Dis, dat and d udder

I know we live in the times of Textese. I get the ROFLs, TTYLs and IDKs. After all, a teeny tiny keypad deserves teeny tiny language (even though there’s predictive text and qwerty keypads). I do get it. It saves time, and has its own, well, graphic charm. I can feel the mirth of an LOL, the wide-eyedness of an OMG and the indignation of a WTF. And I enjoy using all of these.

I saw a very compelling TED.com talk by John McWhorter* (hadn’t heard of him till I saw the talk and still not sure who he really is, but it was a good talk) in favour of SMS/Text-speak as an evolution of language that has brought closer the written and spoken word. And he makes a great point.

I appreciate the cultural and linguistic progressiveness of texting. But it’s for TEXTING and maybe casual instant messaging only. When this language permeates official communication and, sometimes, even speech, I think it’s time to draw the line.

‘I wl b at d site. Pl mt me dere’ – Senior Executive to me. This is an incredibly articulate man, who speaks very well. But this is how he writes all his emails.

Another example is communication in abbreviations, ‘PFA FYR JDs & BSCs’. Again, this is official communication. And it reads like an eye test. 

Another client thinks it’s ok to send smileys and thumbs-ups in lieu of approvals or acknowledgement. 

How about the client who thinks it’s ok to respond to my emailed proposal via whatsapp saying, ‘KEWL’. 

In these days of haste, we seem to have lost the art of penmanship (keymanship?). The well-written proposal has been whittled down to crisp bullet points. Appreciative Thank Yous have made way for the curt ‘tx’. Warm regards have been ‘RE‘placed. Emoticons do what words did.

It’s no wonder that fewer and fewer people read books. There are just too many words in them. Maybe next we can abbreviate the dictionary.

 *In case you want to watch the John McWhorter TEDTalk: http://on.ted.com/McWhorter