Is anyone else out there annoyed by the disintegration of grammar and syntax?

Question

In the last 5 years, since IM-ing boomed, it seems people everywhere are forgetting how to spell and write properly!

Answer 1

Grammar and syntax do not disintegrate. English is just as capable a language today as it was 100 years ago. You are complaining not about "grammar" and "syntax", but about writing. That is a COMPLETELY different thing. Spoken language is always the queen, and writing is just a poor court jester in comparison. English, like all languages, is constantly changing and writing is just incapable of keeping up with the much more vital, powerful, and important spoken language.

Answer 2

As a linguist, I think I understand the concept of "disintegration" of grammar quite differently from what you are thinking about. For me, disintegration of grammar would mean that the people are ordering words in a completely random way, so that word order no longer carried any meaning. A sentence with this type of grammar would be something like
dog the ran me to

I believe what you're talking is about is that you feel that people aren't following grammar rules. Your question implies that you also think this is a recent trend, something that has happened in the past 5 years or so.

Actually, many the grammar rules that you are talking about were mostly created in the 1700s, after English had been around for a few hundred years. These rules were actually a reaction to the way that people were speaking English at the time. However, people who already knew how to speak English before the rules were created had often very little reason to follow the rules once they were invented, so they just went on using the same grammatical forms that they were already using. And many of those grammatical structures are still with us today. For example, double negative, preposition stranding, and split infinitives are some examples of grammatical features that existed in English long before the rules that prohibited them were created. Do a little search on the term "history of prescriptivism" if you'd like to learn more about this.

So, in answer to your question, no, I do not think that English has taken a downturn in any way. If it has changed, it's only because people have decided to change it to better fit their communication needs. I don't think that only the people who write and follow grammar books have the right to communicate, so it bothers me when people are so willing to disregard the communication styles of others just because it doesn't follow what they consider to be "correct" communication. Our opinions about what is "correct" are arbitrary and don't actually add to or subtract from the communicative value of the language at all. So English speakers have just continued doing what they've been doing for hundreds of years: using English in the ways that they feel will be most advantageous to them.

Answer 3

I usually agree with Taivo, but I have to disagree with him on that one! He seems a bit too optimistic! It's grammar and syntax that disintegrates; it's the way people misuse them! We have the same problem in French: sometimes, I have to read a sentence out loud on Yahoo! Answers to try and understand what they mean. Actually, sometimes, it doesn't really make sense, so that you end up with words which, put together, could form two different meanings.

Spelling mistakes are ok if there are not that many; as for abbreviations, same thing. But grammar and syntax... I know that language evolves... But not THAT fast!

That being said, a lot of people can still write properly. Well, more or less.

PS: sorry if my sentences are not grammatically correct: I'm French.

Answer 4

I'm annoyed by your exaggeration! Grammar and syntax have not been disintegrated. They have only changed, and they will surely continue to change in the future. And that is a very good thing, because if they didn't change, English would be like it was in Shakespeare's times, and therefore unable to describe most of the present features of modern life. Languages change all the time. And you'd better accept it.

Answer 5

I think it makes it harder to understand when people use numbers or single letters to convey their thoughts. Since there are so many abbreviations these days, it's hard to keep up. I'm not an English major by no stretch, but I try... And I love spell check! I am getting better at not having any words misspelled though!

Answer 6

It is annoying, but I think grammar is just going through another change. It happen before when typewriters first came out. Much of the grammar was changed so it could accommodate the typewriter. Same thing happen with the computer also. I hope were not going through another grammar change, but it seems like we are.

Answer 7

It is depressing rather than annoying, and if you complain you get a label like 'spelling police' or something worse. Text messaging and instant messaging are the main culprits, however educational standards have fallen so much that no one seems to care any more.

Answer 8

There are times when it makes me crazy! I have nothing against IM's and abbreviations. However, there are times when anything less than good grammar just doesn't work. It also makes a person seem pretty uneducated.

Answer 9

Yes - but people have also forgotten how to add and subtract since the advent of calculators and computerized cash registers. It's a downward spiral.

Answer 10

YES! I have this overwhelming urge to carry a permanent marker around so that I can fix all of the "netspeak" that has crept its way onto signs, posters, etc.

We're teaching generations of people that it's okay to sp33k lyKe d1z, argh!

L