"Wake up sleepy heads", said Snow White as she shoved the morning curtains away. There were seven of them: Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, Dopey. Deep in the velveteen woods, they dug mines, came home for tea and muffins and danced all night to country music, round the fireplace.
Life was simple!
Somewhere along the same woods among the forest vines, the floral belt got 'curioser-and-curioser' as they spotted something strange for the first time:
"Do you suppose she's a wild flower?", they whispered to each other, as Alice made her way through the bowers and hedges.
In a parallel universe, swapping time and space, we snore off on our boring ebooks and wake up not to 'sunshine and birdsong' but tablet screen glare and alarm beeps.
First thing in the morning, before I brush my teeth, check the five text messages from BAE:
{Before any one(thing) else right?!}
'But why not say that out aloud? Yes, the whole thing?'
-''Jeez man, you gotta be kiddin' cz who's got so much time anyway?!''
Yeah, right. No we don't have time.
By my front porch there's a little garden and I see the white rabbit darting past with his stopclock.
No time at all! So somewhere between toasts and omelettes I text my BAE a bright 'Gd mrng/G8 mrn/Gdmg" with just a dash of HAND (that's ''Have A Nice Day''for you) sure to cheer him up. In a world of cryptic word game, we bump into each other between 'SUP' and 'BRB', 'LOL'-ing our way through '2DAY' and '2MORROW' in waves of virtual small talk and banter despite the pangs of LTNS. (Long Time No See)
With the growing use of CMC or Computer-mediated-communication and texting,the use of word play, contractions and acronyms seems to be changing the course of the English language forever. The use of mobile phones and telecommunication has been one of the runaway successes of the twenty first century. But the question arises if the increased use of shorthand acronyms have affected the way we use the language? And if it has, for better or for worse? Ironically, although high school teachers have been raising alarms for the "death of grammar" for quite a while now, the speed at which instant messaging takes place makes 'typos' and cryptic 'shorthands' common, even as we let each other get away with them because we know what they mean. In doing so, texts messages often range from heightened levels of ambiguity as one can observe from the example that follows:
A: I MU M8. LTNS. HRU?
B: OH, I'M FINE. I MU 2.
HOWZ UR SIS?
A: MY SIS IS OK. SHE IS ON A D8 2DAY.
B: I C. DAT'S GR8. IT'S GETTING L8. I SHUD GO. I'LL C U LTR. MYB 2MORROW?
A: OK. HAND. CUL.
The picture that evolves is essentially that of a lazy custom of language use, that is at the same time rapid, ambiguous and hard to decipher. The duality between 'between' and 'by the way' is another example of this apparent ambiguity as they use the same contractions of btw. Some texting terms have even made it into common parlance: 'lol' (laugh out loud), 'omg' (oh my god), pls (please). The craze for shortening words, absorbed from texting, is also changing how we speak- 'amaze' for amazing, 'totes' for totally, 'blates' for blatantly: these are all largely teenage usages that are becoming mainstream. But does this mean it's turning us all into inarticulate blobs? We hope not!
A classic example of language laziness we face in our everyday lives or at least once every year, presents itself in the garb of Happy Birthday (HBD!) messages or posts on one's Facebook wall. What escapes me is the ultimate languidness and denial to budge a few more keys in your keypad to write the whole sentence.
Why wish somebody if you don't want to anyway?
"Sees it's your birthday on Facebook"
-'HBD'
"CAUSE AIN'T NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT!!"
Even as Memes like these take the online world by storm, do we change? Not really. The average individual gets 6 out of 10 HBDs as their birthday wishes; Bless the dear friends and cousins for the remaining four!
In a world that is fast becoming more and more brief and terse, where :) is easier than pulling a real smile and CTN (Can't Talk Now) an excuse for social detachment where do we see ourselves heading? How do you see a world where such cryptic forms take absolute shapes?
Is it just another one of those underlying dilemmas of a language evolution? Or is it a contagious language-laziness that characterizes the modern youth? Or more poignantly, is it a sign of drying up of earnestness, closure and emotional levels, even as we communicate amongst our closest ones? In a world where 'Tender Love and Care' only comes in fast-typed 'TLC's, 'GJ' (Good Job) doesn't seem so good, and 'IKR' doesn't mean anything (why of course I know that you know, that's why I tagged you in the first place!) aren't we burning our own hammocks in pushing people away with codified acronyms and dry small talk?
Article by :- Ahona Das.
No comments:
Post a Comment