The degradation of the English language on the Internet

[Juan Regular]

I think I joined the Escapist when I read this:

"Check your spelling. Grammar in this case is less about your ability to use the semicolon and more about being able to write a sentence coherent enough for people to understand. We are not the grammar and spelling secret police, and neither are you. We are, however, on the watch for the chronically and obviously incapable."

 

[A.I. Sigma]

As long as the internet exists, this will continue. So you'd better get used to it.

Well, then the internet can just get used to my bitching over grammar.

 

[EisBaron]

Times change.

This has been talked about for ages and I say the same thing every time - Who speaks Shakespearian anymore?

yeah, but who really speaks coherent English anymore?

I do.

As do I but, I'm just saying those who know better will, and those who don't won't move an inch on their simple minded escapade of kittens and cheeseburgers.

 

[Spirit_Of_Fire]

I used to not care about grammer on the net, but I recentley taught myself to write properly. There are some places where I still don't use proper language. Such as the YouTube comments page, because if I am commenting on there, normally I want to reply to what someone said then get back to the video, so I can't normally be arsed to put in all the proper grammer.

 

[dwightsteel]

My stance on this? English is an ever evolving language. It's also considered one of the toughest to learn because it isn't rooted in any one place. It's spoken in different dialects in different parts of the world, it draws in pronunciations from every mainstream language (and some that aren't), and as global cultures evolve, so does good ol' Anglo-Saxon.

So, some people on here either can't speak it well, or articulate themselves as well as they'd like through the written word. And yeah, some people are just lazy. But this is about the communication of thoughts and ideas. Most of the time, people are making a big deal over nothing. Our brain allows us to comprehend even the most egregious of spelling and grammatical errors. And the things we can't understand, then asking for clarification shouldn't be that big of a deal.

People don't post here wanting to be judged for their faults. They come on here in hopes of the free exchange of ideas. This intolerance over something so insignificant is more then a little over the top, and completely annoying. I mean come on. People are so afraid to mis-spell or make a mistake, that people who write well find themselves defending the smallest of mistakes. People shouldn't be afraid to post because of the fear of ridicule. That's counter-intuitive to the idea of the escapist.

 

[electric_warrior]

there's this dick on youtube called micsega who left me the following message
"U iz a dik, da 80's woz sheit u fagz"
now i don't use perfect grammar on the internet as there is no need, but that takes the piss.

a side note:- micsega has a video on youtube called and i quote, "mai piump webcite" other quote include "thiz iz piump gfuk du eivl gai ewii ifz uz ownz a wi uze suld bee kiled"
and "Mie pimpz webcitez"

 

[NoNameMcgee]

LMAO WTF r u talken bout? U R RONG - typin liek tis is nt v.ezy 2 r3ad. =)

Well yeah, like I said, if it's incomprehensible then it's okay to *****. But how often do you see a post like that one? The only places this kind of stuff is rampant are the ghetto's of the internet. If you're hanging out at 4chan or a 'fiddy cent' forum, then yeah I can understand how you might see that kind of crap. But most of the time it's a few spelling mistakes people ***** at or basic shortening of words; so really I just think people should get over it and find something else to do.

 

[spuddyt]

Is it degradation, or evolution?
I daresay a man from the middle ages would wonder wtf we'd done to the language
Did you see what I did there?

 

[KeyMaster45]

I just have to say thank god for firefox's in browser spell-checker. My spelling really truly is atrocious, and I blame the fact that they stop teaching it in school after the 5th grade. The biggest issue I see people having with spelling on the internet is well their spelling....ok to be honest I'm not sure what on god's green earth is wrong with some people, god forbid you form a coherent sentence that remotely resembles the English language.

I understand also that you learned English as your 4th language, props by the way that's quite a feat in my book, but as you must know every language has its own subtle nuances....ok really I've got nothin....people just failed at hooked on phonics.

 

[fenrizz]

Times change.

This has been talked about for ages and I say the same thing every time - Who speaks Shakespearian anymore?

yeah, but who really speaks coherent English anymore?

I do.

As do I but, I'm just saying those who know better will, and those who don't won't move an inch on their simple minded escapade of kittens and cheeseburgers.

oi! no need 2 lash out on teh lolcatz m8...

OT: Languages evolve, written as well as spoken. It's not new, it just goes a little faster these days.

