Wrong words

[John the Monkey]

I've never, ever written a text in textspeak.

Likewise - what cemented my world view in this respect was receiving a text that said "K CU 2MRW" and having to ask for a translation. ("Ok, see you tomorrow" it seems so obvious once it's explained). My current 'phone automatically splits messages that exceed the character limit into two or more SMS messages, but even on my older 'phones I could usually find a way to convey the meaning of my message without resorting to the vowel-less abominations I routinely receive from some people.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

It seems to me that with predictive texting that it actually takes longer to use txtspk than it would to type the whole thing properly... it certainly takes me longer to figure out what the hell they are trying to say!!

I must be getting old!!

 

[Arch]

It seems to me that with predictive texting that it actually takes longer to use txtspk than it would to type the whole thing properly... it certainly takes me longer to figure out what the hell they are trying to say!!

I must be getting old!!

It's amazing how many words predictive text can get wrong though, and still be actual words, just completely the wrong one. It can be fun to decipher if the sender isn't concetrating properly...

 

[swee'pea99]

One of the interesting things coming out of businessspeak ('going forward' and the like) in the verbalisation of nouns. I'm sure this is where the thinking behind the recently-coined verb 'to medal' comes from. To impact is a fairly recent one. To access used to bug me. But it's amazing how you can grow accustomed to things. I access stuff as cheerfully as a baby bunny rabbit these days. ('A big ask' is sort of similar. I haven't quite assimilated that one yet. First time I heard it in a commentary on a rugby match I thought it was an uncalled for very personal comment about one of the players.)

 

[jay clock]

Australian Rising Inflexion....... By turning your statements into questions, you invite people to agree with you, and give the impression that you are seeking their opinion, rather than just stating your own

It is fine if you really are seeking their opinion such as "Scotland's a really nice place for a warm sunny holiday" but really annoys me when someone says it at work when they feel strongly about something but the intonation makes them sound like a ditherer

 

[Bokonon]

There has been a recent proliferation of people confusing the use of 'non-' and 'none,' as in 'a lot of what Bokonon posts when inebriated is none coherent.' It does my nut in.

 

[Auntie Helen]

Am I mistaken, Auntie, or haven't you just done the same with 'dumbing down' or was that a second example without inverted commas?

Argh! I have, and unwittingly.

*goes away to fall on sword*

 

[Maz]

Kids are now using but instead of though, at the end of sentences. It drives me nuts.
"I want to go out. It's raining, but."

 

[yello]

*goes away to fall on sword*

No, not at all! It just shows that we are all at the mercy of language changes. Like those annoying songs that you profess to dislike but can't stop going around in your head, so will you also start using forms of language that you protest about! Succumb I say. Save your fights for more important issues. Like mudguards.

 

[Maz]

To be fair Maz, that's a dialect thing also. My grandad said that as well.

Could be a Leicester thing. Dunno.
No worse than the old 'whilst' v 'until' Yorkshire thing.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

Could be a Leicester thing. Dunno.
No worse than the old 'whilst' v 'until' Yorkshire thing.

thought it was 'while'…

 

[alecstilleyedye]

nine while nine - sisters of mercy

(oops, wrong thread )

 

[Lazy-Commuter]

There's a plethora of business speak ("Going forward..." grrr) that annoys me far more than it should. What does seem to have become more prevalent in personal communication (at least it seems so to me) is the idea that one writes exactly as one speaks (hence "of" for have, etc) and the use of txtspk. The latter is particularly irritating in media that don't require the forced brevity of the SMS (indeed, SMS themselves no longer require this in most cases).

Ditto the business speak, and "lifestyle" grates on me for some reason, as in this quote probably from any freebie magazine you care to mention: "with today's busy lifestyle it can be hard to cook a proper meal, so we'll show you a simple yet stylish blah blah blah".

The other one is the use of lol as some sort of bizarre punctuation substitute lol so you never see a full stop lol comma lol colon or even semi-colon lol just lol the whole time lol

Edit: I'm very worried about "grates on me" being a bad thing to say.

 

[Maz]

thought it was 'while'…

Yes. 'while'.

 

[swee'pea99]

To be fair Maz, that's a dialect thing also. My grandad said that as well.

Interesting. It's pretty much universal in New Zealand.