Grammar Anyone?

Question

In today's world of Instant Message and Text Message, has proper grammar been rendered obsolete? I like to write complete sentences with grammar and puncuation, and because of this admittedly compulsive behavior, I try to avoid texting and IM. I don't like using acronyms and placing numbers in the middle of words. It drives me nuts. Does anyone out there agree, or am I just insane? Please tell me what you think.

Answer 1

It's spelled PUNCTUATION, Miss Einstein.

Answer 2

You're not insane, but you might ease up just a bit. Everyone should learn and be able to use good grammar, but sometimes it's just fun to use shortcuts; it's like using slang or jargon. Don't you ever do that in conversation or email? Personally, I think any thing you can do to minimize the number of characters you need to enter from a cell phone key pad for text messaging is a good thing. (If you don't like acronyms, why did you refer to instant messaging as IM?)

Answer 3

I agree completely. I actually still write ( and I do mean write) letters and send them snail mail. I also was brought up to understand that when you are speaking, 'o' is a letter, and zero is a number. For instance, my phone number is NOT 555-676-o431. It's 555-676-zero 431. And Monday is not pronounced Mundee. It's pronounced Mon-day. My dad was a real stickler for grammar and speech in our home. He said if the only thing a poor person had was correct English and a beautiful handwriting, no one need ever know that they were poor!


BTW, this bleeds over into telephone manners, too!

Answer 4

In today's world it's all about speed. But I do appreciate good grammar and punctuation, so I understand how you feel. I'm an English major after all. But I also appreciate the cleverness of people who can pare down words and still get the meaning across. I suppose as long as people are communicating, it's all good really. Don't sweat the small stuff.

Answer 5

Yes. I hate 4 instead of four or "for". And I'm not from USA and neither my native languague is english.
I use texting and IM but I do try to type properly, using proper grammar.
However, if people only used acronyms on informal chat and IM, it would be OK. The problems is they use it when doing school homework and even on college.

Answer 6

I'm an English teacher, and I stress the use of proper grammar and punctuation with my students. I take off if they use any acronyms or shortcuts in their writing.

Answer 7

I definitely agree with you. I text and instant message, but I always try to use proper grammar and spelling. These people that bash you, are just stupid and lazy.

Answer 8

I don't think that I have as much of a problem with poor grammar as you do, but I do see it as a sign of little or no education when people are too lazy to type out a whole sentence. Is "u" really that much faster to type then "you?"

Answer 9

There's an apocryphal anecdote I once read:

Quality poet: "I have written three lines in three days."
Hack poet: "I can write a thousand in that time."
Quality poet: "And that is how long they will last."

We know the thoughts and opinions of people from centuries past not by biographies or newspapers, but from their letters and writings. To any who think it acceptable to write gibberish out of sheer laziness, ask yourself if that is how you want to be remembered in years to come.

For any who think their internet texts will be forgotten, look at Usenet. All posting done on it since its inception (with the exception of X-Archive posts) has been permanently archived. *Everything* for more than 20 years, millions of messages and thousands of gigabytes of text, all of it searchable. In the future when people look through Usenet for historical reference, how would you want to be remembered?

One's words are often the only evidence of one's life, not statues or films. I have naught to be ashamed of in my writing. Unfortunately, the lazy text-messagers and IM typists are not only unashamed, but they are uneducated enough not to know they should be ashamed.

Answer 10

I'm an English teacher and believe a good grammarian is a leader in the art of written communication.

Answer 11

In my point-of-view yes. It seems like every thing I learned in school is becoming more and more obsolete as time goes by. Mostly grammar and spelling.