Is it just me?

[dbphotos]

Ok, I have noticed for quite some time now (more since my 14 year old got a cell phone and got into texting) that our kids (and some adults) are either illiterate or have become so lazy when it comes to spelling that they don't care. Now I'm not a perfect speller, but I certainly attempt to be literate in my communications. If I see my son using text shortcuts in any other part of his life he gets a lecture that I'm sure he is tired of hearing and threatened with losing his phone.

While visiting another forum I saw this message posted by a "photographer" who appears to be a young adult.

"HEY EVERYONE , HOWS IT GOING ME I AM GRATE JUST WAITING FOR THE SPECIAL SHOOT TOMARO.THEN ON SATURDAY I HAVE A SHOOT THE IS DEAR TO MY HEART. MY MOMMY WHO IS A CANCER SURVIOR AND HAS BEEN IN REMISSION FOR 4 YEARS KNOW!WAY TO GO MOM. SO DOES ANYONE ON HERE HAVE A MYSPACE IF SO HERE IS MY URL GO CHECK IT OUT PLEASE "

This is a copy and paste (except for the web address to save embarassment) of the complete message. All the spelling and punctuation challenges are as posted.

Is is just me or has this become rampant and unacceptable or am I just being too picky?

[Daniel Bates]

I'm a teenager, I text, and I still have halfway decent grammar... I know what you mean, though. I can't stand most Internet spelling. "Teh" is not an acceptable substitution for "the", and is it so hard to take the extra thirty seconds and type out a full word?

[dbphotos]

I absolutley agree that it's not ALL teenagers and it even reaches some adults. I just can't believe you can make it through high school (in this day and age) in any school district and not know the difference between "tamaro" and "tomorrow", "know" and "now" or "grate" and "great". I think it's simply a lack of personal discipline and people that really just don't care how they come across.

The world can be a cruel judge.

[toverman]

I'm not a teen-ager (that ship sailed long ago), but I'd say shouldn't it be "2morrow" ?? I don't "text" per se, but I do answer e-mails on my Blackberry. And I make every effort to spell out words, which means my sentences are never long and nor are my replies.

As a former newspaper copy editor, my standards are higher than most. We can lament the loss of proper grammar, and it will end up biting the lazy practitioners sooner or later. But textspeak is a form of communication, just as the images people capture on their cell phones are "photos," I guess.

[JohnT]

No, it isn't just you. I agree wholeheartedly.

[David_3]

Originally Posted by dbphotos

I just can't believe you can make it through high school (in this day and age) in any school district and not know the difference between "tamaro" and "tomorrow", "know" and "now" or "grate" and "great".

Or the difference between "your" and "you're".

I make my share of errors, but I really try hard to get it right. I am totally embarrassed when I make a spelling mistake, and that's why you will often see my posts edited more than once.....I'm trying to fix my screw-ups. What amazes me, is not that people make mistakes, but the fact that so many of them just don't seem to care when they do.

[Anthony Martinez]

No, it is not just you. Some might say it has to do with having the worst public education in any country with anything resembling widespread access to educators. By no means am I a grammatical genius. Lord knows I use the red squiggly extensively. Of course, having much younger siblings I've been directly exposed to the worst of the AOLisms and as such am fluent in no less than 12 different dialects of stupid. lyk 0mG wuT r U d01nG l8R!!11oneone.... :sigh:

From a TEACHER's (one that would also like to model) Facebook profile "Hey you guys Im a inspiring model just looking to exspand my portfoleo." She "teaches" 3rd graders, right here in Texas.

[dbphotos]

Originally Posted by Anthony Martinez

From a TEACHER's (one that would also like to model) Facebook profile "Hey you guys Im a inspiring model just looking to exspand my portfoleo." She "teaches" 3rd graders, right here in Texas.

That's frightening. A good case for annual teacher testing.

[Anthony Martinez]

She quite literally just passed her teacher certification. Read that a few times so it sinks in. She's a fresh A&M graduate, I've known her for years. I thought things were bad when I enlisted, and here we are five years later a good ten feet below what I thought was the bottom of the barrel.

[Daniel Bates]

Please, no Aggie jokes...

[Anthony Martinez]

Easy there private ;) My own sister graduated from A&M.

Martinez, SGT type. 1 each ;)

[Daniel Bates]

Yeah, I went to A&M for two semesters. I'd still be there if I had any money.


[/hijack]

[AndrewCCM]

Originally Posted by JohnT

No, it isn't just you. I agree wholeheartedly.

Wryght chair wit cha...

[Anthony Martinez]

Well, you'll qualify for the new GI Bill soon enough, so you need not worry about that any more. Tuition Assistance, use it - it doesn't come out of your GI Bill money. If you don't have an NCO that's telling you the things NCOs should tell their soldiers, PM/email/call me. I came off 5yrs active duty a mere 18 days ago.

**end threadjack**

[swanny338]

I have definitely noticed it...

I think I may have been affected as my writing seems to have gotten more choppy. Yeah, the spelling and grammar are generally pretty close but, it doesn't seem to flow as well as it used to... I probably need to start reading more books again.