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In this age of Twitter and texting everything seems to get reduced to a few short letters or worse, an emoji. The beauty of words gets lost when reduced to a few short letters.
I am sure that it lends a certain verisimilitude to a story to drop in the current vernacular of acronyms but somehow LOL does not carry the same impact as imagining someone actually laughing out loud. In this attention deficit designed world I am sure there are many who assign their own meanings to common acronyms thus widening the breach of understanding rather than narrowing it.
Writers use words as a surgeon uses a scalpel and taking the edge off that scalpel leads to written malpractice. Use the words and savor their meaning.
Comments
Excelent advice
I hear you, and hope to make sure to use only the exact words necessary to tell my tales. But for those who wish to abridge stories one way or another, whether with acronyms or simply removing sections, the reader should be warned, something the author intended to communicate may well be lost.
☺
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What borders on stupidity?
Canada and Mexico.
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One of the biggest sins of teenagers and young adults!
This was one of my biggest strugles with my then teenaged daughter. I told her to use complete sentences, or at least complete words, if and when she was messaging me. Any gobble-di-gok would get deleted straight away, since it is indistinguishable from spim (instant message spam). The same went for her "friends" who tried to message her over my phone.
I also see the same thing happening with my university tutors/profesors: They are incapable of even formulating correctly a basic spanish sentence. Even such basic things as opening a question or exlamation with the correct punctuation, or accenting the question words. ¡And they try to sell that as education of academic excellence! I call that bull-shit!
Sorry for the rant,
Jessica
Not sure
If a writer uses them as a shorthand rather than using written text is one thing. If a character in the story is using it that's another thing entirely. I have younger friends that use it as a normal part of their written messages. Not a good idea to make life harder for the reader but you have to stay true to the character.
Of course, it really only continues a trend started years ago by the government and the military. Who among us doesn't use terms like DOD, SNAFU, COD, FUBAR, and the like. A living language adapts and changes over time. France's refusal to include non-French words and phrases may end up making it a dead language sometime in the future. Either that or as us dinosaurs die out the new generations of French speakers will adapt.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Re:"Not sure"
When I got my first passport, I noted that it was in both English and French! French is a "diplomatic language". This is partially due to the fact that France was once one of the major colonial powers. There are many countries where French is the second language. Up to late 1940, France was considered to be one of the "Major Powers". Despite it's decline as a major power, French has continued to be a dominant language in diplomatic matters. The main reason is the French effort to maintain the integrity of the French language (a policy 180 degrees different from that followed by English speaking countries).
My prediction is that English (due to the influence of "American culture" on the world and it's role as the language of commerce) will become the universal language and most other languages (with the exception of French) will become dead or dying languages). In essence, the two (2) surviving languages will be the "language of maximum adoption" and the "language of most resistance to adaption".
Second Language
I have seen it suggested that Spanish would become the most common language after English. This is due to the sheer number of Spanish speakers in the world. I have even seen it suggested that eventually the common tongue especially in aviation and commerce would be spanglish. A bastard language the result of English and Spanish having a long term affair. :-)
The only thing I'm sure of is that I won't be around to have to deal with it! ;-)
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
ROFL
I agree whole heartedly if for no better reason than not knowing what many of them mean.
But there is one exception, I really love ROFL. I have a burning ambition to actually do a ROFL even if it means moving the furniture back. My dog used to ROFL, I've seen cats ROFL and horses, foxes and I'm pretty sure hedgehogs can ROFL but due to age and osteo arthritis in the lower spine, I can't ROFL which is blatantly unfair.
I suppose I'll have to invent a synonym of my own which would indicate that I'm Going Through The Motions of ROFLING.
Frances
LDR
Laugh - Die - Repeat
:)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
ROFL Extended
You really need to strive for ROFLOL. And the ultimate goal is ROFLMAO! That is a special reserved for the truely brilliant repartee.
"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin
Or like us other old ladies
All you can do is WICROFL (Wish I Could Roll On Floor Laughing)
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