Internet-isms

Guys, Is it just me or does anyone else here simply _hate_ the 'netisms' that people use when writing these days. Does everybody currently always laugh out loud, when a small chuckle is probably more appropriate? Did everyone forget how to spell 'you' or 'your'? Has the world evolved into such a high-speed place that everyone must use 'commonly-accepted' abbreviations when it takes a couple of deciseconds to type out the whole word? Perhaps my signature line is more applicable than I'd previously thought. Steve

Reply to
Steve Collins
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I'm with you.

Reply to
Bill Woodier

Well...some of the "netisms" in my opinion, are needed. Things such as "lol", or "lmao" can be useful, in stressing that what you typed was meant in good humor. Laughing out loud ("lol") probably does the job better than laughing with a modest little chuckle ("lwamlc").

:o)

But, what *is* intolerable, is the ghetto-ish slang thing of using "u" for "you", "4" instead of "for", etc. And there is absolutely *no* valid reason for "TyPiNg 1ik3 tHiS"; and that should be *not* be tolerated at all.

And to those who *still* have not figured it out:

"conversate" is *not* a word!...lol.

And no, we do *not* have to accept these "commonly-accepted" abbreviations. I am sure I myself have a nasty reputation, among many people, of acting like their least favorite English teacher, as I *constantly* return emails to them, asking for grammatical corrections before I will reply in the way they desire.

:o)

Reply to
Greg Heilers

I would just be happy if people would take the few extra micro-seconds required to capitalize appropriate words.

Reply to
Wildcat

I hope you're not upset by 'IIRC', 'AFAIK' or 'ISTR'. I use them frequently myself. I've been building models since 1957 and I almost have to use 'IIRC' a lot. Sometimes I'm wrong in my recalls. That's what comes of being an MFE with CRS. Then again, I do avoid the cutsey stuff as I'm with you on finding it irritating. We already have enough people who can't spell correctly without implanting in their minds that 4=for or 8=ate. Sometimes for a cheap laugh I'll read someone's post exactly as it's typed. Anywhere on the 'net you'll find folks who type stuff just as crazy as the gibberish spammers put up to thwart filters. In most cases they meant something else. (Sigh!)

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Reply to
Mad-Modeller

Noting that even the ancients got tired of the writing and the bandwidth used by "id est" and "exampla gratia," and gave us "i.e." and "e.g.", I can see a case for the more common abbreviations.

As for my pet peeve...

Your/you're, Their/they're, Whose/who's, Its/it's, His/He's... Ach! Ve knew vone vould crack! Und "he" gives us the key to the rest! The posessive pronoun is a simple word, the apostrophe is for the contraction of the verb is/are. Learn it, love it, live it.

Reply to
Jack Bohn

in article d4JSe.406$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net, Greg Heilers at snipped-for-privacy@earthNOSPAMlink.net wrote on 9/4/05 9:48 PM:

I would do that as well but as I can neather spell or do I have a good enough grasp of grammer it would be like the blind leading the blind.

On a related topic,as a Brit, I hate the creeping "Americanisation" (sorry guys)of the language over here as used by children, elivator instead of lift, trash can instead of rubbish bin and such like. Petty I know but it realy hacks me off.

And the common acceptance that words that start with "th" can be pronounced with a "f". One,two, free ,four.

Rant off.

Reply to
Rory Manton

Ja wohl! Seriously, those bug me too but I get the feeling of sweeping back the ocean with a broom when I mention those. I occasionally get the smarty-pants feeling that I'd like to ask someone, "Their what?" when I see 'box's'. It's heck knowing how language is supposed to look to make sense.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Reply to
Mad-Modeller

Glottal stops! There are two t's and no w's in 'bottle' so that means we should say "bottle" and not "bo'aw".

As to Usenet, subject changes without changing the subject line. That may the fault of the various providers who don't really care or put up a page that reads something like the download agreements, as in "I have read at least a little bit of the Usenet Guidelines and would like to converse with the very nice people out there."

Richard.

Reply to
Richard Brooks

That's interesting. I wonder why words for such mundane things, like those objects, are being affected? It can't be all "pop culture"; as it's not as if top popular songs are being written about "elevators" or "trash cans".

