Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for July 25, 2019

I was lost on “CYBI” and “GTS.”

Aw, communication between the generations. Well, at least attempted communication.

CYBI = “Can You Believe It?” ✨

Can You Believe it? Good Times! I’m 58…I didn’t know them either, but I do know how to use Google to look things up.

It’s in code. Nancy and Frank haven’t a prayer.

She doesn’t sound in distress. Read the metamessage.

How much clearer could she make it?

Why would Frank want Nancy to send Luann a picture of him looking cross-eyed?

All that just means that Luann is FINE, Frank. Go back to Sleep……, ;)

If they can text, they can call. Why don’t Frank and Nancy just call?

Only a matter of time – Gen Z verbal conversation will be like this. We older folk will have to rely on facial expressions to know if they are OK or not.

Read up on Milton H. Erickson, probably the greatest psychiatrist of all time. He would know in an instant that these girls were all right and having a fantastic time. He would even learn their language in an instant and use it back on them. Erikson learned to communicate with a patient who was using nothing but “word salad.” He joined the patient’s world and started speaking nothing but word salad back to him. Pretty soon, the patient joined him in speaking English and came back into our world. Erikson was a genius.

Oliver Sacks was another genius. He communicated with autistic savant twins who would only speak numbers to each other. He figured out what they were doing (giving each other prime numbers only), and went out and bought a book of prime numbers. No one had ever been able to penetrate the world of these twins. Sacks walked up to them and gave them a large prime number. They let him into their world. He “spoke” with them until the numbers got so big they were not in his book.

Luann is seeing meteor shower and she can’t believe it then she going to sleep.

I HATE when people use text slangs. English, please. At least my boys know to text in English to me and their dad but I know they text slangs to their friends.

I used to teach at a local community college and I was mind-blown at how so many of them couldn’t write proper English. Poor singular/plural agreements, spellings, wrong adjectives used, messed up grammar, unfamiliar with English structure, no paragraphs, no introduction, body and closure, etc. What the hell are the public high schools teaching in their English classes??!! I confronted my class with their atrocious papers and they went “huh?” They thought their papers were fine. I gave them all poor grades. I talked to my dept chair and she said around 85% of community college students score or failed their ACT tests so they weren’t able to get into the state colleges but if they complete 2 years or 4 years at CC, they can automatically transfer to state college without taking the ACT for their desired fields and degrees for future careers. Not all transfer but a good percentage do. The rest of them either can’t afford to get into the state and went the CC route or only wanted training and certification in specific skills to get the job they aim to get. My colleagues at the CC figured the text jargons and slangs contributed to the decline of the English writing skills of the young generation today.

GOOD ONE, FOR DAD!

Nancy and Frank actually look OLDER in the last two frames – as if they’ve aged since this arc started. I wonder if this arc is intended to mark sort of a transition for them?

Still on the phone theme, despite turning away from the United Colors of Betiffigun. We’ve seen some tragedy, and I’m already on-record about this grand phone-themed arc claiming the life of a character.

This week, we are given parental angst about less-than-perfect communication. I’m already on-record as saying that the death will likely be Jonah, who has no real usefulness in the strip, any more. He’ll just have to take that call for that important part he was hoping to get, right after dropping Shannon off at Brad & Toni’s. He will never see the truck coming. Brad and Toni legally become the instant parents that they already de facto are. Loose ends tied.

Once those loose ends get tied, we’ll start to see what I now view as the ultimate inevitability of this strip since the beginning. Gunther and Lu will marry to close the strip.

I am not going beyond my usual hilarity ensues in this kind of arc; I think it means what it means which is fun, silliness, a chance to make a funny generational story line, meanwhile we have the Gunther arc, the Tiffany arc, Brad and Toni/Shannon, I am sure I am missing a few. Wait around before making any ultimate predictions, enjoy the ride.

Greg Evans your over doing it. Don’t make Luann so brainless.

Wow! First time I’ve seen her father act like a ‘real’ father….getting upset with his teenage daughter….this is a milestone for comic fathers.

Clearly the squirrel has gotten ahold of her phone.

That happened to me once, but it hasn’t hamburger purple airplane kitty-cat me one bit.

Can’t they just CALL her?

There., enough said, sueb They’re having a cow, and Luann’s having a good time.

Not only phone texts, but people will post things using acronyms that can mean anything. If you want people to know what you are talking about spell out the acronym once at least. Even news media is doing only acronyms which is hardly good journalism. Worse they drop in names with no explanation of who they are. Could be their neighbor for all I know with no qualifications on the subject.

