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Anyone surprised by the level of literacy prevalent in our forum?

I don't know how you would shoot the internet slang, but shooting those who used it would be an interesting idea. twisted nah, j/k.

Even with literacy at a appropiate level you will still see spelling errors, because face it, we don't always know how to spell some of the s**t in this language. stare

truth.

I don't mind internet speak when it's used in its rightful place. Too much of it causes a headache, a little bit I can deal with. Literacy is a must, although I have to admit it is a tad difficult to use proper speech when texting on a cellphone.

I personally don't have a problem with using abbreviations in a chat situation, like lol (lots of laughter), lmao (laughing my A off) and such as that. However, when typing in a situation where you have time to be articulate, then I think you should. I am very good at hitting the back space button in order to correct my spelling if i can figure out what I did wrong. wink But still, I'm also pretty good at reading typoneese so if someone mistakenly uses a misspelled word, I'm not going to condemn them for it.

My hubby is in fact one of the best typoneese spellers on the internet. He spells minutes this way.. minuets. I guess he thinks time should dance away. lol He types with 2 fingers and has actually gotten quite good at it.

I'm reasonably happy with the level of literacy here in the Geezer's Guild. It's a nice refuge after you've spent some time fishing or whatever, and chatting with the younger folks who seem to think in abbreviations and text message type.

While I agree with Karill that there are a number of guild members who can't or won't type clearly, I still find it much better than what's going on in the chats and other forums.

I do think there is a place for the abbreviations and whatnot in the chats or when text messaging, but typing a post for a forum is something that should be well thought out. There's also the fact that I just don't understand what half of the internet speak means! What is n00bspeak, and l33tsp34k?

I'm going to have to somewhat disagree here.... Well, I mean that the literacy here doesn't surprise me. But the opinion that literacy is a sort of virtue is a bit hard for me to swallow.

I guess it's because of how English and other languages have evolved over centuries. I have a hard time believing that the language we're using and calling "literacy" is really the "right" way to write and speak, seeing the history of language and actually experiencing its evolution in the form of internet leetspeak, ebonics, etc.

Regardless, I'm going to have to admit that I prefer reading and writing in the language that everyone here agrees is "literacy". It's just easier for me to understand a language in which I'm already fluent instead of learning a new ones, obviously. I can still type fairly quickly in alternate caps and leetspeak though. Sometimes, they're a good way of lightening a stuffy situation in chats.


P.S. Notice how I wrote "a language in which I'm already fluent"? I'm sure a lot of you guys usually say "a language I'm already fluent in" instead, especially if you're speaking instead of writing. Isn't that part of the evolution?