With the coming in of Internet and mobile phone technology, our language and spellings have gone haywire. How often does it happen that while writing a formal email we end up writing 'you' as 'u', 'would' as 'wud', 'have' as 'hve'? This is not just limited to abbreviating words. I find it really annoying and pretentious when people write 'ma' instead of 'my'.
My mother is a school teacher and she tells me that students as young as 10-12 years old end up writing instructions given in Hindi in English like how I did in this post. Not just that, in their English class, they actually write 'you' as 'u' and so on.
I think English as a language is losing its beauty and charm because of the way we have started vandalising the words.
Consider this short impromptu story as an example.
This is how you and I would normally write.
She looked at her watch and saw it was quite late in the night, almost 11:30pm. He had emailed to tell her that he had a meeting in downtown LA and would then go with his mates for drinks but it was way past the 9 pm mark by which he had promised to back. She found it hard to concentrate on the book she was reading and realised that she lost the track 10 pages back. She gave up reading and turned to watch a movie on her new DVD player to entertain herself until he came back. The movie failed to hold her attention for longer than 20 minutes and so it was time for some TV. As she flicked through the channels, she saw there was a report of a fatal accident that had happened on the highway at 30 minutes past 8. The car was smashed and the police was finding it hard to identify the man killed in the crash as he had no ID on him. She felt a chill run down her spine and tried to brush of bad thoughts. This was the road he was meant to take while returning home. She reached for her phone and dialled his number but it was unreachable. She didn't know what to do or whom to call at this odd hour. Just then she heard someone knock at the door and she was hoping against hope that there will be no bad news. She ran to get the door and a breath a sigh of relief to see him standing before her. He was late because the road had been blocked off due to the accident on the highway. That night when she slept next to him, she knew he was the one and that she truly loved him. He had been trying to convince her to get married since 2 years. And now, just a 2 hour delay in coming back home had done the magic.
This is how someone serious about English will write.
She looked at her watch and saw it was quite late in the night, almost eleven thirty post meridiem. He had electronically mailed to tell her that he had a meeting in downtown Los Angeles and would then go with his mates for drinks but it was way past the nine post meridiem mark by which he had promised to back. She found it hard to concentrate on the book she was reading and realised that she lost the track ten pages back. She gave up reading and turned to watch a movie on her new Digital Versatile Disc player to entertain herself until he came back. The movie failed to hold her attention for longer than twenty minutes and so it was time for some television. As she flicked through the channels, she saw there was a report of a fatal accident that had happened on the highway at thirty minutes past eight. The car was smashed and the police was finding it hard to identify the man killed in the crash as he had no identity card on him. She felt a chill run down her spine and tried to brush of bad thoughts. This was the road he was meant to take while returning home. She reached for her phone and dialled his number but it was unreachable. She did not know what to do or whom to call at this odd hour. Just then she heard someone knock at the door and she was hoping against hope that there will be no bad news. She ran to get the door and a breath a sigh of relief to see him standing before her. He was late because the road had been blocked off due to the accident on the highway. That night when she slept next to him, she knew he was the one and that she truly loved him. He had been trying to convince her to get married since two years. And now, just a two hour delay in coming back home had done the magic.
This is how one would write in the SMS or email language.
She lukd at her watch n saw it was quite l8 in d nite, almost 11:30pm. He had emaild 2 tell her tat he had a mtg in dwntwn LA n wud den go wid his mates 4 drinks bt it was way past d 9 pm mark by which he had promisd 2 back. She found it hard 2 concentrate on d buk she was readng n realisd tat she lost d track 10 pages back. She gave up readin n turned 2 watch a movie on her new DVD player 2 entertain herself until he came back. D movie failed 2 hold her attentn 4 longer than 20 mins n so it was time 4 sme TV. As she flicked thru d channels, she saw dre was a report of a fatal accident tat had happend on d highway at 30 mintues past 8. D car was smashd n d police was findin it hard 2 identify d man killed in d crash as he had no ID on him. She felt a chill run down her spine n tried 2 brush of bad thoughts. This was d road he was meant 2 take while returnin home. She reached for her phone n dialled his number bt it was unreachable. She didn't know what 2 do or whom 2 call at this odd hour. Just then she heard someone knock at d door n she was hopin against hope tat there will be no bad news. She ran 2 get d door n a breath a sigh of relief 2 see him standin before her. He was late because d road had been blocked off due 2 d accident on d highway. Tat night when she slept next 2 him, she knew he was d one n tat she truly loved him. He had been tryin 2 convince her 2 get married since 2 yrs. N now, jus a 2 hour delay in comin back home had done d magic.
Just look at the three paragraphs and you will know what I mean. Unfortunately, abbreviating unnecessarily does take away the charm of the words, their meanings and story as a whole.
PS: Please don't judge the story, it was my first attempt at writing one.
8 months ago
