I'm sure you have noticed ... but maybe not. It seems as if the art of spelling is a vanishing art. I'm not talking about typos. Anyone can make a mistake. I'm talking about intentional ignorance. Carefully protected by the "shorthand" of the Internet, it would appear that fewer and fewer people are entering the working world with any real skills in spelling -- or grammar, for that matter. When I see it in kids, I'm not too appalled. They're kids. They're learning. Okay, fine. But when the world calls on them to intentionally misspell words, learning correct spelling and grammar is likely an impossibility.
What does that mean? Well, look around. There is the entire language base used on the Internet aimed at shorthand. You could laugh out loud, but today it's "LOL". Kids no longer have best friends; they have "BFFs". There is a website devoted entirely to this shorthand for Internet and texting. You see, it's far too much work to say, "My 2 cents worth", so they say, "02". In a long stretch, "I don't know" has digressed to "404" because, as everyone knows, a "404 error" is "not found" on the Internet ... yeah, okay. Some are less bizarre. "BBL" is "be back later", a pleasant little acronym. Not so bad. But "buhbye" replaces "bye"? For what possible reason? And does "BYOW" mean "Build Your Own Website" or "Bring Your Own Wine"? Can't tell.
The Internet and its sister, texting, aren't alone. "To", "two", and "too" have meanings, but far too often you will find "to" when "too" was intended. "Than" has a meaning -- used for comparing things -- but many people think of it as "then" -- a reference to time. I'm amazed at how many times I've seen "prolly" instead of "probably" as if the former is an actual word. While "its" is possessive and "it's" is a contraction, you'll most often see "it's" as a possessive because people don't seem to know the difference.
The problem is that people today haven't a basic clue about language and how it works. You see, the words on the page are simply symbols. They don't actually mean anything. They are standardized methods of transmitting the information from one person's mind to another person's mind. It is ... code. Without the decoding information (being able to speak the language), it is meaningless. With partial decoding information, it is obscure. And therein lies the problem. Knowledge of the decoding information appears to be waning. And with it, genuine communication is on the decline.
Beyond that, spelling is designed to be a way to put the sounds of words on paper. They had a word for it: Phonics. Now it's a joke. Have you ever seen the bumper sticker, "Hukd on fonix wurked fur me"? When I was in school they taught me, "It's spelled like it sounds" and that meant something. Today the whole concept is bizarre to most people. The simple connection between the sounds of letters and the sounds we make when we form words is gone.
In an actual email from an actual company the other day I got this: "It function better this way then doing it another way." What am I to make of this sentence? Stumbling over the "function" rather than "functions", I move on to the "then". Is it saying that it function(s) better by doing it first this way then that way? Or is it a mistake that should contrast two ways of doing things rather than sequencing them?
It's getting harder and harder to read these days. Spelling errors are everywhere. They're in blogs and in text messages. They're in official letters and on billboards. Communication is tenuous at best. It is one of the biggest problems in relationships. In fact, most other relationship problems include a communication failure factor. So are we really okay with this decline in our ability to reasonably and clearly communicate in print? I mean, do we really want Daniel spelling his name "D-e-n-i-a-l"? Is it really good for kids to be well taut? Do you really want your child to put on a résumé something like "I have a none track record and excellent experience with accurancy and fixing erors"? (Go ahead. Find all those mistakes.) Or are we doomed to being continuous code breakers?
5 comments:
I've had problems with "it's" and "its", but it was mostly a problem with typing too fast. I'm well aware of the proper uses of most words, such as "there", "they're" and "their", but sometimes I find that my fingers weren't paying attention to what my mind was telling them to type.
When I first started looking at blogs, ripping on people for their spelling was an easy attack to make on an opponent. Now, I think, most people understand that typos occur quite frequently.
Regarding "buhbye": I think it started with a sketch on Saturday Night Live. David Spade and a woman played flight attendants seeing people disembark. To hurry them off, they would simply say, "Buhbye". If anyone wanted to thank them or talk about anything at all, they'd cut them off with "Buhbye" and hustle them off the plane. It was actually funny to watch the various ways they'd be rude to passengers with this faux-friendly brush-off. I mean, to see it you might LOL.
Yeah, I try not to criticize individuals for their spelling. I recognize that typos happen, and sometimes quite frequently. In communication, I try to make a point of "translating" what they're are saying without attacking their English skills. My concern is the seemingly systemic problem where spelling and grammar are on the decline. These aren't typos. They're willful ignorance.
So, on the "buhbye" thing (I know the skit of which you speak), would you say that when someone uses the term, they are intending to be rude and dismissive (you know, with humor, of course)?
No. I just think they are paying homage (and here I'll pronounce it "OH MAHZH" just to sound hoity-toity) to that sketch.
he he, typo "they're are"
I don't see it. Did someone do that?
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