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Luv 2 Txt MAG
You need to send a quick text to your mom to tell her soccer practice is canceled. In an effort not to get caught, you reach ever so slowly, skillfully, and one-handedly into your backpack. Drawing your bright purple handheld lifeline from the front pocket, you are careful not to press any button that will reveal your mission to Mr. Boring, who is yapping away at the front of the room. With the phone in your lap, you try not to look down as you type: “sccer canceled! pick^ @2 thx <3.”
Sent. You slip it into you pocket, fearing you will not be able to discreetly get it back in your bag. But wait … your BFF Lucy’s hair looked utterly ridiculous when you passed her in the hall on your way to bio. It’s unthinkable to wait until lunch to tell her. Only a horrid friend would let her saunter around with a mortifying hairdo! So, you repeat the sneaky process of texting: “Fix ur hair, its sticking ^!!!!” Now, not only have you just missed two whole possibly important minutes of Mr. Boring’s lecture, but you have furthered the decline of your spelling and vocabulary.
Could you understand the title of this article? Anyone who has ever texted or used instant messaging can. Most teens love to text. What our English teachers, parents, and future employers would prefer us to say is “I love grammar,” which most of us don’t. There are times when we have to use proper grammar and times when we don’t. The problem is that the line between when to spell-check and proofread and when to just type and send is becoming blurred and almost invisible.
The way we type when we use virtual communication devices affects the way we spell – not just when we’re in a rush, but on school or job assignments too. Ever caught yourself writing u instead of you in an essay for school? What about tho instead of though? In a world where instant gratification is everything, we simply do not take the time to add the few extra letters. Although teens today will eventually become the ones who set the standards for spelling and grammar, our elders are calling the shots now, and they tend to look down on spelling and grammatical errors. This could easily affect one’s grades or job opportunities.
Notice it or not, the words we choose, or rather don’t choose, when we use informal communication have significance. Rarely in a text message will a teen use the extensive vocabulary preached by our educators. Seldom do we see the word exultant for happy, morose for sad, querulous for annoyed, or ecstatic for glad in a text. We must reawaken this vast glossary of obscure and unused words if we expect to succeed on exams like the SATs that affect our future.
So, go ahead, work your fingers to the bone texting, but before you hit send, think about what you have written. Consider the words you chose and the way you spelled them and maybe, just maybe, you will retype your message.
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This article has 306 comments.
Like about two years ago, when texting day and night became "in" at my school, I too was a text addict. Then my parents interfered when they saw the phone bill. I still send texts, but only in absolute emergencies. If people want to talk to me, they have to call me, or wait to talk to me at school. I am in no rush, and I don't care if what was new news ten minutes ago is now old.
A lot of my other friends text frequently. To them I can "txt lyk dis", but I usually respond to everyone else with a grammatically correct sentence. Maybe it's because I write too much and I have somehow become stuck in my ways, or maybe I'm just a nitpicky Grammar Na.zi.
Personally I think that texting is a really bad habit. I have a phone but I hardly ever text on it and when I do I try and use proper grammar.
And now to continue our bad habits omg has been added to the dictionary.
Eh, harsh. I'm a good speller, but there are people who just can't spell to save their lives.
I'm good as long as they don spel rely dum and sound redarded, lolololol, like that.
And then you have to think of dyslexic people who may make honest mistakes often.
And you spelled "typos" wrong.
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