Venting about juvenile internet language

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I'm starting to get really annoyed with the language the kids use these days on the internet.
Things like"herp-derp", purposely misspelled words like "moar", and abbreviated & single letter words like "ur"...
Also, numbers are NOT words!! !
It's like the younger generation wears stupidity like a badge of honor.
I fear for the future of our world.



I think I'm starting to get old.

4 relz!

I do understand you though. I can't stand that stuff. Even with texting, I spell out my words.

Frances

Better than in junior high school, where the kids use really foul language, so much that I gave up any future use of foul language and profanity so I wouldn't end like them. But texting talk is annoying too.

So, what is this "herp derp"?

Agr33d, I actually g3t a h3adach3 wh3n tryin 2 r3ad dis typ ov talk.

The think is, it's not even shortening it as some people put yhoo as you for example.

Pointless.

People say that when they think something is stupid. It's a mocking insult, essentially calling someone ret*d.

...

Maybe what I'm going through is something most folks experience around the 40-somethings... finding everything teens to do be completely annoying. Almost a century ago I'm sure there was some 41 year old guy like me complaining about those damn kids and their "charlston" dance, with their immature sayings like "23 skiddo!".

The generation gap has always been a problem since the dawn of time.

Last edited by pete1061 on 27 Nov 2011, 9:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Basically something along the lines of "oops."

I will admit that I use derp on occasion, but anything else is just ridiculous.....and my generation is the one that came up with this nonsense!! ! (I'm only 20)

to paraphrase kahlil gibran-

the children live in the house of tomorrow, and you [as adults] can't enter this house, not even for a visit."

Hum.

What I do believe is that children are always happy to have someone to do the house chores for them!

Pete, you can join me for a geritol cocktail.

You youngsters with your txt mssg spelling, get off my lawn!

thumps cane on ground

i use some of that stuff, but i don't overdo it. i like it. it's a whole new language to learn and that fascinates me. interestingly my kid doesn't use it too much compared to me (she is 17).

ohai!

I seem to have rather the opposite problem as you. While I will readily admit that the abbreviated text talk annoys me, I understand that people do it to save wear and tear on their thumbs when texting on phones, to avoid carpal tunnel by typing fewer characters. Then it becomes habit. For gamers, it's a shorthand that can convey urgent messages more quickly.

When I was 6-18 years old using BBS systems in the 80s, this problem existed even then. It used to upset me to no end.

Later in life, I had a revelation. Fun is stupid, ergo stupid is fun. So I let up on my burning urges to correct people's grammar and cultivated a healthy appreciation for slang and manglish. Oh, certainly some utter inanity will strike a nerve. But it no longer triggers a raging tirade. I laugh a lot more now, and it's healthy to open up that safety valve now and then instead of letting the pressure in the brain pipes build up and explode .

kkthxbai!

(she doesn't have a potty mouth like me either. so much for being a bad influence!)

I use it quite a bit, because I go to a lot of those "humour" sites where such language is abundant and I've come to associate it with being silly on the internet. When I'm discussing something seriously, though, I'll use proper language to decrease the likelihood of being misunderstood.

I have become slightly less formal now that I am older and especially since I am on an online forum. When I was younger and in school, I was always obsessed about grammar, spelling and my usage of language in general. Oddly, I have been accused of being unnecessarily abstruse at times.

It irritates the crap out of me when people intentionally misuse language. It makes my job as a reader that much harder and I resent it greatly. It's as if the writer gets a perverse pleasure forcing me to decipher their gibberish.

I don't use text speak ever. I spell everything out in text messages. Predictive texting makes it that much easier. Also I don't understand why people purposely misspell words. My Firefox browser underlines all misspelled words so I make sure to fix them before I post.

Nobody likes a Grammar Nazi. I feel it is inappropriate to chide people over their grammar especially since for some English is not their native language. However I take a special dislike to those that intentionally misuse language to the point where the reader must struggle to read it.

My pet peeves:

Not using sentences and paragraphs
Okay, please try to end a sentence with ".", "?", "!", "?!" or something.
Wall of text--please break into paragraphs
I can't stand "stream-of-consiousness-thought" without sentences

Using obviously the wrong words:
"4" means "four" not "for"
"your", "you're", or "ur" (just awful)
"their", "there", or "they're"
"2" means "two" not "to" or "too"
etc. etc.
This makes a post very difficult to read

Excessive Quoting
There is no need to quote the last 5 post. Just quote the necessary parts.

Excessive Punctionation and/or Emoticons
! !! !! !! !! !! ! or
I am so glad I don't see this on WP!

Profanity should be used rarely so as to preserve its explicit meaning
(or not at all depending on context)

There are plenty more, but I don't want to ramble.

I am so grateful that WP is a literate place. That is one reason I enjoy spending so much time here. It can be hard to find literate forums sometimes.

Yeah, I hate it when people misspell or use bad language all the time. I've always hated that, even (or especially) when I was a teenager myself. But my own generation ruined words like "awesome" and "radical", so I really shouldn't talk. I do like using Smilies, however. I find they help me express my true feelings when I can only type.