Today is a good day to die.
I didn't say for whom.
Posted on 02/09/2011 8:35:25 AM PST by MNDude
NEW YORK (AP) - "ILY!" Susan Maushart's 16-year-old daughter often calls out over her shoulder as she leaves the house. Sure, actual words would be better. But Mom knows not to complain.
"A mother of teenagers is pathetically grateful for an 'I love you' no matter what form it takes," she observes.
Then there are the various forms of "LOL" that her teens use in regular parlance - it's become a conjugable verb by now. And of course, there's the saltier acronym used by son Bill: "WTF, Mom?!" But before you judge, note that former VP candidate Sarah Palin just used that one in a TV interview. And CNN's Anderson Cooper used it on his show the other night.
Acronyms have been around for years. But with the advent of text and Twitter-language, it certainly feels like we're speaking in groups of capital letters a lot more. It's a question that intrigues linguists and other language aficionados - even though they'll tell you they have absolutely no concrete research on it.
"It's fascinating," says Scott Kiesling, a socio-linguist and professor at the University of Pittsburgh. "What's interesting to me as a linguist is figuring out which words get picked up, and why. What is it that makes OMG and WTF and LOL so useful that they spread from the written to the spoken form?"
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
“Yes, but also where they come from”
They come from texting, obviously. That’s why they are popular, and also why we are talking about them. The average 16 year-old has probably never heard of usenet, and is only dimly aware of CB from cable airings of “Smokey and the Bandit.” “The History of Okay” or “Where Did WTF Come From?” might be interesting, but they’re really the prehistory of the current discussion.
Yeah, I see what you mean, I think I should have emphasized that their hands were more creative in making things, useful things. And of course, here I sit at the computer bashing away, ironic indeed. Did I catch on yet? But thanks!
“The average 16 year-old has probably never heard of usenet”
Which is kinda my point.
“they’re really the prehistory of the current discussion”
And since this is FREErepublic, I’m free to discuss prehistory if I want.
Same here with my two daughters. They use it when texting, but not in emails or most of their FB posts. They certainly don’t use it when speaking. I use it sparingly when texting to save time, i.e. u = you, etc.
You mean, "e-mailing"?
( ducking )
Yeah, it just struck me funny. I see what you are saying though. Working with your hands and doing things manually is a lost art. While computer skills are necessary (as I work exclusively on a computer all day. Mechanical Designer here.) It has stunted the thinking capabilities of kids (and adults) today.
Barf !
That is one of my beefs when I have to read some applicants' résumé for jobs. Forget about even seeing any decent cursive writing that does not look like dirt chickens scratched looking for food.
heh
Actually, I think that either “e-mail” or “email” is considered proper spelling. Hyphenated words typically are un-hyphenated after long use and familiarity. For instance, the word “tomorrow” was once spelled “to-morrow”.
What does “IDK” mean?
But of course the media is spinning it as an original "truth" of Palin's just as they have totally convinced 85% of the public that she said "I can see Alaska from my house," when in fact those words were uttered by Tina Fey from an SNL script.
Technically, yes. However, the term “e-mail” is always correct, since it modifies the word ‘mail’ by designating its type, in this case ‘electronic’.
When I see people use “email”, and I see them in person, I’ll tell them I got their ‘email’ in one phrase. They then ask why I’m mispronouncing the word, and I teach them about modifiers.
As another example, in the 1940s, troops listened to music on ‘V-discs’. Today, I guess they’d be ‘vdiscs’.
I find that sad.
I’m 56 and have never heard of either v-disks or vdisks, until now. The history lesson is appreciated. If its (their) etymology derives from the 40s, I would have thought the reference Roswell-related. In any event, collapsing a modifier into the modified noun is hardly noteworthy in either a linguistic or historical sense.
Must remember that.
Ha.. seriously, that wuz cute. F’d up nation. Were there!
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