One place that I realize grammar (and spelling) are only suggestions loosely adhered to is the Internet. This is one realm in which errors--and by that, I mean great, big, WHOPPING insults on the English language--are thrown about with reckless abandon and without so much as a second thought. It's only gotten worse with the proliferation of social media. We've all seen those memes floating around with clever, witty sayings. Have you noticed how many of these aren't even spelled correctly or have the right form of "their," "there," or "they're" in them?
And yes, before you say anything, I still observe the Oxford comma when listing a series of three or more items because that's the way I was taught to do it. So their. :-P
Some of you would have picked up on that. Others, well...
It's hard to appreciate the wittiness of these memes when the first thing through your mind (or at least my mind) is, "Idiot. Haven't you heard of spell check?"
And what have people got against proof reading anyway? You'd think they were either in too big of a hurry to care, or it takes way too much energy and effort to go back and re-read what you're typing. Really, it's not that hard, people.
So why am I making such a big deal about this? Everyone does it, right? Everyone suddenly loses their ability to spell or properly punctuate when communicating online. It's the NORM. Well, I don't know about you, but I've got two young boys who will eventually be allowed to peruse the Internet and its plethora of useful information for the purpose of bettering their studies. How on Earth are they going to be able to do that with so many errors floating about in Cyberspace?
It's not just that, but there's also the use of acronyms. All. The. Freaking. Time. I'm even seeing "LOL" in work-related emails these days. Granted, I use this, too, but in an informal setting. I do have standards, you know.
Acronyms appear now for every dad-gum thing you can think of. It took me forever to figure out that "SMH" meant "shaking my head." Really. Do I need to know that when you're talking about something, you are further illustrating your disapproval by SMH-ing at me?
WTF??
The first time you ask your child how his day was, and he responds to your question with "IDK, JAD," you'll know what I'm talking about. That hasn't happened for me yet, but believe me, it's coming!
SMH. (LOL!)
Yeah, so it seems things are moving on in a different direction. The hallmark of the 2010's is this new lingo we have developed to communicate more efficiently and with slang that is really, truly making me feel past my prime. I'm in my mid-30s, and already I feel left behind. Way, way behind. It's getting so bad that there are whole websites dedicated to deciphering this new language because some of us old fogies really don't know what you young-uns are talking about!
(Alright, feeling the generation gap right about now. Hmm!)
In case you missed it, here's an example of the cra-cra slang we're hearing today, as illustrated in this fine commercial by Sprint, featuring James Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowell.
What the hell did they just say?? Totes my WHAT?? What is that?!!
I'm sure there are some of you out there who jumped onto Google after watching that the first time, just because you were curious about what in the hell conversation went on here that you somehow missed, not because you didn't hear them, but because you didn't have a f***ing clue what they just said. Go on, admit it.
[Raising her hand] Yep, that was me.
I know I'm fighting a losing battle here. I re-post things on Facebook that poke fun at grammar and those of us who still actually use it by choice. The truth is, this isn't going away. I get that there's a time and place for everything, and the Cyber World has its own set of rules. Grammar, sadly enough, just isn't one of them.
[Sigh!]
I'm taking my youngest boy in for his kindergarten screening this afternoon. I'm sure he'll do just fine, but I can't help wondering how different things are going to be by the time he's in high school. My entering 4th grader is on the verge of finding out a whole new set of vocabulary (can you tell I'm thrilled?), but like the rest of us, as our parents once did with us, we learn to adapt.
It's just so much fun learning to adapt to the way youngsters talk today...
...NOT!!
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