In my teaching years, slang was allowed where applicable and suitable, excepting profanity, which was neither. Only a few acronyms and abbreviations were acceptable. When those were used to avoid writing out the full text, and many students tried it on, they were charged the deductible against their grades.
But texting abbreviations reduce vocabulary, and make everyone say the same thing the same way. Instead of laugh, chortle, chuckle, guffaw, giggle or snicker, now everyone justs LOL. Except when they ROTFL. Even though they aren’t actually on the floor.
All this discussion on the use of acronyms reminds me of a scene from the classic BritCom Are You Being Served?. The staff have been inundated with memo after memo from the higher-ups (including some originating at boardroom level that contain a string of unreadable acronyms. As Mr. Rumbled begins the latest missive “I see you are…” Capt. Peacock nearly blows a gasket.
Just in case you wondered what’s the easy part of this job and what’s the hardest part:
Frazz’s final line, a throw-away in terms of content but a necessary coda to make the rhythm work, was absolutely excruciating to write, and I still came nowhere close to anything like satisfaction.
To have him just say LOL would have worked just fine, but I didn’t want to come off like the proud benighted geezer who just discovered it and thinks it’s somehow new. That said, I am not fluent in these acronyms and abbreviations, as, even when texting, I prefer to actually write using words and grammar and ideas and stuff. Googling “text abbreviations” (yes, I did) revealed nothing worth much, and anything that showed any promise at all came off as too clever by half. To make one up is to play with fire, as the Wisconsin Tourism Foundation found out a few years ago.
Ultimately, as you can see, I went with LOL but added the parenthetical disclaimer. A superfluous coda to a superfluous coda. But it rounded out the rhythm. AWGDWAWGD (A Writer’s Gotta Do What A Writer’s Gotta Do).
Bilan almost 6 years ago
She’s trying to teach vocabulary, but refuses to learn?
Nachikethass almost 6 years ago
She has to learn the new vocabulary. But then, how long will it last?
asrialfeeple almost 6 years ago
AFAIK, you have to learn all of your life. She’d better get cracking.
sandpiper almost 6 years ago
In my teaching years, slang was allowed where applicable and suitable, excepting profanity, which was neither. Only a few acronyms and abbreviations were acceptable. When those were used to avoid writing out the full text, and many students tried it on, they were charged the deductible against their grades.
Ignatz Premium Member almost 6 years ago
But texting abbreviations reduce vocabulary, and make everyone say the same thing the same way. Instead of laugh, chortle, chuckle, guffaw, giggle or snicker, now everyone justs LOL. Except when they ROTFL. Even though they aren’t actually on the floor.
magicwalnut Premium Member almost 6 years ago
We need a texting acronym dictionary for us older folks (WNTADFUOF).
jbarnes almost 6 years ago
My 5th grader asked whether the school would teach texting acronyms. I said, “No, that’s what your older sister is for”.
JudyAz almost 6 years ago
If the government set up a department to study the overuse of acronyms, you can bet there’d be an acronym for it.
Fido (aka Felix Rex) almost 6 years ago
All this discussion on the use of acronyms reminds me of a scene from the classic BritCom Are You Being Served?. The staff have been inundated with memo after memo from the higher-ups (including some originating at boardroom level that contain a string of unreadable acronyms. As Mr. Rumbled begins the latest missive “I see you are…” Capt. Peacock nearly blows a gasket.
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] almost 6 years ago
PostsFrazz14 hrs ·
Just in case you wondered what’s the easy part of this job and what’s the hardest part:
Frazz’s final line, a throw-away in terms of content but a necessary coda to make the rhythm work, was absolutely excruciating to write, and I still came nowhere close to anything like satisfaction.
To have him just say LOL would have worked just fine, but I didn’t want to come off like the proud benighted geezer who just discovered it and thinks it’s somehow new. That said, I am not fluent in these acronyms and abbreviations, as, even when texting, I prefer to actually write using words and grammar and ideas and stuff. Googling “text abbreviations” (yes, I did) revealed nothing worth much, and anything that showed any promise at all came off as too clever by half. To make one up is to play with fire, as the Wisconsin Tourism Foundation found out a few years ago.
Ultimately, as you can see, I went with LOL but added the parenthetical disclaimer. A superfluous coda to a superfluous coda. But it rounded out the rhythm. AWGDWAWGD (A Writer’s Gotta Do What A Writer’s Gotta Do).
Concretionist almost 6 years ago
RMEUD(rolling my eyes until dizzy)
billdaviswords almost 4 years ago
Linguists have proven that the “texting is decreasing literacy,” etc., complaint has no merit.