How Does Texting Affect Your Grammar?
I have to be honest. I am not worried about the effects of texting on grammar. I may publish a post sometime soon on my thinking. In the meantime, I’d love to know what you think of the infographic below. Leave your comments in the Reply section at the bottom of the page.
The infographic below comes courtesy of Online College.org.
Click to enlarge the graphic.
Honestly, if I have something to say, I don’t text, I CALL. And really, text talk drives me crazy. Most of the abbreviations, i don’t know. (or understand for that matter)
In general, I don’t mind textspeak on Facebook, etc. as long as it’s clear what the person is saying. However, a worrisome amount of my students have included emoticons, lols, and abbreviations such as “u” in formal papers! Although I don’t think texting is the downfall of the English language, I am worried about this generation being unable to express their ideas in a way that the older generation can understand.
I’m with Lisa. I don’t text a lot (I can’t afford it) but when I do, I deliberately use complete sentences and punctuation, etc.. (Here’s a question – when you end a sentence with an abbreviation, do you use one period or two?)
I can forgive a spelling or grammar error or two, but I’m bothered by the high number of errors I notice in emails and on facebook.
Good question, Lisa. When you end a sentence with an abbreviation, the period serves both to mark the abbreviation and to end the sentence. You don’t need two! 🙂
I can stand text speech, but I don’t really like it. Even though I am in high school, I think that you should text just like you e-mail. I also have noticed some e-mailing that are more like texts because the use all the text speech.
Email isn’t much better than texting these days in general. I agree.
I tend toward “old school” with regard to grammar and punctuation, so I refuse to use it in texting. It takes me longer, obviously, but I think it’s worth it. As a 25-year homeschooling mom, classroom teacher, writing coach, and freelance editor, I realize I probably value proper writing skills more highly than does the average person.
I cringe at the overall effect I’m seeing in general (it’s pretty appalling in social media and texting), and am even seeing it more often now in published materials. I always find myself wondering if businesses (including major news networks) even use editors any more. I feel a particularly strong responsibility to the students who read what I write, so the thought of taking short-cuts doesn’t hold appeal for me.
Simply put, text-speak annoys the daylights out of me. So there’s my two cents, and maybe three.
Thanks for your thoughts, Lisa. I really do sympathize, but I have another perspective that calms my fears. No time to share it adequately in a comment. I’ll post it soon. When I do, I’d love to know what you think.