Txting is Gr8?

Posted 6 July, 2008 in Technology, Grammar & Language | No comments

David Crystal on texting:

People think that the written language seen on mobile phone screens is new and alien, but all the popular beliefs about texting are wrong. Its graphic distinctiveness is not a new phenomenon, nor is its use restricted to the young. There is increasing evidence that it helps rather than hinders literacy. And only a very tiny part of it uses a distinctive orthography. A trillion text messages might seem a lot, but when we set these alongside the multi-trillion instances of standard orthography in everyday life, they appear as no more than a few ripples on the surface of the sea of language. Texting has added a new dimension to language use, but its long-term impact is negligible. It is not a disaster.

Yeah, and whole language was a great fucking idea too.*

Will Self on same:

All I do know is that while not being hopelessly imprisoned by Lynne’s Truss, I’m still of an age - and a bent - where I can’t help finding the bowdlerisation of texting quite insufferable. I’d rather fiddle with my phone for precious seconds than neglect an apostrophe; I’d rather insert a word laboriously keyed out than resort to predictive texting for a - acceptable to some - synonym.

The latter article also features a rejoinder by Lynne Truss, who is remarkably sanguine about the whole texting phenomenon. Mind you, she texts in complete, grammatically correct sentences, as do I, which is one reason I hate the whole business of sending text messages: they take too fucking long.*

*Sorry: that was a holdover from yesterday’s post.