Is Netspeak the New Contraction?

Tags

accident, accidents, acne, adult acne, blog, blogging, clumsiness, contractions, klutz, life, lmao, lol, netspeak, paint, random, spilling, u, ur

I know, I know. I don’t write, I don’t call. Heck I have even forgotten how to blog. This is all true, mostly. I know it has been an age since I have published. It’s been a crazy few weeks and I haven’t felt like my usual verbose self. The tide however, has now turned and I am getting back into the swing of lifeblogging. I even have an idea for a new type of blog, so look for that in the coming week or so. Man I feel like Santa!  A blog and a promise of something new to come! It’s your lucky day!!

For the record I am feeling a bit out of my wits lately. Nothing horrid has happened – though we still aren’t discussing the paint incident. I just have had a stroke of unfortunate spillings. Seriously, I thought I was supposed to be much older than 30 before this kind of action started taking place. Apparently not. The klutzy phase I missed in HS is now coming on like an ugly case of Adult Onset Acne. Both make you feel 15 years younger than you are – and NOT in a good way. It also makes you not want to leave the house. Good Lord if I can spill this much at home what will I do in a restaurant with a tall glass of ice water just sitting there taunting me?

Life’s little accidents aside though, things are good and I am back to the blogging world. Now, on to “Is NetsSpeak the New Contraction?”

I can remember when I was in school, and I had to write some sort of essay or paper. We were not allowed to use contractions as it was not deemed proper English. As I grew older, the uses of such contractions become less rigid. We had much more freedom over our shouldn’ts and couldn’ts.

Now it seems as though netspeak is the new contraction. U, ur, lol. These are words most people use every day in their texts, emails and chats. They have become symbols of our modern language. They are becoming as universal as yes and no.

At first people looked upon it in abhorrence. I can hear it now “Good Lord can’t people type out Y-O-U?” But, like the contraction, people are relaxing their rules about netspeak. There are differing views on the use of these words. The more traditional view is that our language is going to hell in a hand basket, and that netspeak is an abomination. A more progressive view is that this is the direction in which our language is evolving. They might even argue that netspeak could be considered to grow into a sort of universal language.  Country after country, nation after nation, people can readily identify the meaning behind words such as lol and lmao.

So, where do I stand? While I find lol is very convenient, I rather like typing out y-o-u. I am not wholly comfortable with just a U. It makes me feel stupid actually, as if I have forgotten how to spell versus the idea that I am just saving time by taking out the y and the o. I feel like I am dumbing down my typing. Its not really that much more of an effort to include those extra letters, so  for now I will. One day I may evolve to a place where I use u and ur more frequently, but today is not that day. Today my traditionalist little heart will rebel against modernizing the language that I love –even if I often typo the heck out of it.

Put Your French Fry Down and Drive!

Tags

accident, car, careless, cars, french fry, life, mcdonalds, people, reckless

Yeah you. I saw you. Highway 157, southbound, noonish yesterday. I saw you munching on your McDonald’s and not paying attention to the SUV twice the size of your subcompact car. I saw how your salty delectable made you lose all the common sense you may have had (or may not, shoot, I don’t judge). I saw how you decided to merge in my lane, sans blinker, and attempt to take my front fender home with you.

Here is a newsflash for ya sweetcheeks, my front fender, doesn’t think you are that cute, and neither do I.

Honestly, I will never understand what the heck people are thinking when they drive. Then I remember, that’s right, they aren’t. People are too busy multi-tasking to really drive. What they fail to see, just by driving alone, in theory, they are already multi-tasking. They should be looking at the road ahead of them, what’s going on around them, and on watch for the cop behind them. That is three tasks right there, and you haven’t even initiated the use of your blinker.

I drive a lot and over the years I have seen people do it all behind the wheel of a car. Yes, even that. People shave, pluck, pick their nose, make up, talk, eat, sing, and dance all behind the wheel of a car. My fervent wish is that people would stop and realize you aren’t just driving a car. You are navigating a lethal weapon. This fact becomes tremendously evident when due to careless, reckless, and willfully negligent driving takes the lives of innocent people.

On my way home last night I came to a busy intersection. It was wet outside, although for the moment the rain had stopped. When I came to make a right at the intersection, I saw the remains of a tremendous accident. Apparently it has just happened, as the authorities had not arrived. There were two cars, and I don’t know that either of them were in a condition that would have allowed them to be driven off. The lives of the people in that car will now forever be changed. I cannot speculate to the cause of the accident, but I can well imagine that there was probably a cell phone involved and a lack of attention to what was in front of them.

I am not trying to preach. Well, ok, I am. I just don’t want to die because you need a french fry fix. Why should I sacrifice my life, time, and body so you can put on your make up, text your bff, or dig for treasure in your face? Last I time I checked a human life was worth a lot more than just reminding the hubby to pick up toilet paper.