Thursday, December 13, 2007

Textidiocy and emoticonflict


Since having children I have realised that they go through a period when everything they say sounds like it is being filtered through a moron sieve. From about the age of 11 through to 18 they might as well be talking a foreign language. My own love of language, and specifically the written word, has been tested to the extreme during this time. It appears that they not only feel the need to grunt rather than enunciate a word, but they have also employed another language of which I want no part ( brb)

I'm talking about text language, or txtspk - grr. Is it not bad enough that we are subject to our children missing vital letters from spoken words but now they are disposing with vowels and punctuation from their writing. I am aware that we live in an abbreviated world and I am often scampering after the in-crowd to understand the latest fad of the day but this is not acceptable (angry face).

Along with this form of communication comes the emergence of the emoticon :) Grrr again. I am fed up with the Feckers MSN messages to me being littered with emotional faces faces when I have only informed them that their supper is ready!

There can, of course, be endless fun (winks lasciviously) and those bloody little smiley faces are no doubt useful for replacing nuance and sarcasm that may be lost in the hastily written note but should we be worried (puzzled face)?
I read recently of the concerns that children are using text language in their exam papers and don't even mention the lack of capital letters (cries).

I suppose we just wait it out and hope that they will one day our children will learn to spk and txt properly again (c u l8ter smirks cheekily).

.

17 comments:

Pallav said...

i h8 txt spik.

fukin h8 it

H8 IT

H8 IT!1!!!!!111111111

Grrrr

:P ;)

N

Debi said...

L8ter? Deary me. You have much to learn. It's l8r, innit? (winks).

My current fave is WAG 1. Translates as Wha' go on or What's going on?

S. Kearney said...

The little smiles are important on blog comments!!!!!! :-) Just to make it clear that we are talking in a light-hearted way ... to avoid any misunderstanding. LOL!!!!

Jan said...

Yep, they go into it and yep, they come out of it...one of my sons has been Mancunian, East London, Cornish...and that's only his accents.
Once he arrived home from Uni with dyed jet black eyebrows, dyed red hair and Noel/Liam Gallagher's voice.....as the front door opened, I didnt recognise him and threw a walking stick at him...

Unknown said...

Why don't you says what you mean, Nothingman (knowing wink).

I'll WAG you, Ms Smartypants Alper - text queen!

No lolling, Shameless (rolls on the floor laughing).

That was a bit harsh, Jan, you could have just asked who he was! Heh.

Taffiny said...

We have yet to enter this stage.
I only know, LOL and :).
Oh, the joy my son will have at my cluelessness. (word?)

Roberta said...

:)
:{
:D

I think I got it! By George!

;)

Leslie Hawes said...

rembr wen sp and neetness counted?? :)

Debi said...

See here for the textictionary:
http://www.tamingthebeast.net/ringtones/smileys-emoticons-sms.htm

Taffiny said...

I'm sorry, but what the hell is that can of fish....parts?

Oh how my eyes are drawn to that O.
And I am forever thinking what the hell is in that can, for I just don't know.
Is it a joke, mock (novelty) can? Or a mock (silly) name for some real product?

Unknown said...

Fish assholes, Taffiny? I thought they were a delicacy in your country - heh!

Unknown said...

Get them onnto predictive text. That'll sort them out. Although I often send messages that make no sense, because although that wonderful little gadget can predict spelling, it can't read my mind. Shiv!

Leslie Hawes said...

Fish assholes...ah, yes. A bit watery, and not very substantial, but a delicacy nonetheless.

Unknown said...

Predictive text, V? My phone thinks that grivfot is a word - this is madness!

As insubstantial as chicken nipples, Leslie?

xDashofPanachex said...

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that anyone who doesn't want to be thought of as a 13 year-old airhead avoids 1337-speek. Especially since the advent of T9, there really is no excuse for typing that way.

Unknown said...

You are possibly speaking foreign, Dash, but I get the sentiment!

dress boot said...

They are commonly use in chat,particularly the yahoo messenger.