» Is Our Language Deteriorating?

Is Our Language Deteriorating?

Posted by Shane Hudson On March - 6 - 2009

I believe that Twitter is a really good resource for Social Networking, but it limits us to only 140 characters. So today I would like to take a look at what effect this has on us.

What is good about 140 characters?

This is something that many people have pointed out, the good points about Twitter’s limits. This is purely what I believe, I may well be wrong… let me know your opinions!

Concise - Lots of us ramble on about nonsense all the time. If you read almost any “tweet” on twitter you will notice that everybody is able to get their point across much easier.
Time - When writing “tweets” it is much quicker to write and read than a blog post and often it can be just as useful.

Does 140 characters ruin our language?

Because of the limit on twitter, and other places, we use “internet slang” more often. This means that we are losing our amazing use of language. Some people believe that being short and “to the point” is the best thing to do, but I prefer to write using words that we might not use in everyday life. Which do you prefer out of these examples.

“Join the contest today! #SCcontest at http://tinyurl.com/SCContest there are loads of great prizes! Please RT”
“Hello, Would you be interested in winning some really good prizes such as a custom Wordpress theme or Twitter Power? If so then join the contest…”

The second example is just an extract of what I could write, personally I prefer it because it is not so… demanding. What is your opinion?

Thank you,

Shane

Discussion

Before you comment, if you have not already read it please read How To Write A Comment, thanks! This is to prevent a lot of useless comments we have been getting.

Shane Hudson

@Natalie - Ok, well thank you for your comment, everybody's opinion is valid.

Natalie

i did read the comment. in fact, i read it several times. here it is again: Language is going to evolve whether you like it our not.

“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?”

It’s evolving to become more efficient. I’m all in favour of efficiency.

efficiency has to do with processes becoming more advanced, i.e. getting better in order to be efficient.

don't treat me like an idiot just because you don't like what I have to say.

I think you all need to take some writing classes. or at least read something worthwhile. maybe just opening a dictionary might help. a real one.

Shane Hudson

@Natalie - He did not say it is getting more complex or advanced. "It’s evolving to become more efficient. I’m all in favour of efficiency. " Please read the comments before responding.

Natalie

@Anthony -
definition of evolve: develop gradually: to develop something gradually, often into something more complex or advanced, or undergo such development

our language is NOT more complex or advanced. just because it has changed does not make it better.

Shane Hudson

I agree with Scott, we all try to take as many shortcuts as possible.

Scott :: IrnMedia.net

But it can't entirely be blammed on the way technology has evolved, the human instinct in some cases is to take shortcuts and grammar, spelling and even general speech are now falling victim to it.

Anthony

Language is going to evolve whether you like it our not.

"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?"

It's evolving to become more efficient. I'm all in favour of efficiency.

Shane Hudson

@Guy - Yes it would be, but that is not really what I was trying to show from this post. I was just trying to say that our language is getting worse as there are a lot of lovely words that we just never use any more. Most people's grammar and spelling is getting atrocious too.

Guy

Hi Shane I see your point, but would the following be better than either?

“Hello, Do you want a chance to win great prizes, including a custom Wordpress theme or Twitter Power. The why not join my contest?"

Johnathan

If you can reach a higher standard in anything, then you should be doing just that. Make a goal, meet then surpass it buddy! Great article. Keep them coming.

Shane Hudson

@Roland - To be honest Roland, I have found that many of the teachers (though not many in my own school) have extremely bad grammar themselves. Hopefully mine is not too bad, but I often realise that I could be writing up to a much higher standard.

Roland

language in general use in the UK is deteriorating. I don't think you can blame text messaging entirely although I have heard of job applications being made in SMS language!
Grammar seems to be a thing of the past and such expressions as "he learned me" instead of "he taught me" and recently I have heard a number of times "I am itching my back" (etc) rather than "I am scratching".
Perhaps we need to look at the teachers methods in school. Are they correcting bad grammar?

Scott :: IrnMedia.net

I dnt lk 2 c mch of ths ethr, but the gd thng abt twtr is u dnt nd 2 do this 2 gt ur msg acrs
(for those of you who don't understand, "I don't like too much of this either, but the good thing about twitter is you don't need to do this to get your message across")

I hate short-type, it takes me longer to type that than it does to type regularly.