patrick.net
An Antidote to Corporate Media
1,260,737 comments by 15,055 users - 6DOF, Tenpoundbass online now
invite responseComments 1 - 13 of 13 Search these comments
American in Japan
2010 Dec 16, 10:30pm
I think abbreviations have their place, but they don't need to be used everywhere. This makes you wonder if the person could even write out the word if necessary.
Y? B/c it's EZ.
I think with all the texting we do, abbreviations will become even more prevalent as they are a convenient time saver. But, how I do love to read well written text. Think of bygone eras where people took the time necessary to really compose a letter for their audience. In Ken Burn's documentary, The Civil War, they showcased some letters that ordinary soldiers sent home to their farms, families and lovers - those letters were marked by a rhetorical eloquence. Contrast letters from that time period with the quality of letters that are probably coming home from our soldiers today.
OK. All 4 now. Out.
Vicente
2010 Dec 17, 2:28am
English has no equivalent to the French Culture Ministry which aims to keep the language pure.
English is a bastard language, a mashup, and a mess. English didn't just borrow from other languages, it followed them down alleys, knocked them over the head and went through their pockets for loose grammar.
I would expect English to mutate over time. I just wish Ben Franklin and company had done a more thorough job of cleaning up the spelling back when they did some revisions on it. We ended up stuck partway through that job with lots of problems still remaining. "Dough" and "Enough" why do these 2 simple words have the same ending yet different pronunciations? Did you know that Italians don't have spelling bees? Because words are spelled in most languages according to more consistent rules and there just isn't the mass of weird and inconsistent spellings that exist in English.
OK now let me "axe" you a question..... perhaps you only read the Civil War letters that were "bestest"? There are plenty of examples that are not so eloquent:
Nathan Bedford Forrest from May 23, 1862 to a D.C. Trader of Memphis. from "Burke Davis's The Civil War: Strange & Fascinating Facts"
"
Sir Your note of the 21 is to hand I did not fully understand the contents and ask for information---this amount you ask for---is it a publick contrabution or is it my dues due the log [lodge] I wish you would give me the amt due the log from me as you did not state it in your notice or the amount asked for.
I had a small brush with the enemy on yesterday I succeeded in gaining their rear and got in their entrinchments 8 miles from hamburg and 5 behind farmington and burned a portion of their camp at that place they was not looking for me and I taken them by surprise they run like Suns of Biches I captured the Rev. Dr Warren from Illanoise and one fine sorel stud this army is at this time in front of our entrinchments I look for a fite soon and a big one when it comes off cant you come up and take a hand this fite will do to hand down to your childrens children I feel confidant of our success.
Yours respect
NB Forrest
"
I think its mostly written in a kind of corporate 'group-speak'... The person has just totally internalized the group-think of their previous corporate world, and after getting laid off they're probably a bit more inclined to want it back... Good luck to them but I agree, I hate that stuff too. Poor little puppy.
Ever read Orwell's "Politics and the English language"? Its a fun read...
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm
Also, there's a funny bit of graffiti I read once in a photo in translation, lamenting 'kids these days' all going to hell, not what they used to be, etc etc. It was written on a wall in Pompeii. :-) But yeah,Scan through the comments on youtube sometime, its a truly depressing experience.
People bitching about how English changes over time. News at 11.
Relevant: http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/
Kevin, that graph...well, this is a better link:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/find-out-whats-in-word-or-five-with.html
The blog provides an explanation as well as a link to the tool. It's user friendly, so to speak.
elliemae
2010 Dec 17, 1:57pm
He also. Speaks in short sentences. They don't make sense. And it doesn't flow. But he worked. For a mortgage company. They had short attention spans. Only cared as long as the sale was in progress.
sux.
Done!
2010 Dec 18, 6:04am
“bestest�
Shoot I know people that say...
"Its the lastest of the last'ns."
When they grab the last beer.
elliemae
2010 Dec 18, 6:29am
ha.
We talk funny here, with pseudo southern accents. You can tell someone from southern Utah 'cause we don't go directly anywhere. We go "over to" or "up to." For example, I'm going uptown later, then I'm going over to the Walmarts.
It's funny, especially when I catch myself doing the same.
Someone says
I've been reading layoff stories, Maybe it's to motivate myself to be thankful I have a job and not bitch about the lousy pay I'm making. Anyway, the story above caught my eye. Why they hell is this person abbreviating every other word? It's not like he's writing a post on twitter. rcvd? Yr? clsd? There no good reason why these words needed to be shortened.
#housing