Ugh.
When I was an adjunct instructor at a local college, I detested when students used textspeak.
U. u’re. U R kewl. Y? Y r u 2 kewl?4 real!
Get the picture?
I got so annoyed with it that I gave something at the beginning of the semester for them to see how silly it can look when written.
There is something like 100 errors in this little “story,” that I wrote. But that also includes bad spacing, punctuation, spelling and capitalization as well as silly grammar mistakes.
I submit this wonder to you now:
So, r u ready to rite this semester?
this class will require alot of writing, so u need 2 come 2 class and pay attenshun.
Details r things u need 2 work on. remember that u r graded 4 every thing u hand in. this is u’re work and what u will be graded on.
so when i wuz reading the cyllabus i was so like u have got 2 be kiddin me. but i kno that i have 2 write in i will do it my way.
but OMG, remember that u have 2 write in english !
that means proper puncuation , spelling; n nething else. so nvm the crazy txt talk or IM with my freinds. That iz SO lame. but thats what I have 2 do i guess. lol.
btw, it wouldnt b good 2 put this off 4 2nite as if u hand this in i b all like wtf n u will fail it 2moro. 🙂
See how silly that is?
The amazing part was how many items were picked out by the students. Even the smallest errors were figured out by someone. I loved it! I then, always, followed that up with noting that if these items were in a paper, it would be an automatic F. I wouldn’t tolerate it because it’s not an acceptable way of writing, especially in a college paper.
After we did a day or two of grammar, I gave a quiz. One of the questions is as follows:
What will happen if a student uses the following “words” in a story: u, r, 2, u’re, etc.
- points deducted
- Given a star for good work
- Fail the paper
- A high five
People actually got it wrong. Seriously.
Considering I didn’t teach a class this past semester, why do I bring this up now?
Because I’ve seen it more and more in posts on Facebook. On Twitter. On blogs.
Everywhere.
It’s ridiculous. Some of the people I’ve seen do it on Facebook are educated people. I don’t use these things anywhere. Not texting. Not on Twitter. Not on Facebook. I’ll use a “hahaha” or a smiley in an instant message, but it’s hard to convey how you feel or if you are laughing in other ways.
It’s lazy and it looks stupid.
Facebook is the worst offender. To a point, I can understand on Twitter with it being 144 or fewer characters. But even then… do more than one Tweet! Texts just make me scream. There are some reporters for big papers I follow who do it in Tweets, however, and it drives me nuts.
So, I’ll end with this — srsly ppl, think b4 u rite silly things n look all stoopid. That wuld b gr8. K thanx bye.
OK, I’ll get off my soapbox now.
Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog [at] gmail.com.
It doesn’t generally bother me but the people that use it EVERY chance they get…. annoying. I don’t mind u or u r, probably because I use it all the time…but there is a TIME and PLACE for it. Like in a Text, instant messaging, on twitter and yes… even Facebook in moderation (you have to remember a lot of people use FB & Twitter on their phones and would much rather type the shortcuts!)… but I personally try to avoid it on my blog and any “formal” writing. Like you said – makes you look like a ‘tard.
Oh my….This was, sadly, extremely funny to me. I’m sorry! It is a pet peeve of mine too. I think there is a time and place that it is okay to write that way–text messages, and POSSIBLY facebook–but I could not imagine turning something in to a teacher, especially in a COLLEGE class, that had such ridiculous errors. Thank you for posting!
I hate it too. HATE it! I have a friend who is totally incapable of writing anything, anywhere, in proper English. She sends me an emails that say things like “how r u m8?” and it actually makes me cringe!!!
(I do hope she doesn’t read this 🙂 )
Thanks all for the comments!
Erika — I don’t see a time or place for anything, other than an LOL or smiley in instant messaging. Outside of that, it makes me cringe. If it’s OK on text, IM, twitter… why not facebook? Why not others? Doing it in one spot, leads to others. I realize people use their phones for those things, but I do, too. And I don’t use the shortcuts because it looks so awful. It makes me shake my head so fast when I see it. It just makes a person look silly, I think.
Katy — Again, as I noted, I never see a time for it. Ever. Especially not on Facebook where people can write things out. A text annoys me, but I move on. When I see it on Facebook? Ugh. As for college classes… yeah, it still boggles my mind people turned in papers with those shortcuts.
Sarah — There are times where I will refuse to answer an e-mail that has the shortcuts in it. I used to e-mail students back asking them to correct things if they wanted a response to their e-mails.