The English Language

Are internet communications destroying the English Language?
"lol, i needz halping r ld, not leet"

The answer is maybe.
Thank you

lol hardly

meh IDK

Kyle wrote:lol hardly

Main Entry:
hard·ly Listen to the pronunciation of hardly
Pronunciation:
\ˈhärd-lē\
Function:
adverb
Date:
before 12th century

1: with force : vigorously2: in a severe manner : harshly3: with difficulty : painfully4 a—used to emphasize a minimal amount <I hardly knew her><almost new — hardly a scratch on it> b—used to soften a negative <you can't hardly tell who anyone is — G. B. Shaw>5: certainly not <that news is hardly surprising>

To lol hardly would be to lol with force.
The answer is still maybe, but hardly certainly not.
Or, the answer is certainly not hardly.

I really do not get what you are saying. I do not believe that this "internet" is destroying any language. In fact you can see the proof of this now, since I am using the language correctly...

Oh wait...

I take that back, English is my second language and I have seen far too many people use text talk in VERBAL situations. Yeah, its definitely being destroyed.

It would seem "lol hardly" is evidence that the answer is other than hardly.
Laughing out loud with force is, however, understandable.
The English language would encompass both the written and the verbal.

"I really do not get what you are saying."
Here is something else to consider.

In the first post, i am asking a question designed to elicit thought and reaction.
So many times, this process, on the internet, is misconstrued.

I was not making a statement of fact. My answer is maybe.
Does the shortened bastardized English used on the internet have more meaning or less?

65 Impala SS wrote: "lol, i needz halping r ld, not leet"

I thought that was American

^^^I think the Scots use ROFL and LOL.
American pertains to citizens of America.
But, then i am part Scottish, so lol.

Don't forget large parts of America speaks Spanish and Portuguese.

Large parts of America speak Portuguese!?!?! lol
Where?
You obviously don't live here.

English is the national language. Large populations everywhere in the world speak English, so i don,t understand your point. The thread is about English and the effect of internet communications.

Don't forget, large parts of the world speak Chinese?!?!?!

English was never declared the National language. In fact, we don't even have one.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... os/us.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_ ... ted_States

I find myself saying LOL out loud as a common occurrence.

I think the internet is causing people to become lazy in their communications. I have often had to stop myself when typing professional emails in my job to keep myself from using the common appreviations we see in text messages and in informal communications. I do believe it will only be a matter of time before these abbreviations become mainstream and we begin to speak in letters and one syllables. I believe alot of this is due to the fact that we are now using text based communications (email, IMs, text messaging) instead of picking up the damn phone and having a real conversation. Typing takes more time and with all the other things we have to do, we need to find shortcuts to get it all done. That being said, It is doubtful I would have met people like JellyFox if not for the text based communities on the internet.

Paradox wrote:I think the internet is causing people to become lazy in their communications. I have often had to stop myself when typing professional emails in my job to keep myself from using the common appreviations we see in text messages and in informal communications. I do believe it will only be a matter of time before these abbreviations become mainstream and we begin to speak in letters and one syllables. I believe alot of this is due to the fact that we are now using text based communications (email, IMs, text messaging) instead of picking up the damn phone and having a real conversation. Typing takes more time and with all the other things we have to do, we need to find shortcuts to get it all done. That being said, It is doubtful I would have met people like JellyFox if not for the text based communities on the internet.

This is getting too far into my major and I refuse to mix school with play. So I'm refraining from posting anything more useful about this.

GLHF and let's play some of teh DM like fo shizzle yo

65 Impala SS wrote:Large parts of America speak Portuguese!?!?! lol
Where?
You obviously don't live here.

English is the national language. Large populations everywhere in the world speak English, so i don,t understand your point. The thread is about English and the effect of internet communications.

Don't forget, large parts of the world speak Chinese?!?!?!

Last time I checked they spoke Portuguese in Brazil at least. And Brazil is a part of America. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Cynips wrote:

65 Impala SS wrote:Large parts of America speak Portuguese!?!?! lol
Where?
You obviously don't live here.

English is the national language. Large populations everywhere in the world speak English, so i don,t understand your point. The thread is about English and the effect of internet communications.

Don't forget, large parts of the world speak Chinese?!?!?!

