When did my laugh turn into a LOL?

[Josh James]

Ever since phone companies created the "Cell Phone" people and their language have changed dramatically. Since we had the ability to text, words(if you can call them that) like "LOL" "JK" or "BRB" have become a common use in the vocabulary of youth today. I know that when we text it that yeah its a lot quicker and easier to type little abbreviations, but really? in face to face conversation we have to use them? Answer: NO, why? 1) Because you sound like a moron, no offense to those who do, and 2) Its really not that much faster than saying 'Be right back" or "Haha". Just think, no don't wait till your done reading this blog, now, think right now. How many times in the past month have you used a text abbreviation instead of actually saying the correct words. Yeah thats what I thought. If you could only think of one, no worries more is to come, I promise. What are some reason that you think are the cause of the language we use today? if we were transported back to the 20's with the gadgets that we have today what would their reaction be? Oh look new technology! or would it be something more along the lines of What lazy people, why cant they take one of these lack cars that I have and drive and have a nice porch conversation with Bessie from Antioch?

In the 20's they talked with class and elegance while in the 21st century lots of kids use slang to communicate with fellow kids. I think the language we use is quite annoying not proper. Back in the 20's kids would meet at their local hangout place, if you didn't know where a person/friend was you would either call down the street or find out where they usually hang out. Or when you would be called home for dinner, your mom would call out the door and wait until you get home. But now you will either get a call from your mom, or a text asking you to come home or to ask a question. So what has happened to our life? Why has our social life become so lazy and technology filled. When we go to talk to someone thats not on our phone is it socially awkward to talk face to face? What are your thoughts? Please respond to this blog with your comments. Why does every person we meet need to be in our phone? Why cant we just talk? Practice our social skills.

[Ben Luke]

I have always sent texts with proper spelling because my phone used the T9 function which didn't recognize the abbreviations as real words. I would have had to insert the abbreviations into the phone myself, and I was just way too lazy to do that. So I just dealt with typing out the whole word. T9 actually helped me out a lot because I know when I misspell a word.

[carla tolomeo]

My phone automatically capitalizes words that should be capitalized, such as "I" or someone's name. It also adds apostrophes to words like "I'm" or "don't". I never put any thought into improper grammar because my phone has a mind of its own and corrects my mistakes.

[Halle Gitelson]

i completely agree with this. i can not stand when im having a conversation with someone and they say " omg!" or "LOL", either say the full word or laugh! it really wont save you time, and i personally think that it makes you sound not intelligent. I do understand however when this language is used in an acutal text, because it really is helpful when youre trying to send a fast message. But in my opinon, people just need to keep it to texting and not bring it into their everyday conversations.

[Patrick Witt]

I actually try my best to use proper language, grammar, and punctuation, with the typical serial comma like I have already used in this sentence. The same thing goes for texting. I have a full Qwerty keyboard phone, so I assume that it really shouldn't be that hard to add a period or comma where it's needed. Sometimes, I look back at some of the old texts I sent, and I laugh a little because it seems almost immature when I think about it.

[megan bryk]

I think that today people use abbreviations so much due to our society. It seems that today everyone is in a hurry and i guess some people think saving a few letters will make a big difference. Personally I don't mind when people text with abbreviations but i hate when people talk with them. It really doesn't save that much time either way.

[Darby Douglas]

Whenever I text people, I always spell out words because it's so frustrating when I receive a text saying stupid things like, "omg me2! I g2g. ttyl"..... I feel like I'm talking to a very stupid computer when I find junk like this in my inbox. As frustrating as THAT may be, I find it especially annoying when I'm talking to a friend and they say, "lolz" I really hope they're just trying to be funny and that's not how they honestly talk. They might as well say, "Insert Laugh Here," when they react to my jokes. That's how pathetic and stupid I think technology slang is.

[Robin de Freitas]

Today, people text shortenings because in this society, that is the norm and it is what people are used to. Believe it or not, with a persons first cell phone at our age it was much easier to press lol, or jk or lmao, even with todays cell phones people are too used to abbreviate.

[Gary Anderson]

For most online postings, I use complete language. On Twitter though, because of the 140-character limits, I have to use some abbreviations, leave out some punctuation, and even the occasional vowel. Some sites cross-post my tweets to Facebook, so I always feel bad when the Twitter version shows up on Facebook where I prefer my postings to use more standard language.

[Haley Bohl]

I never test using lol or jk i think its stupid. Companys now make phones with full keyboards so whats the point in shortening things? Might as well put what you really mean. I say haha to laugh because that's easier than lol and it means the same thing.

[Bridget Babcock]

When I text, which is rarely, I text with proper grammar. I have never been up to date with the new acronyms and symbols. My mom on the other hand uses all of the little abbreviations and most of the time I have to ask someone to translate. I am constantly blurting out after checking my phone, "What does this even mean?!" I'd prefer that someone would call and say what they need to say because I honestly can't keep up with this new language.