“Kids! Who can understand anything they say!”… If you’re old enough to remember a sing from my parents’ generation sung by THEIR older generation.

Since they know they’re okay, maybe they should just let the kids be.

Frank, Nancy, STOP! On the other hand… Frank’s angry face could become a great meme.

isn’t there an app for parents to translate emoji?

talk about helicopter parents. She’s a college aged kid camping. She’s fine, why are you getting mad?

I love the Send her a picture of this face!!!

This is why I do not Text,,, 20 minutes of back and forth, where 5 minutes of verbal communication would have been more accurate.

Hahaha, can you make “googly eyes”, Frank?!

Luann’s message after receiving her Father’s glare face:

My Dear Mother and Father. We breakfast on a can of cold stew this morning after a hearty repast of delicious cold beans last evening. Bernice, bless her soul, fought with a squirrel that became tangled up in her hair when we retreated to her automobile due to a sudden and fierce thunderstorm. You can only imagine how agitated she became. Last evening, after dinner, we witnessed a lovely sunset followed by the most spectacular meteor shower imaginable. I cannot fully comprehend the delight I’ve experienced on this camping expedition. This will go into my diary as one of my best experiences of the summer. Love. Your daughter, Luann.

P.S. Oh? Did I mention? LOW BATTERY!?!?!?!?

today’s “Arlo and Janis” is on point.

I am a victim of evolution, and I can’t get up.

In this world of pervasive technology, young people like Luann often forget that there are still people who either don’t own smart phones (like me) or are from an older generation (like my mom—and even me, since I’m almost 50) and therefore wouldn’t understand some of those internet acronyms. Like I’ve said before, I admire today’s generation for how open-minded they are, but the thing that bugs me is how they’re too engrossed in their devices.

I rarely text. If I have some message to convey or information that I seek, I will call. In my experience it ultimately takes less time and is more satisfying. If I’m in a low reception area and the message is important enough I will attempt a text. Of course never while driving an automobile.

This has been one of the dumbest and boring weeks in some time for this comic. Nothing happening even though we left Bernice with a squirrel in her hair last week.

Most young people I stay in touch with actually use very little slang in texts. That seems to be something more parents do than kids! Younger people use fewer emojis too. They do, however, tend to keep their texts brief.

Frank: “Oh! I’ll GIVE you a ‘meme’ all right!!” … hee-hee :)

Okay, now repeat in non-‘textspeak’!

I think GTs is good times. I do not know what CYBI is!?!

I thought on the first panel it said that Luanns phone had a low battery?

9

This to me really speaks about the truth of communication. For communication to be effective, you need to gear it to the audience that is to receive the message. For me the “full sentence” approach is a “default” setting because it is the most universally acceptable for all I try to communicate with.

There is a concept called “code speaking” that describes how folks adjust their manner of speech to their setting… it can be based upon group type (academic, cultural, ethnicity, etc.). Most of us do “code speak” based upon setting. For instance, I will talk a bit more coarsely in casual settings with friends, but clean up my speech on other settings. The problem with Luann’s text today is not the message… but that she framed it in a way that is understandable for he college aged friends…. but not her parents… she needs to be better aware of the audience she is trying to communicate with and adjust accordingly.

LOL I know how he feels

The text language kinda reflects that Luann is having fun.

In 1990, my oldest kept talking about a song called “Ice Ice Baby”, which was one of the early rap songs. I acted disinterested, changing the subject each time she mentioned it, but I had bought the CD and was secretly memorizing all the words. One day, she and her best friend cornered me and told me they were going to make me listen to it. When the music came on, I said every word right along with Vanilla Ice, with the same rhythm. Their mouths were wide open the whole time. They weren’t expecting that at all. Teenagers and young adults are such fun to play with.

Frank… she’s low on battery. Do you really think she has plenty of battery and bandwith to upload a 2 megabyte pic of your frowning mug?

For pete’s sake Nancy butt out; it may be Luann’s way of telling you just that. If they wanted you to know everything that was going on then you would be on the trip with them.

Mom, Dad, for god’s sake, and your kid’s sake, BACK OFF!!!

It’s a whole new language thing out there, Old Timers. Frank and Nancy either need to get updated or to hop in the car and pay a parental visit….

wait a minute … wasn’t there a denier here just the other day saying that there wasn’t a “beast” aka squirrel in Bernice’s hair? And here Luann is saying there WAS.