After a not-so-short hiatus, I’m back to stand on my giant soapbox and preach the good word of the Grammar Gods. Please, don’t run away just yet. I’m not one of those Turlington troublemakers who calls everyone a sinner and, well, other words I can’t get away with saying on this blog. All I want to do is pass out some electronic illiteracy-is-of-the-devil shirts. And rant. Can’t forget that.
This week, I wanted to bring up a Facebook fan page I saw called “Texting with correct grammar.” Other than bringing joy to my heart, it raised an interesting question: how important is it to text everything out in a grammatically correct way? I know college students have better things to do (like nap, watch “Jersey Shore,” and shoot Nerf darts at zombies) than click a button 14 times before finally arriving at the apostrophe, but it just might be worth it. I think that the more we use a devolved form of language — even if it is only in text messages — the more we allow it to worsen.
If we keep seeing incorrect spellings and missing punctuation, we’re more likely to ignore the correct techniques later. And if that hot guy/girl you met at Rue Bar can barely form a sentence verbally let alone textually, you might want to mimic his/her style. Being able to write in proper English is such a turnoff.
That being said, I’m not implying that everyone who types out their texts are smart, and conversely, those who abbreviate aren’t all stupid. I know a lot of people who are extremely intelligent and text me in a way that even a LOLcat would find deplorable. I’m even guilty of using acronyms like wtf, lol, and omfgwthhol? (If you can figure out that last one, we may have to be best friends.)
However, I am saying that it definitely can’t hurt to try and be more grammatically correct. Maybe it’ll persuade others to give it a go in other aspects of their lives, and that would be great — they’ll get a better English grade, and I’ll be able to sleep at night without the terrifying dreams of opening a birthday invitation that says, “Your invited!” I wake up in a cold sweat every time.
So next time you’re getting ready to text your BF4EAE about that hilarious TFLN you read, take an extra few seconds to make the message presentable, especially if you have an iPhone with which you can type about 40,000 WPM. If your thumbs just refuse to budge, maybe the iPhone can cure your phalanges’ fatigue. There has to be an app for that.
