I have worked with a client recently on an interesting topic which basically debated whether text speak (lol, l8r, pmsl etc) is damaging the English language.
I asked a few people on Facebook what they thought and the responses were varied and interesting so I am opening this up to more of you because I genuinely want to know what people believe here.
With the “is texting the root of all evil” debate there tend to be three camps of opinion:
Against
Text speak is the work of the devil. The English language is being butchered by people too lazy to use long hand. English, both spoken and written is a beautiful language and is being undermined by this fondness for breaking down perfectly good words and phrases. The common belief is that the declining standards of literacy in UK are partly caused by the widespread use of text speak.
For
What is the problem? It is quick, it is easy, it hurts no-one and it makes using social media sites (especially those with a limited character allowances such as Twitter) a lot easier.
Text speak is simply another form of communication, and a highly effective and much used one at that.
Smack Bang in the Middle
We’ve been communicating for thousands upon thousands of years and over that time our language has developed from grunts to the complex languages that are commonly used today. As part of the language evolution the way people have communicated has altered significantly and many believe that text speak is simply another addition, another style which over time will add to and advance our spoken and written language to the next level.
That said, text speak should be used appropriately. Having been sent formal documents, read job descriptions and received professional emails which include these popular abbreviations I have to say that while I have no issue with text speak on social media sites, in text messages and across other more informal communications it really doesn’t work when it comes to a job application or a letter to school.
I’m sitting firmly smack bang in the middle on this one. My question for you today is where do you stand on this issue?
I’m not a big fan of text speak. I don’t use it in normal sentence construction anywhere but I occasionally add a LOL to the end of a text or tweet.
However, I think there’s nothing wrong with using it if you use it in the correct context. That’s the same with any language deviation. I wouldn’t swear in a professional letter. I use very different language with my family as I would in a job interview.
As long as people are appropriate, what’s the issue?