Last time I checked they spoke Portuguese in Brazil at least. And Brazil is a part of America. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Well, Brazil is part of South America, that IS true. Like the typical arrogant American, i was talking about the English being subverted by the internet. I didn't intend a politically correct discussion of national languages.

Also, BI, English IS the national language. It isn't (but should be) the OFFICIAL language of the USA.
English is used on our currency and in all official documents and is in fact, national language, whether the FED recognizes or not.

Brazil is in South America. The U.S. is North America. When most people refer to America or American they usually mean the U.S.

To say America and mean that Brazil and the US are part of the same thing really isnt correct other than the fact that they are in the Western hemisphere. Its like saying Russia and Kenya are European.

Man, not everybody speaks English. I hardly found someone in Europe could speak English... and here in Argentina, even in the airport are some guys who can't understand English :/

Btw, you should see some standard guy from Spain or South America (especially from Chile [don't take it personal Dark Soul xD]) chatting or posting in a forum. It's just ANNOYING! They convert the complete language into another thing, seriously... every words are different.

"oe wn kcs ps" when they should say "Oye, huevón ¿Qué andas haciendo? Pues."

Or they change "sí" to shi, tiii, chi, etc etc -.-

cyber_clash wrote:I find myself saying LOL out loud as a common occurrence.

This is what i was getting at.
Paradox also wrote about reverting to IP talk in official business communications, something that i have had to edit myself.

In a way, IP talk (so to speak) condenses meaning to simpler icons or objects.
There is good and bad in this.
Language actually is intended to describe the objective world in a meaningful and understandable way. Language SHOULD be expansive. While the English language expands, IP Talk shrinks.

JMO, it is definitely happening, whether good or bad.

s0iz wrote:Man, not everybody speaks English. I hardly found someone in Europe could speak English... and here in Argentina, even in the airport are some guys who can't understand English :/

Btw, you should see some standard guy from Spain or South America (especially from Chile [don't take it personal Dark Soul xD]) chatting or posting in a forum. It's just ANNOYING! They convert the complete language into another thing, seriously... every words are different.

"oe wn kcs ps" when they should say "Oye, huevón ¿Qué andas haciendo? Pues."

Or they change "sí" to shi, tiii, chi, etc etc -.-

You write English on this forum or you are not understood.
The second part of your post is more evidence that the internet is having an effect on language in general and not just English.

Well take into account all the shit that's actually changing the language, #1 would be fucking cats...

People have become so addicted to seeing cat pictures and putting stupid 'cat language' text over their respective activity in the image that they are starting to incorporate it into their own language.

This isn't to say that it's all bad.. I think we can all agree that the acronym 'Lol' is a universal response in that when you don't really want to throw out some feedback, you and they both know that the exchange of 'lol' finishes it fine, it tells them that you're satisfied, and when you look at how basic human responses tend, you see that people love satisfaction, isn't it the greatest thing ever when you say something clever and people think about it and laugh? They're the ones that actually make YOU feel satisfied, from being satisfied in the first place.

Still yes I do think it's slowing down progress, but I have no reason to knock it, simply because I've always hated the english language in the first place.

"Still yes I do think it's slowing down progress, but I have no reason to knock it, simply because I've always hated the english language in the first place.

How can one hate a language?
Also, there has been anecdotal evidence this phenomenon or change is not restricted to just English.
I guess i use English as an example, as i don't understand fully any other language.

65 Impala SS wrote:How can one hate a language?

Maybe hate was the wrong word to use? See what I mean? This is why I hate the language My vocabulary itself slows down progress.. I'm working on that though

I accept how great the language is, but there's something about it that seems like a distraction.. The only way people can communicate is through metaphor and identification, both of which are a tease..

"I saw a big light in the sky and off to the sides of this light were huge bright spiralling jets of what looked like plasma 'hair"

It's the only method we have besides actually filming the experience, but you know imagining that is nothing like the experience of being there and seeing it for yourself (even though visual interpretation isn't 100% accurate as well), so I accept that language is needed in order to progress, but like this thread says, language is so slow, I thought it was still slow even before Catz came and conquered.

The word 'Hate' is NOTHING without other words to support it, so what is Hate without using words? The only way you can understand something is if one person is extremely careful about what he/she writes, and another person is real careful about what he/she reads, other wise it's both enigmatic and rather useless..

