Smartphones and texting have been around for a while now and it’s safe to say they’re here to say. I mean, it was probably safe to say a few years ago:) And as with all new(er) inventions, humans adapt and perfect them to suit their own needs. The phenomenon of texting is no exception. However, since it involves usage and manipulation of language, it is a very hot topic because everybody and their mother has a different opinion about how the language should be used in any given situation. Ever overheard a similar remark: “Those youngsters totally don’t know how to spell or even write in complete sentences these days. I don’t know what the world has come to!”
Since I am not in my teens or even twenties any more (there, I said it!), texting did not come as naturally to me as it does to the younger generation, who seem to be born with phones in their hands and cannot wrap their heads around the concept of a landline. And true, I may have uttered the above remark myself once or twice. But a few years back, when I was looking for materials for a class that I was teaching at the time, I came across a video that made me do a double take at my own perceptions of texting language.
Let’s see: there is spoken language and there is written language. The former has existed far longer than the latter. And there are many ways how you can express yourself in spoken language – from very formal and academic to very casual and slang-filled. There are also a variety of styles of writing for different purposes. Persuading an audience to vote for a new regulation is not the same as informing them of events around town and different yet from telling a story of a moment in somebody’s life.
So where does texting fit in? Technically, it’s written but the spelling inventions and shortcuts make it more like a spoken variety of language. Say what? Here is where John McWorther, a linguist and Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, comes to help. This short video might answer some of your questions and will definitely make you think (and laugh)!
I admit, I am fascinated by this explanation. Yet when it comes to real life dealing with the texting language, I am still the one that will text “you” instead of “u” and has to look up what ROTFL means. LOL
What are your thoughts on texting language?
Do you agree with the speaker that texting is a new kind of language that young people are mastering?