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Texting lingo.

I agree. As a matter of fact, I usually opt for phones with a QWERTY keyboard because I like to type out my messages rather than abbreviate them.

However, I do occasionally verbalize chat acronyms in speech (mainly because it's silly). Throwing in a good old fashioned "EL OH EL" at the end of an otherwise serious statement can generate a few laughs, or extreme hatred towards me. It's hit or miss, really.
 
Haha Tyler, I think it's the latter.... EL OH EL
 
I pretty much just ignore posts that don't use the appropriate capital letters, or that aren't punctuated.

I figure if they don't care about making the minimal extra effort it takes to communicate effectively with the written word, I'll just skip them, and help someone who does make the effort.
 
I would tend to agree. But, times are a changing. I've done quite a bit of business w/ clients through IM's. The way I see it, as long as you can effectively communicate w/ others, it doesnt matter
 
I have had text-capable cell phones for probably five years now, maybe more. I still have no idea how to send a text message - nor do I have any interest in doing so.

(I can usually figure out how to read text messages, but the only ones I've ever received are from Verizon.)
 
WTF? Man, kdz 2day R lazy!
 
I have several relatives who are teachers or professors. They all lament the apparent decline of writing skills, and the reliance on slang (with text-speak being one variant) to convey ideas. Even the ability to verbally express a whole sentence, without the use of fill words and with an object, a subject and a verb, seems to be a skill that many are not teaching their kids. Yet here and there, one finds individuals who speak clearly, write well, and construct logical and even persuasive arguements. Perhaps this is as it always was, but it seems to me that those with the ability to communicate clearly have a better chance at success than the rest of us.
 
Why does being efficient have to equate to laziness? Granted, shorthand has no place in academic papers. But there's nothing wrong with shorthand via text message.
 
I would tend to agree. But, times are a changing. I've done quite a bit of business w/ clients through IM's. The way I see it, as long as you can effectively communicate w/ others, it doesnt matter

Well it's the "effectively communicate" part that is the key. We use IM at work for certain things, and I had one employee who used so much text-speak, combined with horrible spelling and a total lack of ability to form a complete thought in written form, that it was nearly impossible to understand his instant messages. It was so bad that I was afraid to let him write emails to customers.

I have no problem with people using abbreviations and shorthand, but there are appropriate times to use them and times that are not remotely appropriate, and I think that some of today's youth are losing the ability to know the difference.
 
In the culinary arts, we know that proper presentation is as important as the actual taste of the dish. So it is with people - an idea well presented and articulated has a much better idea of finding interested listeners than one delivered in a colloquial way. Formal music gets played in a formal costume, with the "dressing up" being part of the effort made to make the occasion (and music) more "out-of-the-ordinary". How about even going out on town, and dressing up? In each case, presenting the ideas or the activity in a clear and even attractive manner goes a long way to making the message or content go down ever so much easily. While it is perfectly acceptable to text abbreviations and short-cuts, when carried over to other contexts, it shows poorly on the person doing it, as it conveys that they attach little importance to their own ideas, certainly not enough to try and dress them up for public consumption.
 

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