Reply to
Greg Heilers

I always smile at the car bumper sticker - "I heart New York" - what's that all about ??

Ken

Reply to
Ken Duffey

in article cMYSe.5587$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net, Greg Heilers at snipped-for-privacy@earthNOSPAMlink.net wrote on 9/5/05 3:39 PM:

I think it's to do with the increase of of Sky tv and the crap that 's on the childrens channels, which is why I ave stopped my mob from watching the stuff.

Reply to
Rory Manton

My favorite bumper sticker of that genre:

"I (heart) my cat. I (spaid) my dog."

:o)

Reply to
Greg Heilers

Whatever happened to the good ol' days, of "Captain Kangaroo"?

He RULED!!!

:o)

Reply to
Greg Heilers

Rory,

I agree entirely. The increasing tendency to pronounce "th" as "f" is probably the result of the popularity of Cockney TV shows like Eastenders and Only Fools and Horses. As a Northerner, I really dislike the spread of this kind of "Mockney" culture to the country as a whole. I've no quarrel with local accents but I'd like them to remain in their local areas. Our local regional accent is fine up here but I see no reason why other people should start using it or have to hear it all the time on TV.

I can see your point about Americanisms but it seems to me that their spread amongst young people is largely inevitable. They hear them so much on TV and in films that they regard them as normal, everyday usage. As long as we have so much exposure to American popular culture in all forms, we will see continued Americanisation of the language. Some of my students know more about American cultural and political institutions and traditions than they do about our own.

This doesn't mean that I think American culture, popular or otherwise, is somehow worse than ours. I enjoy a lot of it but, as an adult, I can separate it from the home grown equivalent. I just don't want to see it absorbed by our children to the point that it swamps and kills off our own culture and language. The two should thrive as separate expressions of the cultures of the two different countries.

I must also agree with an earlier posting from Bill Banaszak when he said that he hates to see the language misused through a lack of understanding of its structure and usage. I teach English as one of my subjects and I sometimes despair at my students' indifference to language.

I will make a final point, though. We all joined this newsgroup because we make models as a hobby. It's one of the most valuable resources on the Internet and I wouldn't be without it. It would be a real shame if anyone were to be deterred from posting to the group because he feared that his grammar, spelling or punctuation would be criticised. Grammar isn't everyone's strong point and I'd rather people made full use of the group than that they worried about their linguistic skills.

With best wishes to everyone,

Gordon McLaughlin

Heilers

abbreviations.

Reply to
Gordon McLaughlin

We don't expect people to write on the "advanced university degree" level; but I do not think it is too much to ask, for people to use the grammatical skills that we were all taught in public school. Seeing as most people in the civilized world, receive up to 12 years of public education, with the taxpayers picking up the bill....it seems to be an insult to those taxpayers, to not exercise the skills *they* paid for.

:o)

But, I think *most* cases of "poor grammar" are due to sheer laziness, and/or lack of respect, on the part of the person doing the posting.

And agreeing with your point that forums such as these, are wonderful resources to use in conjunction with our hobby; it only seems logical, as well as courteous, to converse in as *proper* a way, as possible.

Reply to
Greg Heilers

in article 431ca06d@212.67.96.135, Gordon McLaughlin at snipped-for-privacy@onetel.com wrote on 9/5/05 8:47 PM:

I, as you may have noticed, am not that good at spelling but I do try to type correctly and I will never be put off posting by somebody critisising my spelling abilities. The funny thing is it is the shorter , more common words I have dificulty with ie few,fue ,was, were and it depends on how annoyed I am when I type.

Reply to
Rory Manton

Along with Mitch Miller, ROmper Room and the original Wonderama when it came from TV Hill in Baltimore.

Reply to
rwsmithjr

So long as u, ur, ne, ne1, 4 and 8 are not used to replace the words you, your/you're, any, anyone, for, ate (in the latter case also not used to "spell" the phonetic equivalents in the middle of words); I don't mind a bit of off spelling or grammar. Typos can also be funny.

Reply to
rwsmithjr

A bit of worthless history ---- my wife was the "Do Bee"

Reply to
Wildcat

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