In addition to people that wonder around in the middle of hallways and grocery store aisles and women that drive SUV's and talk on their phone, the butchering and general acceptance of this butchering of the English language incenses me to absolutely no end! Chat-speak and I'm-lingo notwithstanding, the inability for so many to spell and punctuate correctly baffles me!
There are those that blame the likes of Yahoo, AIM and Microsoft for developing I'm applications. I do not blame them. They simply created the application, not the need to dumb everything down. Our company actually uses Yahoo I'm internally and I believe it is a useful tool to get a hold of someone quickly when the need warrants it. I also don't mind chatting with friends when I'm home using an I'm application, but I never use that chat-speak crap because it is just that, crap!
Others blame carriers like Sprint, AT&T and Verizon for encouraging it by slapping it on every handset and advertising it. I agree there is some validity in this argument, but only if the carrier encourages chat-speak. I know there is a Verizon commercial where a family is playing Scrabble and are actually talking to each other in chat-speak and using chat-speak for words on the board. Yes, I understand it is meant to be humorous, but it also encourages it because only the Mother in the commercial is fed-up with it.
Still others blame schools and teachers. Only time I will hold a school or teacher responsible is when they do not correct it! I have heard of teachers accepting chat-speak being used in term papers, ARE YOU FLIPPIN' KIDDING ME? That teacher, were I principal, would be out on their arse!
What few people accept is that it is us, the parents, that are ultimately responsible for this. Parents that allow their children to use this chat-speak or fail to impress upon them the importance and criticality of learning and understanding the English language are the ones that are liable for the general "dumbing down" of todays youth. Parents that do not snatch that cell phone out of their kid's hands and make them either write a coherent letter or, better yet, GO TALK TO THEIR FRIENDS are the ones that enable this behavior! More times than not, it is the father or mother I want to smack right in the head when I see their kid walking behind them pounding away on their cell phone! These parents think it's cute and funny; IT'S NOT! IT'S DUMB AND YOUR KID IS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING INTO AN IDIOT INCAPABLE OF COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER HUMANS!
People's inability to coherently communicate by respecting the language and learning grammar, spelling and proper punctuation will eventually lead the US to "follower" status rather than "leader". How are we supposed to develop and invent new technologies, advance medical studies, save the environment, design new buildings and anything else if we are unable to communicate a simple thought or idea? Our nation is rapidly becoming one of "mouth-breathers" people! Future generations are growing up with the singular capability of standing around, mouth open, a bit of drool sliding out the corner mumbling, "ahhhhhhhhhh". Were you to ask any of these near-neanderthal's to read a newspaper article (first they'd need to know what a newspaper is) and then write a summary, I'll bet $100.00 nine out of the ten you ask would mentally vapor-lock! Even if they understood the concept of a summary, the hatchet job they would deliver on that summary would make you weep openly!
So yes, as Heartbreak alluded to in his early post, I do pop a gasket when this subject comes up because what I see and hear out there scares the ever-living poop out of me! I am an early generation X member, so the generation before me is going to be alright because us early X'ers actually learned to read and write correctly. What scares me are these boneheads coming afterwards that will be charged with taking care of my generation as we age. I'm convinced, as it stands, that the majority will be unable to handle it because they will be completely incapable of doing so.
I'm doing my part by teaching my kids now the importance of learning to write, spell and construct sentences that convey meaning. I have a nine and five year old,so right now they aren't exposed to cell phones or I'm applications of their own and it will be awhile before they are...a long while! If you are tired of it, do the same with your children. Nip it in the bud now before it becomes so ingrained they cannot stop.
If you are reading this and are one of these folks that live by chat-speak and feel no need to practice basic English when posting on this forum, understand I have made it my personal mission to either get you good or GET YOU OUT! I will ride you mercilessly until you either drop the chat-speak or just drop out. There are other forums for you to prove what an assclown you are, go find them and stay there!
