"U" instead of "You"

[DTWolfwood]

internet short hand is win. tho if u do use it at the least make sure it sounds the same as the word youre trying to shorten

and who punctuates on the interwebz? i dont as u can c from my lack of apostrophes :3 i dont use caps either because its fun to annoy ppl who get stressed about the most retarded things hehe

 

[Keepitclean]

Love the OP's spoiler. I use full words and correct grammar most of the time, even in text messages. It makes everything so much easier to read.

 

[Wicky_42]

Reminds me of this song by Tim Minchin
http://vimeo.com/11338327

Hahahaha

Of course, if you'd try to do that about an Islamic chap there would be bomb threats and censorship galore XD

 

[Tharwen]

That was a funny picture (and in fact, it still is). I don't see how people manage to make those sort of mistakes, but the truth is that most don't care and won't be convinced by anything you write angrily at them. I read any post in a human voice, so it just means that people who write badly sound retarded in my head and I take them less seriously.

 

[bam13302]

GRAMMAR NAZIS UNITE!
Calm down, its called shorthand.

 

[Wicky_42]

While we're sort of on this topic, why do people say Charlie instead of Charles when they have the same amount of letters?

C-H-A-R-L-E-S
C-H-A-R-L-I-E

Because names ending in 'ie' or 'y' can sound more casual, informal or intimate. Who cares how many letters are in a name? That's not the point of nicknames.

 

[Mozza444]

Text talk originated because old phones couldn't fit in very much text and so people shortened it to save money.

This.
However its not just old phones?
New modern phones will charge you if you go over 160 letters i think?
Which counts as one text, shortening the words will save u money, simple.

 

[Broady Brio]

Gawjus instead of gorgeous?

This is what the chavs say. Also Peng. What does PENG[footnote]Urbandictionary says "Sexy girl. Adjective"[/footnote] mean?!

Then just say it properly.

 

[SpecklePattern]

Small rage on that image. Funny though. And agreed. I really try to use proper grammar, or at least the proper words when I write english.


"I never use no double negatives"

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

I also found this picture.

Spoiler: Warning, Harsh Language

]

That is the awesomest thing I've seen all day, and I just blew up the Lincoln Memorial by launching the Washington Monument at it less than 15 minutes ago.

 

[Lord Honk]

I'm german, and somewhat of a spelling nazi (surprise), so i can fully sympathize Also, having a lot of female friends who love to stuff their facebook with useless junk and abbreviations that really can make you gouge out your own eyes xD

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I also found this picture.

Spoiler: Warning, Harsh Language

]

You know you're a Grammar Nazi when you fixate on the typos you find in that ridiculously awesome image, heh. Seriously, that was hilarious.

As for the topic of discussion? Typing like that is a crime against language.

 

[Sabrestar]

I think that for people that don't care enough to get the language right, it says a great deal about them, mostly negative. Those that can't respect their own language are asking not to be respected by those that do. And I am happy to oblige them.

 

[oppp7]

My opinion is that grammar nazis need to grow some skin and get over it...

 

[Hiphophippo]

Incredible picture. It may be trite of me, but I refuse to pay any attention to things typed in shorthand.

 

[Magnesium360]

the picture did not capitalise "I" in the sentence dirrectly after "THEN - THAN". Ironic.

 

[Magnesium360]

I should have put a capital at the start of that sentence. Vaguely embarrassing.

 

['Aredor]

I thought The Escapist are proud of the Grammar Nazi's

Nazis, not Nazi's. Amazing, there's something missing in that otherwise grand picture: No apostrophe before plural-"S".

OT: Yup, it bothers me, because I find it to make reading the text a bit harder. I tend to read quite fast, scanning the text for the meaning instead of scrutinizing every single letter, and so those bastards evade me from time to time. I also don't see any necessity for them, I get it when you're texting on the phone and want to save space, but otherwise... no.

 

[thekrimzonguard]

That... That is an epic picture, and I have to agree with most of it!
The problem is that English is an ambiguous enough language by itself; it doesn't need poor spelling to further compound the confusion.

There's no such word as "dont", so I don't mind that one. However, "its" and "it's", "than" and "then", "they're" "their" and "there": it helps if you actually type the word you mean rather than another one that already exists and means something different!

"U", "R" and "Y" are fortunately unambiguously "you", "are" and "why", so I suppose that's ok? (Well, I studied French for a few years so my first instinct is to read "y" as "there", but that's different.) If you want to save time typing, I don't really see the problem with 'text speak' contractions. And if you're actually sending a text, limited character count and all, then often it's a matter of saving money.