Our Abbreviated Generation
Our Abbreviated Generation (The threat of the SMS language)
by Ekerette-Alvin Ikpe on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 10:55am
Hi, everyone. It's been a while since I updated this blog and it's good to be back. I had to step aside briefly-apologies to IBB- after the birth of my baby several months ago to do justice to my role as a mother. I will do my best to keep you updated as often as possible and i do hope you will stay with me. I found this piece most intriguing and decided to re-open communication lines by sharing this wonderful piece by Ekerette-Alvin. I hope you find it as interesting as i do. Have a nice read:
·
I
was pleasantly tickled recently when on opening my face book home page
,the first thing that hit me was a friends status update, where she took
a swipe at the use of the letters IJN in conveying words of blessings,
exhortations ,wishes etc., as opposed to the used of the full phrase, In
Jesus’ Name. Same goes for LLNP (Long Life and Prosperity) We have to
agree that at some point in our written communication and
correspondences, we have been guilty of this practice; yours truly
inclusive. No doubt, the SMS language can make messaging easier. The
language is comprised of shortened phrases, acronyms and abbreviations
that emerged from text messaging but has since bled into the everyday
vernacular of many modern societies. SMS language is useful in text
messaging, as it shortens messages' character count, therefore saving
time and expense. This however does not apply to me because I have
gotten so used to writing my SMSs in full thereby wasting time and
paying more. I come from a background where my father, a class-act in
both spoken and written English, made us believe that the much
celebrated Pidgin English is nothing but gutter language. So bad that
even in church, he does not join in singing songs done in Pidgin
English. So with that mindset, in the course of my development, I have
found it difficult to accept what I consider non-standard alterations to
the language, both written and spoken. We are daily witnessing the
creation of more of this “short codes”. It wasn’t until the recent past,
that I got to know what LWKMD actually meant. For me I just left it at
my good old LOL, LORL, LMAO, and one or two other ones. I get irritated
by some though; like the blackberry popularized, KK, YELZ, and SOWIE
etc. No matter how I feel about these abbreviations, the truth is that
they have come to stay. However, the use of this slang-based language is
not without its disadvantages:
Speaking or writing
with SMS words can confuse those who are not familiar with the
language. Many people within older generations, who do not use
text messaging very often, may not understand a message if it
contains SMS language, particularly acronyms. For example, someone
who does not understand SMS language may receive a message with
the acronym "ROTFL" which means "Rolling on the floor laughing"
and wouldn't know that the message sender thought the subject
matter was funny.
Using the SMS language outside of text
messaging, in speech and emails, can give the recipient a negative
impression of the messenger. When a word from the SMS language is
used in an inappropriate situation, such as a business email, it can
seem unprofessional or simply be misinterpreted as a spelling error.
For example, the SMS word "ppl" stands for "people" and
could easily be confused as a spelling mistake by those who are not
knowledgeable of SMS abbreviations. Furthermore, using SMS words
instead of their English-language counterparts can convey to the
recipients that the messenger is lazy and could not be bothered to
complete the longer version of the word.
The spread of
the SMS language has been criticized for deteriorating the English
language and its rich history. Though languages continually
evolve, the SMS language can be seen as not respecting the
long-standing properties of the English language that has made it
so strong. Furthermore, words within the SMS language that are
very similar to their English-language counterparts can be
confused by young users as the actual English spelling and can
therefore increase the prevalence of spelling mistakes.
I
fear for the generation after us, who will step up the game and take it
to an entirely different dimension. Children these days get exposed to
information Technology and the Internet quite early in life and will
readily accept sms language as a communication standard, at that
formative stage of their lives. The difficulty is how to create a
balance between what is right and what is for ‘fun communication’. This
is the 21st century; yes, and at the risk of sounding primitive, I
believe something should be done and fast too, to make a clear
distinction between Standard English for writing and the ‘fun language’.
We need to do this to preserve the rich heritage of the English
language that our teachers (I studied under some of the best) labored to
teach us. If not, I foresee a scenario where it will move beyond the
written, to being used in ‘formal’ verbal exchanges:
Pastor: GBUA IJN (God Bless Us All, In Jesus’ Name)
Congregation: MN (Amen)
Son: HDWU (Hey Daddy What’s Up?)
Dad: IFS, HWYD (I’m Fine Son, How Was Your Day?)
You can stretch your imagination to the limits by creating more.
HAND, oops, I just did it; I meant to say Have a Nice Day!
