you go back and read texts from 200 years ago, it can be difficult to get through as the word usage and sentence structure is very different.
The formality of writing has, in may places, been stripped away. We are no longer distancing ourselves, we are trying to get closer and connect.
I have long been annoyed by abbreviations, short cuts and “alternative” spellings, even in e-mail and text. I entered college right as the internet and e-mail was kicking off, slowly but surely getting into more and more homes. It has been interesting to watch as those textual changes have emerged and stayed around, no matter how annoyed I may be at their creation.
I think this goes hand in hand with the evolution of word meaning and usage as well as the creation of new words. We Google things. We text and surf the web. Words and phrases that aren’t even 20 years old yet. I imagine this is what the turn of every century is like- think of the turn of the 20th, what with their automobiles, ragtime music and airplanes.
Same song, different verse I guess. 🙂
Alison – Thanks for you comment. You are so right. It is a great deal like the turn of the last century.
Maria – I can’t even imagine today’s students doing all that diagramming. But I loved it.
My son complains to me all the time, because I get lazy and do not use punctuation when I text, etc. But I kinda like it, and I feel my spelling skills are going away because of spell check.
I do love your writing and your subjects are right on! Keep them coming.
I also get so frustrated with these abbreviations–especially when my son says (out loud) “BRB.” Texting is one thing, but speaking like that?
On the other hand, as this ‘smart’ technology advances, there are new options. I recently got a Droid, and when I text on it, it suggests the full words as I begin to type them, so there’s no need to abbreviate any words!
(Phrases on the other hand, are still easier to abbreviate BTW.)
Punctuation is also easier, with the “?” having its own key. (That’s why I picked it!) As the other operating systems catch up, we may all end up with phones that use full words regularly. Wouldn’t that be nice?
Chellesie – That would be great. I do use abbreviations, but it irks me every time.
Janie
Janie, What does KOT stand for????
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