So I don't hate the language, I just lack the vocabulary to describe that 'negative feeling' I have for the language

EDIT: http://www.toledoareahumanesociety.org/ ... nguage.jpg < 'lol'

65 Impala SS wrote:The second part of your post is more evidence that the internet is having an effect on language in general and not just English.

That was my point.

More Americans speak English than there are English people.
Language is constantly evolving some words exist today that didnt exist 20 years ago or even 5 years ago. So i am pretty sure that LOL ROFL and so on will eventually be included in the dictionary. Even the AA is in the dictionary

keefy wrote:More Americans speak English than there are English people.
Language is constantly evolving some words exist today that didnt exist 20 years ago or even 5 years ago. So i am pretty sure that LOL ROFL and so on will eventually be included in the dictionary. Even the AA is in the dictionary

Yes, but is it a positive development and beyond that, even as English (or whatever) expands, are people using it and expanding with it?

Are folks more inclined to just JMHO lol and that is that?

s0iz wrote:

65 Impala SS wrote:The second part of your post is more evidence that the internet is having an effect on language in general and not just English.

That was my point.

So you agree the internet is subverting language?

I had a cell phone long before i had internet and was still using these abreviations. Good or bad I dont think there is much anyone can do, as long as it is in popular use it will go in the dictionary.
I am quite sure we all use abreviations without knowing it smply becasue it is easier and faster to both say and type with the execption of WWW it is far easier and quicker to SAY world wide web

I have seen folks who text all day. My question is, are they really communicating?
Is "Haha lol how about friday i schtup you" really communicating?

Seeing as i dont understand "shtup you" probably not, but we are not born knowing everything and you learn something new every day.

schtup means ****. Context.
Have sex with.

65 Impala SS wrote:It would seem "lol hardly" is evidence that the answer is other than hardly.
Laughing out loud with force is, however, understandable.
The English language would encompass both the written and the verbal.

"I really do not get what you are saying."
Here is something else to consider.

In the first post, i am asking a question designed to elicit thought and reaction.
So many times, this process, on the internet, is misconstrued.

I was not making a statement of fact. My answer is maybe.
Does the shortened bastardized English used on the internet have more meaning or less?

lolwut

lolhuhhh?

Yeah it is, but it is no different then any generation before. A language evolves it seems the youth wanting to be different always force that to happen. This generation is the internet generation. In the future though with increased bandwidth and computing power it is most likely we will no longer need to type. One of the main things that stops voice recognition from moving forward is that in offices or any environment with multiple people everyone yapping to their computer will get out of control. But look at OCZ and other companies coming out with head bands that monitor brain waves and control computer input. In 10 years or less we will all be inputing most of our computer interaction silently with these types of devices. It will be nice as it will solve the whole carpel tunnel syndrome pandemic =]. But the very nature of these devices may drive another wave of change in the English language. Another major change will be translation software with may take longer but it will get to the point where all the time people spent learning English will be wasted as they will be able to just have everything translated instantly.

Anyhow look at it this way, you can talk to some young kid with bad communication who is saying roffle and lulz, or you can talk to another kid saying sup dawg and whatever else they say. Education and acceptable speech in the real world will always keep the language in check though. Every generation will have an issue like this.

Fearsome that just made your frags 10 times better

The future lies in Japan

Now take into account all of the schools that are lowering their standards in order for kids to progress... (in order for the schools to progress....), there's no question about it that certain people DON'T want us learning as much as they know.

I must admit though when I'm outside looking at things I tend to use alot of what I see in computers, car crash, someone lagged out and the other person didn't see the hitreg right, walk in and your gal is on top of another man, "omfg, wtf? gtfo, GTFO" < All of these, I'm sure have originiated from real situations on the outside

Slang
–noun 1. very informal usage in vocabulary and idiom that is characteristically more metaphorical, playful, elliptical, vivid, and ephemeral than ordinary language, as Hit the road.

How can you ruin english? English raped and wrecked random bits of numerous other languages to become what it is in the first place.

Btw, the singaporean Diablo 2 players used to type malay as phonetic english... even they couldnt understand what eachother meant to say half the time. Cant take netspeak much further than that.

"How can you ruin english? English raped and wrecked random bits of numerous other languages to become what it is in the first place."

Umm, The English language contains more than raped imperialist seized chards of destroyed native languages.
You apply the usual politically correct subjective quality that barely scratches the surface of a truth.
English has co-opted words from other languages.
English is still English.