txt is != englsh

1. A quote from a story on Wired News that I stumbled upon tonight, written back in 2000:

The Internet landscape as it exists in 2000 is a far different place than it was in 1996. It is mainstream, and growing more so every day. And while people still can’t spell or punctuate correctly when they dash off an e-mail (or anything else, for that matter), no editor worth the name can justify looking on benignly while the English language is butchered in the name of some tin-pot revolution, regardless of its narcotic effect at the time.

2. Amen.

3. Some might argue that language is always evolving and change is inevitable, but for christ’s sake can we at least choose who it is that’s making the changes? I can think of nothing worse than having one’s language butchered by a bunch of attention deficit thumb twaddling mobile phone messaging kiddies that wouldn’t be able to follow a thought from one end to another. If for no other reason than for clarity, let’s not replace letters with numbers. Let’s not replace whole words with single letters. Let’s not abbreviate words to the point of illegibility. SMS may only include 160 characters per message, but that just means one has to be succinct, not illegible. And for the love of all things sacred, let’s not use such abominable language IRL.

4. So pls mum, stp usng ths hrbl txt crp, ok?

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