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by Shine_The_Light on April 5th, 2007

Shine_The_Light

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Is our obsession with abbreviations gd 4 us? Is it realistically going to ruin our language, or does it derive benefits to override this issue?

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  • by Firebrand on April 5th, 2007

    Firebrand

    I am not keen on many abbreviations even in text

    I certainly do not like them in normal answers, most of them I have no idea what they mean anyway.

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  • by cellar-door_26 on April 5th, 2007

    cellar-door_26

    What benefits are there, exactly, to use abbreviations?

    When I see them I just think of incompetence and a fourth grade education.

    Here come the trolls.

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  • by Biggie15 on April 5th, 2007

    Biggie15

    It won't ruin our language as such, but it will ruin the minds of the people who constantly use them. Abbreviations such as 'gtg' have only one place; in instant messengers while chatting to friends.

    Many people I know who talk in chat speak most of the time are perfectly intelligent people with above average grammar skills. The only problem is that they are too ignorant to control their usage of them

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  • by Empress of Everything Ever on April 5th, 2007

    Empress of Everything Ever

    Language is ever changing.
    Whether abbreviations are good or not I don't know, ask again in about 20 years.
    There seems to be a lot going on in language change at the moment, or perhaps there always has been and I have never noticed before (?). I think that some people, probably us older ones (?), see all this change and don't like it, I think that the older you get the less happy with change you are. (Okay so if this doesn't apply to you - then it doesn't apply to you!).
    So young people add and invent new items of language to distinguish themselves from the previous generations, to make it harder for anyone not in their own group to understand them and to form a common bond with their peers. This is, in part, how I believe language changes. Currently, 'text talk' is changing the written language. For those who use it frequently it probably seems perfectly intelligble and logical, but to others who don't use it or not often, it seems like a corruption of the language. It isn't, just different. Whether it last or not - like I said, ask again in 20 years.

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  • by Anonymous on April 5th, 2007

    Anonymous

      There's a place for abbreviations, otherwise the language wouldn't have made allowances for them.

      In my opinion, they should be used sparingly, and only in contexts where it can safely be assumed that everyone reading them will immediately know what is meant by them.  It's good practice, if you're going to use an abbreviation, to always spell the full word out the first time, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, and then thereafter to use the abbreviation.

      Overuse of abbreviations, or use of obscure abbreviations that are not clearly defined, results in text that is difficult to read; and it makes the writer appear to be lazy or stupid or both.

      This is most especially true if you use abbreviations for words that are short enough not to call for abbreviation; for example, writing “u” instead of “you” or “2” instead of “to”.  Abbreviations of that sort are very much the mark of someone who is just too damn stupid or lazy to even bother to try to write clearly; and who probably doesn't have anything to say that is worth the effort of trying to read what they have tried to write.

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  • by audiogal on April 5th, 2007

    audiogal

    I dnt knw...it mks txtg ezr, but readng more diff.

    I guess it keeps your brain active since sometimes you really have to try hard to figure out the message. I don't think it is going to ruin our language, because you can't use abbreviations in all situations (although some people probably try!)

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