A Conversation for Ask h2g2

Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 21

Mr. Dreadful - But really I'm not actually your friend, but I am...

Correlation does not imply causation.

I was a sullen teenacher before the rise of social media and the ubiquity of mobile phones and I certainly gave monosyllabic answers and spoke in short sentences.

I think the notion that teenachers were generally politer and more communicative before Twitter et al is a bit rose tinted.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 22

paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant

You have a point, Mr. Dreadful.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 23

Peanut

I misread ,teacher

goes away now, I don't text, I don't have a phone

and my spelling is shite

I can talk till the cows come home at the bus stop mind


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 24

quotes

I think the art of conversation has been altered, rather than killed, by the advent of texting. My eldest often sits and holds conversations by text with several friends simultaneously. That wouldn't have happened when I was a nipper. What's more, spellcheck has apparently improved her spelling, by showing her where she goes wrong. Perhaps she uses the spoken word less, but I don't think her conversational ability is suffering, it's very mature in fact.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 25

Nosebagbadger {Ace}

When i saw "i was a sullen teenager before the rise of social media" I for some reason expected to either see a comment saying you were still a sullen teenager or that social media had been obliterated smiley - laugh

I get more annoyed the other way - if i ever text my mother a question, i will always get one word answers, the same happens even with emails - she can't even use txt spk because she doesn't have the words to do so smiley - biggrin



Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 26

pedro

<>

smiley - applause quotes.

Folk are always going on about how the youth of today are plummeting new depths. We'd've gone from quantum physics 100 years ago to rubbing sticks together for fire if that really was the case. One thing I've personally noticed is that I'm much more prone to abbreviate things on my touchscreen phone.

Its deffo more hassle to type than with an old-fashioned (lol!) phone keypad.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 27

pedro

And another thing, text abbreviations don't mean in spoken language what they do in textspeak. 'lol' can mean 'this is a joke', 'this is funny', 'this is not serious, but I've only used 26 characters to reply and you might not see the humour because of this' and so on.

I think textspeak can be wonderfully informative and witty due to its brevity. Sometimes texting younger people is much more fun for me than texting folk my own age (hurtling aimlessly towards middle age). I think OMG & WTF are fabulous acronyms, and there's probably several others than don't come to mind right now.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 28

Deb

WTF is a great example of an abbreviation taking much longer to say than the phrase it replaces smiley - biggrin

Deb smiley - cheerup


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 29

Rudest Elf


"WTF is a great example of an abbreviation taking much longer to say than the phrase it replaces smiley - biggrin "

That's certainly true of Spanish: Uve doble té efé smiley - smiley

By the way, WTF, OMG, IMO, etc are initialisms, not acronyms - acronyms are pronounced as words.

smiley - reindeer


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 30

vegiman:-)

I have read all your posts and taken on board that we are in a new age.

A person I once knew was always saying, "If things don't change, they stay the same"

Perhaps that is what I like about this site - people do talk - sometimes a load of nonsense - sometimes more serious matters but they do talk.

They use both methods of communicating but sometimes, I feel I need to be a mindreader to know what is being said. Come on, there must be times when you read something like IDK and wonder WTF it means. (Thanks for that one Debs) To embarrassed to ask all the time what they mean and ignore them.

Or is it just me smiley - blush

vegimansmiley - smiley


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 31

Icy North



You're assuming I don't pronounce them as words, RF smiley - biggrin

I refer the right honourable gentleman to A86878796.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 32

vegiman:-)

smiley - ok
I also meant to say, there are always those who fight against change. It is human nature to resist their orderly lives being upturned. There are those who will fight tooth and nail to push through a new regime.

I am sure the battle will go on long after I am gone. Needless to say,
"If things don't change, they stay the same"

Keep moving forward, even if us OFs get left stuck in the mud smiley - wah

vegimansmiley - smiley


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 33

Nosebagbadger {Ace}

Does that mean that TLA is not actually an acronym?

smiley - biggrin


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 34

vegiman:-)

smiley - cool Thanks for that Icy - it goes to show that even text speak has a place in the world of the academically minded. smiley - ok

You most likely, know more than me on the subject but me smiley - headhurts still.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 35

paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant

I sometimes get initialisms mixed up. When I first saw "EMO," I thought it was a badly spelled version of "IMO." Turns out the two have nothing to do with each other.

"TMI" threw me for a loop the first few times I saw it. I couldn't figure out what Three Mile Island had to do with the conversations I was involved in. Finally,someone mentioned that it stood for "Too much information." As a former reference librarian who has sometimes been stumped in finding answers for people, you can *never* have too much information. But many people don't seem to understand how desperate one can get when the desired information refuses to appear.smiley - sadface

Likewise with "ATM." In my country, an "ATM" is an automatic teller machine, a gadget that I feed my ATM card into, type in my PIN [perosnal information number], and proceed to get cash from. Gradually I began to realise that the people I was conversing with meant "At the moment." Well, at any given moment I might need more cash.smiley - erm


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 36

Deb

Vegiman: <<...and wonder WTF it means. (Thanks for that one Debs)>> I think you'll find the credit should go to pedro in the post before mine.

In another thread someone (I think it may have been swl) used TLDR (after an opening post so long it should have gone into the edited guide). I had to google it. Too Long, Didn't Read. Very succinct!

It's strange that I don't find these initialisms/acronyms/whatevers annoying in conversations on here, but I would in an email or letter. I wonder why that is?

Deb smiley - cheerup


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 37

~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum

smiley - bigeyes
>> I wonder why that is? <<

IWWTI?
or
smiley - huh
~jwf~


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 38

vegiman:-)

smiley - cheers everyone
but my smiley - headhurts even more.

Can't wait to get back to a sane converstion where they speak like wot I duss. smiley - winkeye

Someone mentioned that texting taught kids of today how to spell. That is good. My phone does not allow very much text speak but there again it does belong in the history museum.

BTW: (one I do use) Thanks ~jwf~

vegimansmiley - smiley


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 39

AE Hill, Mabin-OGion Character of inauspicious repute

If one considers oneself mature,
that in and of itself does not translate to boring.
Usually practice makes perfect [well much better].
Mature does mean you have had time to practice.
Add to that fact that people often develop in punctuated steps [theory].
If people practice at the *right* time in their development,
the results can be auspicious.

During our development we normally become independent.
It is also common to overdue a good thing.
In time, people normally return to some moderate position.
Never-the-less, things do change through the generations.
As a good example, I can barely understand Shakespeare.
But then again, I do not practice much.


Text speak. Is it killing the art of conversation

Post 40

~ jwf ~ scribblo ergo sum

smiley - ok

I wish I could say Shakespeare gets easier,
but it's hard to read at any age no matter
how much reading experience one has.

The only way to really understand most of it,
the best bits anyway, is to listen to it.
Films, stage, recordings.

Reading along with a recording is often a good
way to learn the flow of it (poetically speaking)
just so long as they haven't edited too much.
smiley - cheers
~jwf~


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