Article Review : I H8 Txt Msgs : How Texting Is Wrecking Our Language

In 1984, Orwell talks about how language can be misused to deceive the people. Today, political precision and euphemism are equally inescapable and ridiculed. The novel also discussed the corruption of verbal progression under the direction of Big Brother. The formation of the Newspeak dictionary is mentioned very often in the book. The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a moderate form of expression for Oceania but to make sure that all additional methods of thought impossible. This is shown today by many public figures who speak on behave of the United States. For example, “Politically correct” language is a form of speech that stumps thought. Autocorrect and autocomplete functions frequently command our phrasing and the language of texting is a skill that has become increasingly more

George Orwell, in an essay from Shooting an Elephant and Other Essays titled “Politics and the English Language” (1950), argues that the English language, through a cyclical process of sloven language and foolish thought, has become “ugly and inaccurate.” He supports his argument by using expert opinion, metaphors, and historical context. Orwell’s purpose is to demonstrate the debasement of the English language in order to prompt writers to make a conscious change in their writing . He adopts an informal tone (“Look back throughout this essay, and for certain you will find that I have again and again committed the very faults I am protesting against”) for writers in a time of political turnover and rising superpowers.

George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English Language, first published in 1946, talks about some “bad habits”, which have driven the English language in the wrong direction, that is, away from communicating ideas. In his essay he quotes five passages, each from a different author, which embody the faults he is talking about. He lists dying metaphors, operators, pretentious diction, and meaningless words as things to look out for in your own writing and the writing of others (593-595). He talks about political uses of the English language. Our language has become ugly and the ugliness impedes upon communication. Ugly uses of language have been reinforced and passed down in the population “even among people who should and do know

“Others among you, perhaps fewer in number, will say to yourselves: quite so, there is such a thing as Standard English, or purity of speech, or correctness of expression- something worth safeguarding and fostering; but how the devil is one to accomplish that under the prevailing conditions: in a democratic society full of minorities that have their own dialects or linguistic preferences, and in a world in which television, advertising, and other mass media manage daily to corrupt the language

“Newspeak was designed to. . .diminish the range of thought. . .by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum” explains George Orwell, the author of a dystopian fiction novel, 1984 (Orwell 300). Orwell designs a society in which a totalitarian government rules, depriving people of their thoughts. The story gives us a look into the life of the main character, Winston, who seems to face issues with reality control. Today, we will delve into the depths of this novel and explore Orwell’s views on the nature of language. In simple terms, Orwell suggests that language, if used in a certain way, has the ability to influence people and compel them to alter their thoughts. With this statement and supporting evidence, it can be concluded that the effective use of language can give individuals power to modify or reshape opinions that will allow for change in society.

There is two reason that Humphrys is angry about the Oxford English Dictionary removed the hyphen from thousands of words is because of our fastness and most importantly text messages. He states, “the OED editor Angus Stevenson, that we no longer have time to reach for the hyphen key”. Now that the text messages are very popular than many believe that the hyphen has no meaning behind it in text messages or in English paper. Therefore, the reason that the Oxford English Dictionary removed the hyphen from thousands of fo words is because of the evolution of the text

In “Politics and the English Language”, Orwell expresses his opinion on the downfall of the english language. He explains how the english language “becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish” (Orwell). The bad habits writers incorporate into their work spread into other forms of writing, including political and economical works. Further into Orwell’s passage, he explains how these forms of bad writing can be fixed if someone wished to change it. The passages Orwell chooses to include show the “mental vices” writers continually use and how future writes can avoid them.

