Is Texting Killing the English Language?
![English](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
English, 31.03.2020 00:55, lizzyhearts
Ik It Is A Lot But Jus Try If You Can
Is Texting Killing the English Language?
by John McWhorter TIME magazine
April 25, 2013
1 Texting has long been bemoaned as the downfall of the written word, âpenmanship for illiterates,â as one critic called it. To which the proper response is LOL. Texting properly isnât writing at allâitâs actually more akin to spoken language. And itâs a âspokenâ language that is getting richer and more complex by the year.
2 First, some historical perspective. Writing was only invented 5,500 years ago, whereas language probably traces back at least 80,000 years. Thus talking came first; writing is just an artifice that came along later. As such, the first writing was based on the way people talk, with short sentences. However, while talk is largely subconscious and rapid, writing is deliberate and slow. Over time, writers took advantage of this and started crafting tapeworm sentences such as this one, from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: âThe whole engagement lasted above 12 hours, till the gradual retreat of the Persians was changed into a disorderly flight, of which the shameful example was given by the principal leaders and the Surenas himself.â
3 No one talks like that casuallyâor should. But it is natural to desire to do so for special occasions, and thatâs what oratory is, like the grand-old kinds of speeches that William Jennings Bryan delivered. In the old days, we didnât much write like talking because there was no mechanism to reproduce the speed of conversation. But texting and instant messaging doâand a revolution has begun. It involves the brute mechanics of writing, but in its economy, spontaneity and even vulgarity, texting is actually a new kind of talking. There is a virtual cult of concision and little interest in capitalization or punctuation. The argument that texting is âpoor writingâ is analogous, then, to one that the Rolling Stones is âbad musicâ because it doesnât use violas.
4 Texting is developing its own kind of grammar. Take LOL. It doesnât actually mean âlaughing out loudâ in a literal sense anymore. LOL has evolved into something much subtler and sophisticated and is used even when nothing is remotely amusing. Jocelyn texts âWhere have you been?â and Annabelle texts back âLOL at the library studying for two hours.â LOL signals basic empathy between texters, easing tension and creating a sense of equality. Instead of having a literal meaning, it does somethingâconveying an attitudeâjust like the -ed ending conveys past tense rather than âmeaningâ anything. LOL, of all things, is grammar.
5 Of course no one thinks about that consciously. But then most of communication operates below the radar. Over time, the meaning of a word or an expression driftsâmeat used to mean any kind of food, silly used to mean, believe it or not, blessed.
6 Civilization, then, is fineâpeople banging away on their smartphones are fluently using a code separate from the one they use in actual writing, and there is no evidence that texting is ruining composition skills. Worldwide people speak differently from the way they write, and textingâquick, casual and only intended to be read onceâis actually a way of talking with your fingers.
7 All indications are that Americaâs youth are doing it quite well. Texting, far from being a scourge, is a work in progress.
Teen Texting Love it or hate it, texting is here to stay.
A 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center found that:
⢠about 75% of teens text, and about 23% of teens have smartphones
⢠about 63% of teens text family and friends every day, which is a far greater percentage than those who communicate
daily by phone, e-mail, or face-to-face conversation
⢠teens identified as heavy texters, or those who send more than 100 texts per day, are also more likely to talk on their cell phone daily
So what do English teachers think about all this teen texting? Some have tried to turn it to their advantage by incorporating activities such as having students translate literary passages into text messages as a way of demonstrating comprehension.
1. According to the article, what happens to language over time?
A) Formal writing and spoken language become more similar.
B) Sentence constructions no longer follow specific rules.
C) Words develop new definitions.
D) Spoken language becomes more literal.
2. Which sentence best expresses the articleâs main idea?
A) No one talks like that casuallyâor should.
B) Texting has long been bemoaned as the downfall of the written word, âpenmanship for illiterates,â as one critic called it.
C) Of course no one thinks about that consciously.
D) Texting, far from being a scourge, is a work in progress.
![answer](/tpl/images/cats/otvet.png)
Answers: 3
Other questions on the subject: English
![image](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
English, 21.06.2019 20:00, aaburto1515
Fill in the blanks mommy told the kids, who promised they up their rooms by lunch, that they would go to the park. a would cleanb cleanedc have cleaned
Answers: 1
![image](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
English, 22.06.2019 01:00, kingjames82
Read the passage from animal farm. "that was part of the arrangement! " cried squealer. "jones's shot only grazed him. i could show you this in his own writing, if you were able to read it. the plot was for snowball, at the critical moment, to give the signal for flight and leave the field to the enemy. and he very nearly succeededâi will even say, comrades, he would have succeeded if it had not been for our heroic leader, comrade napoleon. do you not remember how, just at the moment when jones and his men had got inside the yard, snowball suddenly turned and fled, and many animals followed him? and do you not remember, too, that it was just at that moment, when panic was spreading and all seemed lost, that comrade napoleon sprang forward with a cry of 'death to humanity! ' and sank his teeth in jones's leg? surely you remember that, comrades? " exclaimed squealer, frisking from side to side. now when squealer described the scene so graphically, it seemed to the animals that they did remember it. at any rate, they remembered that at the critical moment of the battle snowball had turned to flee. but boxer was still a little uneasy. how does the characterization of squealer support the authorâs purpose? squealer's dramatic accusations draw parallels between him and stalinâs propagandists. squealer's uncertainty shows that he is not a reliable ally of napoleon and is ineffective with messaging. squealer's ability to get the animals to listen to him shows that any animal can rise to be a leader in time. squealer's humble interactions with the animals reflect the importance of equality and cooperation.
Answers: 3
![image](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
English, 22.06.2019 02:00, NetherisIsTheQueen
Amaze i know not these my hands and yet i think there was a woman like me once had hands like these. -adelaide what type of poem is "amaze"? a. diamante b. american cinquain c. japanese cinquain d. modern cinquain
Answers: 1
![image](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
English, 22.06.2019 04:30, hardwick744
How does the author use the character of torvald helmer to explore a social use? -by revealing the changes that can happen to a person who has gotten wealthy quickly - by revealing attitudes related to spending and saving that men held during the victorian era -by revealing the bad financial advice that was given to many people in the victorian era -by revealing the hardships that fell on many people who lived during the victorian era
Answers: 2
Do you know the correct answer?
Ik It Is A Lot But Jus Try If You Can
Is Texting Killing the English Language?
Is Texting Killing the English Language?
Questions in other subjects:
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/biologiya.png)
Biology, 09.08.2019 06:20
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/fizika.png)
Physics, 09.08.2019 06:20
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/mat.png)
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/mat.png)
Mathematics, 09.08.2019 06:20
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)
![Konu](/tpl/images/cats/en.png)