 

[sirdanrhodes]

I remember when this site used to be void of people who use letters to act as words... Alas, no longer.

 

[Bluesnow]

While spelling and grammar are important they are far from the most important thing on the internet. Like "real life" a person can have poor communication skills, but that doesn't mean they're a bad person, it doesn't mean they are ignorant or retarded, and it doesn't mean their personality is patience grinding. Trolls and grammar Nazis are pretty bad, but the person in the video falls in the worst category, that is, a person that tries to make a serious arguement based on their own opinion while both denying and insulting anyone else who might think otherwise.

Based on my own experiences, "l33t speak" and "Chat speak" aren't a threat to the English language. In society its common to speak different ways in different social circles; most speak differently at home or around friends than they would at school or at a job. The use of English on the internet is also the same; a person will speak differently around friends, or about video games than they would trying to make a point in a serious discussion or a debate (Most of the time). Honestly, the only times I've found someone completely incoherent is if English is not their first language. As a moderator on another site I've been trying to find nice ways to tell them to double check their grammar and spelling before posting, but my attempts have been mostly unsuccessful. What is most important is that people can understand; personally I find people who show off their superior grammar skills and demean others are arrogant jerks >.<

 

[Fingerprint]

Times change.

This has been talked about for ages and I say the same thing every time - Who speaks Shakespearian anymore?

yeah, but who really speaks coherent English anymore?

I do.

As do I but, I'm just saying those who know better will, and those who don't won't move an inch on their simple minded escapade of kittens and cheeseburgers.

Yeah, it's a sad truth, but you're right. Luckily for me I do know better. I would say maybe I'm just of a generation... but I'm only 20 dammit!

When talking to people I don't mind accents (actually I quite like them), but when people just refuse to enunciate properly I do get annoyed - not to the point of telling them, just to the point of trying to avoid long conversations. Fortunately I don't know many people like that so I don't have to worry about it.

 

[Matu Flp Krwfe]

The internet is in now way bastardizing the English language. The near illiterates who now have a voice on it are, although they always have been hard at work undermining the foundations of language probably since language was first invented.

Nowadays these degerates are more apparent because the filters of the past like media outlets and the impracticalities of long distance communication are no longer in place to hold back the deluge of intelligible thought from the idiot masses who are thrilled with the prospect that every person on the planet has the potential to listen to whatever inane thing they have to say (which sites like Twitter and Myspace are only happy to cater to.)

 

[jthm]

I run kitty too!

You could make the argument that this is in fact the evolution of a common form of English/Internetspeak that is in fact, a step forward in progress towards uniting us behind one language as a people. It has a long way to go and hopefully it will lose some of it's more irritating characteristics... Nah, I can't keep a straight face and continue arguing that. I'm in complete agreement with the gentleman in the video.

 

[jthm]

The internet is in now way bastardizing the English language.

Now way huh? Sorry, I get your point, but it was pretty funny given the context of the thread.

 

[RedVelvet]

Taking in account that the internet has its own words, like for instance: Lulz, I do have to agree that the English language is mostly butchered around the internet. However, I don't blame the internet. I blame texting.

 

[quack35]

I think sometimes people are just too lazy to use proper English.

 

[Viruzzo]

IMHO the problem comes not from the use of Internet himself, but from the lack of use of proper writing. If someone communicates mostly orally, he/she will be more error prone when writing; media that impose shorter "frames" of communication (chats, texting) introduce another, different, element of disturbance.
As for the natural evolution of language, that is visible mostly in the loss of certain less common synonyms, and the addition of new words: it's a simple concept that words live or die based on their utility.

I think that English in itself is more susceptible to these flaws that some other languages (example my mother language, Italian): it has a lot of synonyms coming from different roots (especially the Latin-French and Saxon one), it is a major language in many large and distant from another countries, and has a pronunciation that is not very coherent and differentiated (hence people mispelling "wheather" for "wether", or writing "lite").

I think sometimes people are just too lazy to use proper English.

That too. I have checked Google to see the correct spelling of "synonym" while writing the above post, and I doubt that many would have done the same. That doesn't mean that I'm better than most, just more obsessive.

 

[EMFCRACKSHOT]

I blame the people who are too lazy to spell check and people who think l33t and things like it are amusing. Grow up