Further support for Crystal’s recognition of the benefits of a growing text culture, comes in the improvement in GCSE English exam results; up 9.7% since 1997 and still rising. While the link remains correlation and cause and effect remain inaccurate, it appears to give rise to the numerous studies on which works like Crystal’s are based. One such study was recently performed at Coventry University and found, in contrast to the widely voiced concern that our language is deteriorating at the hand of the texting public; this modern means of communication may actually be aiding our interaction with the language and preventing its demise. The crafting of a text message, like any written passage, requires thought in order to achieve coherence and convey the intended meaning. It is this concept that allows for deeper processing of basic grammar; strengthening our understanding of lexical laws and aiding recall. This theory surrounding deeper processing has been proven to aid learning and improve the accuracy of recall, Craik and

I was sitting at the table with my great-grandmother enjoying our lunch when my phone makes a notification sound. As I grab my phone, GG Jane mumbles under her breath “These dang kids and their phones”. I look up and ask “Is there a problem?” she looked at me as if she was disappointed. I don’t understand what I could have possibly done wrong, but then she says “Taylor, it’s rude to be on your phone at the table. I’m trying to enjoy a nice lunch with you and you’d rather pay attention to your phone then me?”

Mobile communication such as the use of cell phones have created an age of instant accessibility, with the main source of communication being via text messaging. Text messaging is a growing trend with young adults. College students use texting more than any other form of telecommunication and consider it to be an essential part of their social lives. (Murdock, 2013) The rise of text messaging has come about so quickly that few have stopped to ask how is this always available status and high levels of texting effecting one’s wellbeing. In the article, Texting While Stressed: Implication for Students’ Burnout, Sleep and Wellbeing, author Karla Klein Murdock of Washington and Lee University, studied a sample of college students to answer just

Clear reference, a major problem in today's society, an example of this is texting. Texting has resulted into a way of connecting with people quickly and easily, but at the cost of needing to know the context of the conversation. Consequently texts as a result can be easily taken out of context. Furthermore the habits involved in texting tend to bleed over into verbalize communication. For example, on a senior trip the group went ziplining, on the last line, not having a large decline in height, some people could become stuck in the middle. In an amusing way the lightest girl went and got stuck, in order to get her down the instructor said he was coming to get her, but because he was so far away the other group did not hear him. Although the

Critics claim that “texting language” is destroying English. Commonly, when people text they do not take advantage of proper grammar, and they will use shortcuts to write common words and phrases such as, “ you” and “are” by writing “U” and “R”. Yet when people speak casually, they do not communicate in an eloquent, perfected form as if they would if they were reading a formal speech or document. Moreover, texting was not created to represent people’s mastery of language. It was meant to be split-second conversation and socialization over a distance.

The English language is on the verge of becoming endangered. This long standing language has weathered the test of time, evolving and adapting alongside humanity. However, its extensive history is about to be lost forever. Well known author George Orwell blames this on the bad habits that riddle the English language and the foolish thoughts that take up people’s mind, and he is correct. English is being destroyed by humanity’s incompetence. Journalist Jennie Yabroff also supports Orwell, mentioning how media has affected

The first text message was sent 25 years ago, on December 3, 2017, another leap forward in communications technology. Texting, like the fax, email, or instant messages allowed people to communicate nearly instantaneously through writing. As texting and other forms of instant messaging have developed, so have new ways to abbreviate words used throughout instant communication. These abbreviations feature phrases like, “LOL” which is “laughing out loud,” “THNX” which is “thanks,” and “BRB” which is “be right back.” The essay, “Texting by David Crystal” defines several texting abbreviations, and describes why someone might uses texting abbreviations, or “textspeak” as he calls it, as well as the issues that can arise from using “textspeak” (241-246). Another essay, “‘r u online?’: The Evolving Lexicon of Wired Teens,” details how teens today are using instant messaging as their main form of communication, and expresses concern for the consequences of being able to talk to anyone, anywhere at an instantaneous rate (247-249). Finally, the TED Talk “Txtng is Killing Language. JK!!!” by John McWhorter, emphasizes that many of the fears concerning the effects of texting on language are unfounded (00:00:00-00:13:48). Due to the new abbreviations, and the lack of emphasis on full sentences or proper grammar, many people have concerns that texting and instant messaging are having an adverse effect on the English language. However, their fears are unfounded; texting has little to no

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent and our language — so the argument runs — must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes.