Lazy or ignorant? Why is the English language so abused now-a-days?

Question

I know this is going to 'draw some fire' from some respondents, but I have to ask it. And, I saw where a very similar question was asked recently by someone else, but I would appreciate one of two words somewhere in your response; either 'lazy' or ignorant'. Please.

Why is the English language so irrelevant with so many supposed English speaking people now? Lord knows I am not perfect, and I am not an English teacher, but when it comes to using the English language now days, it's atrocious.

From poor spelling, to improper use of words, bad grammar, terrible sentence structure, it goes on and on. Has someone come through in the dark of night and stolen all of our dictionaries?

Some of the questions asked on this blog are so poorly written it causes me to wonder what the person asking the question was doing when they spent the ten - fifteen seconds to blurt out the few words they did. And I am not talking about 'foreigners' in the process of learning the language. Have at me!

Answer 1

The first answerer touched on part of the problem. Also, you asked that we use either 'lazy' or 'ignorant', sorry but I will have to use both of them.
It's not a simple matter to use proper grammar and spelling. It takes time, intelligence and dilligence. Three things that are obviously lacking in some parts of today's society.
I myself consult and hire for a large company. If the person starts using slang during the interview or ANY amount of "eubonics" then the interview is over very quickly and their resume ends up in the shredder.
Trust me, it will be hard to stamp out this trend, but if people are dilligent, it will happen.

Answer 2

I am not a native English speaker. But I wonder how it'll be in a non distant future, when foreigners master English language and American do extremely poorly with their own language. I mean... I've seen tons of questions and answers complaining about English being their official language where they CAN'T write a grammatically correct sentence in that language. What are we foreigners supposed to do? Learn the way your new generations write? To me, thatis annoying. All those kids (some of the previous answers claim that they are kids) won't be able to change to proper English. They'll be so used to the way they write here, that the right way is being forgotten.
I think that if so many American ask foreigners to lear proper English... they should be proud f their language. And it is not the case.

Answer 3

I'm kind of a grammar nazi myself, but I don't know if it's fair to call it lazy. American English, as compared to British English, is likely viewed as being lazy and ignorant by British, although most Americans would argue that their dialect is simplified and more efficient. Languages evolve over time, usually in an effort to make them more simplified. Perhaps today's poor spelling and bad grammar will lead to more standardized spelling in line with how a word is pronounced (i.e. drop silent letters, vowels with multiple sounds, etc.). Maybe this shows the erosion of our school system, the social effects of the internet generation, or maybe it's just an indication that majority of the people who use the internet are young, and still learning proper English grammar and spelling.

Answer 4

All languages continue to evolve. Like the human race we evolved from the cave man to present day man. I would imagine that English spoken 500 years ago would not be recognizable by present day man. Conversely 500 years into the future would evolve an English language quite alien to us in the 21st century.

If anyone has ever read the Declaration of Independence you would be hard pressed to follow the train of thought written by Thomas Jefferson. Although it is not impossible.

Now when it comes to these ethnic spin off languages, that's another story. Blacks have developed the "ebonic" street language. It has no real structure but and loosely based on the language used by mid 19th century slaves. If there has been any development it has been influenced by rap and hip-hop over the past 15 to 20 years. It has been structured to defy main stream social English which blacks refer to as "the slave language".

Answer 5

Try not to think of language as a fixed thing. It grows and bends itself to suit the needs of the people that use it. I fully agree that the English language has been changed more in the past 10 years than in any other period in its life. This doesnt have to be a bad thing, in 50 years or so you might find that it has grown into 2 different languages.
Having said that well written prose is a joy to behold. It just doesn't fit every circumstance.

Answer 6

1 - People don't have respect for the language
2 - Our language is borrowed, has no inherent history
3 - Because this nation is all 'foreigners' and different groups keep coming all the time, the language keeps evolving as those people introduce more words and adaptations to words.
4 - Only 1% of the population can be an English teacher at any one time :)

Answer 7

Lighten up! Some of the folks who post here know English as a second language, so they do struggle. Secondly, some of the folks who post here are kids, still in school. I wouldn't look at YAs as a reflection of America's language standards.

On the other hand, I do notice that it is more and more acceptable to use phonetic spelling and abbreviations that are used in instant messaging.

Oh well, language is not static. Language is dynamic and always changing and evolving. We should just look at YA as an example of that.

Answer 8

I think that there are a lot of things that contribute to the problem or shall we say "the fall of the English language", and both laziness and ignorance factor into the equation. However, I would say that for the most part, on this site, it is laziness.

Answer 9

I think you're simply looking at the past with rose-colored glasses and you're unfairly condemning the younger generations with poorly handling the english language.

Sure, people have been mangling english because they are more used to IM or text message shorthand, but 5th graders today are learning the asme things 7th graders used to. Informally, kids may sound like idiots, but I think they make up for it when it comes to academics.

Answer 10

ur looking at this all wrong. its not abuse of english it's a whole new language 4 teens, this is our language, yes it does sound lazy but u know what, it's considered by a lot of ppl that if ur not doing something physichal ur being lazy, so dont call us lazy, were just saying, well the internet is our sunshine on a rainy day, and u dont want to use it like ur still in school, its something fun to do 4 us and its not like we use stuff like, gtg, h/o, u, y, b4, 4, 2,lol, nvrmnd, on our english papers, just give us a break