Abbreviating words- a sort of rant

[manderz]

I think I'm the only one I know who texts with full words and puncuation. I've never used "lol" and I (hopefully) never will.

I use full, grammatically correct sentences. But I do use "lol"

 

[KaeKae]

We are witnessing the origins of a deep generational divide occurring in real time.

I agree.
I think in a generation or two English will be VERY different!


Do they even teach children to write in cursive script any more?

They do (usually in second or third grade). I'm not sure English will be so different. I mean, yes, language evolves over time, but I think it will still be important to know how to write properly.

My friends laugh at me because I'm incapable of texting in short hand. I can't do it. Just can't.

What is considered proper changes too.
In 20 years the texting generation that we find so annoying today will be WRITING the English textbooks for the next generation.

Eh, but our grandparents would be aghast to discover the prepositions our generation ends our sentences with.

Maybe, maybe not. Now, I may be older than you (I'm 45) but my grandfather never finished school. He left to take a job to help support his family. My dad once told me that when he (my dad) was in the service, his favorite letters were from his dad. They were pages long, and very detailed, but Grandpa didn't use ANY punctuation. Several pages, one sentence. I'm pretty sure that my Grandpa, bless his heart, wouldn't have noticed a preposition at the end of anything! In years past, not all people were lucky enough to finish their education.

Don't get me wrong, I would notice! Just today, I sat in a frozen yogurt shop, reading a custom made sign for the shop, and counted 7 spelling and grammar errors. All very blatant to me, but I'm a teacher, who majored in English in college. I'm a stickler for these things, and my teen and pre-teen daughters know to text me in English, or they will not get a reply. I'm not dumb, I can (usually) figure out text speak, but if they want a ride home, they are going to type out the proper words. So far, it's worked.

haha: edited to fix my own spelling errors!