- Image via Wikipedia
So today I read an article on the BBC’s website entitled, “How the internet is changing language”.
If you speak to anyone around the office they will tell you that I have a deep and emotional hatred of people abbreviating when they speak. By this I mean ‘obvs’ for obviously, ‘totes’ for totally and ‘defs’ for definitely.
It’s like someone smacking me repeatedly in the face with a large, incorrect, dictionary. There is just no need for it. My life, and I imagine the speaker’s life, is not going to benefit in anyway from the millisecond ‘obvs’ will save if said in replacement of ‘obviously’.
I can assure you I don’t have such a hectic and incredibly important life where those milliseconds can all be racked up so that I can spend more time discovering cures to terminal diseases or solving world hunger. To illustrate this, I spent four hours yesterday playing Batman on the Playstation, in my pants. I can safely say I have enough time on my hands to listen to the full word rather than its abbreviated backward cousin.
While the BBC article gives examples of where abbreviation has helped, or in some cases is completely necessary (take Twitter for example), this shouldn’t mean that people go about life speaking as if they only have 140 characters with which to get the message across.
I guess that is the thing that irritated me the most; there is no practical reason why people are now saying ‘actch’ instead of actually. It’s just some Paris Hiltonesque language that began with OMG and has slowly evolved into this dumbed down version of an already dumbed down language.
It’s a way of communicating that needs to be met with anger and a point blank refusal to acknowledge the sentence that contained the offending abbreviation.
Obvs this is pssng me off! – Why I hate people speaking in abbreviations http://goo.gl/fb/0BZTf (@brownbare)
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
This defo insults me, you’ve created much aggro on the pod. You’re obs just not one of the cool kids.lol
You’re obvs not down with the kids’ lingo. Innit.
OMG, totes offended by your lack of appreciation for creative linguistics. Many words which are dull and lifeless have been reinvented by just removing a few letters. We should be embracing innovation not abusing those who have the sense to challenge social norms and push boundaries (particularly when some of those people are colleagues!) These people are the Noam Chomskys’ of the future!
I totes disagree and here’s why – abbreviating the English language is an inevitable part of the evolutionary language process. For example – in France, verlan (a type of French slang created by playing around with syllables) is now so ordinary that many Verlan words are spoken in every day French. I think we’re fo shiz going to see more abbreves being used. Not only does it defo save time, it also shows that the user has a super strong grasp of the English language to be able to manipulate it so efficiently.
I will respond to your comments in order of annoyance:
“Noam Chomskys of the future” NOAM CHOMSKY???!!!! I doubt that during his text on Universal Grammar he had in his mind ‘actch’ as an acceptable English word.
Challenging social norms? This isn’t some undercurent of anrchasim that is sweeping the Starbucks and organic food stalls of Britain – this is an irritating trend, like Big Brother and fashion spectacles (note: not sunglasses, fashion spectacles – spectacles with no optical benefit to the wearer – just specatcles).
Just because the French do it does not make it cultural, hip or intelligent. It makes it irritating in French as well.
No this is not an evolution of language its an evolution of footballers’ wives texting eachother and then thinking to themselves, “Why not speak like this? Totes cool!” If the next evolution of language is going to be led by Abbie and Colleen then I rather stay in the past.
How does ‘obvs’ make ‘obviously’ any more of an exciting word? Do people quiver with satisfaction as pleasure rushes over them after hearing the non-word ‘totes’? Do they shed a tear at the creative ingenuity employed to shorten definitely to defs? I doubt it.
Spelling terribly doesn’t count as a bastardisation of the English language.