What happened to spelling words out?

Question

I see the word "cuz" instead of "because"...."plz" instead of "please". It is so sad. So very sad, that in this day and time and country, no one seems to be able to speak english properly and spell words out properly. I understand slang, I used it in the 70's and 80's....but I never used it when I addressed someone, or talked to someone on a business level or assisting level. I used it amongst my friends in a casual atmosphere.
There are third world countries where poeple die trying to get to school to learn how to read and write.
I don't know, maybe I am just getting old. :-) and it is making me cranky. But it any one else feels this way, it would make me feel better...not so old and not so cranky.

Wow guys, thanks! I don't feel so old and cranky anymore.
It's good to know there are others who feel the same.
Typing faster? That may be the case...but when I see the word "with" spelled as "wit", that is only one letter off....lol..
Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

Answer 1

Because stupidity is apparently the new "kewl". Everybody's hooked on phonics now.

And yes, I hate it, too.

Answer 2

I always try to use proper english, however, I think its because people are texting and IMing so much and they think it is faster. I don't use "slang" all the time, but I do use it. However, if I were a teacher and I saw it on a paper, I would never allow it, and give the paper a failing mark. Good thing I'm not a teacher.

I think that as we get older we realize how important it is to speak and write properly so that people will take you seriously. Hopefully, this generation and many to come will come to the same conclusion.

Have a great day!

Answer 3

You may indeed be a little overly dramatic about it (mentioning the schools in Africa) but you are totally right about the fact that it's extremely annoying that some sentences are made up of 80% or more "internet slang". It looks like a way to hide the fact you can't actually spell properly! One "good" thing is that it shows age and intelligence so if anything, it gives some information on who is writing.

Answer 4

I saw in the paper the other day that so-and-so "texted" someone. I thought, what the heck is texted. Then, ah! A new word. The act of having sent a text message. Texting, I guess, costs more when one uses full and complete sentences. But why that must be carried over to the non-texting world, I do not understand. I can hope they end up working in business where management frowns on such abbreviations.
-MM

Answer 5

It's all about convenience and saving time in the world now. I appreciate the frustration that you feel though. It's harder to text message or communicate online by using full words, so abbreviations are the norm. Society has spoken, and easier is acceptable now. Eloquence has it's place, but not in everyday communcation I guess. The world's focus and degrees of what's important has dramatically shifted. Slang has just developed into a whole new degree of acceptance. The only thing constant is change. For better or worse is a whole other issue.

Answer 6

Don't get me started!!

It will all bite them in the end :) It's similar for time and change, with digital watches, someone asks for the time and you say "quarter to 6" they ask you to say it in "real" time, because they only understand it as "5:45". Change - when those computerized cash registers go down in a lot of cases I've had the check out person take several stabs at trying to get the right change back to me from say a "20" for a $10.15 sale. I've also been told to go to a bank to withdraw cash to pay for something because the "debit mahine" was down. What happened to a pen and paper and those manual debit receipts. Another person who was able to take my payment via debit, insisted she couldn't credit me back on my debit card when it was found she shouldn't have charged me to begin with (Dental office). She also refused to submit to my insurance then because it was found the charge was payable through them...I had to do her work and wait for the Insurance to send me the money in order to get my refund.

Offices/businesses with those horrid little Automated systems...they are fine as long as the Company remembers to put ALL the prompt responses. Had an office the other day where they totally neglected to leave the Personnel extension directory accessible yet told me to dial the extension of the person whom I wanted to reach, then listed off the personnel heads for each section but with no extension or even a 1, 2 or 3 prompt, nothing worked.

See...don't get me started :)

Answer 7

No, that's even gotten worse! once you misspell something, a huge fat pencil pops up telling you that you've basically created a typo, even once you write something a touch otherwise on purpose or once you employ a be conscious which the dictionary would not recognize because that's from a overseas language. YA also now has a grammar pop-up that's stressful the hell out of me considering that i comprehend precisely why I write something the way I do. i do not want YA to inform me "looks like you used too a lot punctuation" - if i take advantage of extra commas, I try this on purpose too!

Answer 8

You are not alone. And I'm confident that you and I are not the only people concerned about this indication of the 'dumbing-down' of America.
Parents and schools, if not always equally, are responsible for not instilling in our youths an appreciation of and the necessity for precision in communication.
Sad is one word for it; frustrated and angry are a couple more. My anger has to do with the fact that I no longer am sure that the chief executive has to be educated, my frustration with the fear that it will keep getting worse.
Hope springs eternal, though. Right?

Answer 9

It is proof that the USA is becoming a lazy society and the kids do not want to be intelligent at all. Just take the easy way out in all things.
Go home and play there game box or PS and not care about how the world around them is advancing to the point where it will be unsafe to be an American.

Answer 10

Well I know what you are trying to say, but in these days of mass technology, most kids think that there is not enough time to spell out words correctly and so they tend to use slang. I know how it feels when someone else spells because as "cuz" but nowadays there is nothing much that we can do.

Answer 11

You’re definitely not getting old?! I’m 15 and to be honest I use this language all the time, but only ever on Instant messengers. Anything else and I try to speak or write proper English. It’s true to say its sad, but at the end of the day it’s those who speak or write that way who’ll lose out!