Over the years
I have come to a sad realization. Am I the only one who thinks nowadays a bad thing
by virtue of being done by a vast majority becomes a good one? The very thing
you knew to be bad while you were growing up has suddenly become so widely used
its even gone past the stage of being the ‘in thing’ but is very common and
somehow good, correct or acceptable. A million examples spring to mind but I
will stick to one.
During the
early 2000s, while I was at boarding school, I would write a letter to my
parents; dot the I’s and cross the T’s hell even punctuate properly. Somehow
that all changed when I would write notes to my friends; you turned to u, I to
i, for to 4…the list was not endless back then. It’s 2013 and one can now write
a complete sentence whose construction is entirely made up of abbreviations and
the world will have no problem reading and understanding in the wink of an eye.
It was improper, back in the day, to pride yourself in writing or speaking
slang. I would not dare speak slang if my parents were within earshot lest they
heard me and instructed me to grab a book by Jane Austen, Harper Lee, Charles
Dickens or Emily Bronte to name a few of the writers whose books were
ostentatiously exhibited on my father’s overburdened bookshelf.
There was a
time when people took pride in learning shorthand or taking typing speed tests.
In the long run, this benefited professionals differently in their lines of work.
But now who cares about shorthand when two can hold an entire conversation
without spelling a single word correctly but enjoy more or less the same
convenience as would those using shorthand.
Now that
millions have taken to writing in slang and textese (also known as txt-speak, txtese, chatspeak, txt, txtspk, txtk, txto, texting language, txt lingo, SMSish, txtslang, or txt talk) which urban dictionaries have augmented this
improper way is now viewed by many as ‘proper’. Textese language varies from
place to place and is largely affected by dialects of the users. For instance
Ndebeles and Zulus would write sure as sho while Pedis and Tsongas type xo. The
list of vernacular words that have been caught in the textese whirlwind is
endless. Textese language has turned bad grammar into good and defeated the
purpose of writing correct spellings. I grew up under the impression that
construction of a text is as important as the message it bears. As a result I
cringe at messages such as ‘luv u’, ‘miss u’, and ‘hud’. If what you are saying
matters then have the decency to write it correctly. What reason is there for
shortening a three or four worded sentence? Unless of course you are sending an
SMS via mobile phone and you have used all 160 characters.
Towards the
end of 2012 I visited a renowned bookshop in Polokwane’s Savannah Mall. I must say
every bookshop is different from the next and for me that is where their
distinct beauty lies. As I walked out of that bookshop I made a vow that from
every country or historical city that I visit I will buy a book and dedicate it
to my future children and treasure them with the hope that they will do the
same one day. At the rate at which use of correct English is fading away I hope
that one day my children will read books that I have and those that I am still
to collect. This way they will have a better appreciation of the queen’s
language, something which this generation lacks.