Ekerette-Alvin Ikpe
alvyn_ekx@yahoo.com
*This note is dedicated to Mrs Idara Ekanem,whose outburst motivated me to write this piece*
by Ekerette-Alvin Ikpe on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 at 10:55am
Hi, everyone. It's been a while since I updated this blog and it's good to be back. I had to step aside briefly-apologies to IBB- after the birth of my baby several months ago to do justice to my role as a mother. I will do my best to keep you updated as often as possible and i do hope you will stay with me. I found this piece most intriguing and decided to re-open communication lines by sharing this wonderful piece by Ekerette-Alvin. I hope you find it as interesting as i do. Have a nice read:
·
I
was pleasantly tickled recently when on opening my face book home page
,the first thing that hit me was a friends status update, where she took
a swipe at the use of the letters IJN in conveying words of blessings,
exhortations ,wishes etc., as opposed to the used of the full phrase, In
Jesus’ Name. Same goes for LLNP (Long Life and Prosperity) We have to
agree that at some point in our written communication and
correspondences, we have been guilty of this practice; yours truly
inclusive. No doubt, the SMS language can make messaging easier. The
language is comprised of shortened phrases, acronyms and abbreviations
that emerged from text messaging but has since bled into the everyday
vernacular of many modern societies. SMS language is useful in text
messaging, as it shortens messages' character count, therefore saving
time and expense. This however does not apply to me because I have
gotten so used to writing my SMSs in full thereby wasting time and
paying more. I come from a background where my father, a class-act in
both spoken and written English, made us believe that the much
celebrated Pidgin English is nothing but gutter language. So bad that
even in church, he does not join in singing songs done in Pidgin
English. So with that mindset, in the course of my development, I have
found it difficult to accept what I consider non-standard alterations to
the language, both written and spoken. We are daily witnessing the
creation of more of this “short codes”. It wasn’t until the recent past,
that I got to know what LWKMD actually meant. For me I just left it at
my good old LOL, LORL, LMAO, and one or two other ones. I get irritated
by some though; like the blackberry popularized, KK, YELZ, and SOWIE
etc. No matter how I feel about these abbreviations, the truth is that
they have come to stay. However, the use of this slang-based language is
not without its disadvantages:
Speaking or writing
with SMS words can confuse those who are not familiar with the
language. Many people within older generations, who do not use
text messaging very often, may not understand a message if it
contains SMS language, particularly acronyms. For example, someone
who does not understand SMS language may receive a message with
the acronym "ROTFL" which means "Rolling on the floor laughing"
and wouldn't know that the message sender thought the subject
matter was funny.
Using the SMS language outside of text
messaging, in speech and emails, can give the recipient a negative
impression of the messenger. When a word from the SMS language is
used in an inappropriate situation, such as a business email, it can
seem unprofessional or simply be misinterpreted as a spelling error.
For example, the SMS word "ppl" stands for "people" and
could easily be confused as a spelling mistake by those who are not
knowledgeable of SMS abbreviations. Furthermore, using SMS words
instead of their English-language counterparts can convey to the
recipients that the messenger is lazy and could not be bothered to
complete the longer version of the word.
The spread of
the SMS language has been criticized for deteriorating the English
language and its rich history. Though languages continually
evolve, the SMS language can be seen as not respecting the
long-standing properties of the English language that has made it
so strong. Furthermore, words within the SMS language that are
very similar to their English-language counterparts can be
confused by young users as the actual English spelling and can
therefore increase the prevalence of spelling mistakes.
I
fear for the generation after us, who will step up the game and take it
to an entirely different dimension. Children these days get exposed to
information Technology and the Internet quite early in life and will
readily accept sms language as a communication standard, at that
formative stage of their lives. The difficulty is how to create a
balance between what is right and what is for ‘fun communication’. This
is the 21st century; yes, and at the risk of sounding primitive, I
believe something should be done and fast too, to make a clear
distinction between Standard English for writing and the ‘fun language’.
We need to do this to preserve the rich heritage of the English
language that our teachers (I studied under some of the best) labored to
teach us. If not, I foresee a scenario where it will move beyond the
written, to being used in ‘formal’ verbal exchanges:
Pastor: GBUA IJN (God Bless Us All, In Jesus’ Name)
Congregation: MN (Amen)
Son: HDWU (Hey Daddy What’s Up?)
Dad: IFS, HWYD (I’m Fine Son, How Was Your Day?)
You can stretch your imagination to the limits by creating more.
HAND, oops, I just did it; I meant to say Have a Nice Day!
Ekerette-Alvin Ikpe
alvyn_ekx@yahoo.com
*This note is dedicated to Mrs Idara Ekanem,whose outburst motivated me to write this piece*
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