Please, do NOT get me started on the 'r u (insert whatever)' trend. These are words not letters. And yes, I'll admit to being a wee bit of a spelling/grammar nazi when it comes to things that are going out over public airways. I play MMORPGS and nothing will make me leave a team faster than 'l33t' speak and 'r u goin 2 miss?' or 'r u a hlr?'.

It's bad enough that we've got adults here who don't know the difference between 'your' and "you're"; 'there', 'their', and "they're" and can't spell their way out of a 2nd grade Spelling Bee - but now I've got to translate because someone can't type with anything beyond two thumbs?

(stomping off - muttering to self)


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>I'm hearin' ya!
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>There is little question in my mind that email, and moreso its evil twin Instant Messaging, have exerted a downward push on the King's English. But I am ambivalent about this. It's not that I can't be a grammar maven on occasion, but it's true that English and every other language have continuously changed since their inception. (Except maybe Pig Latin -- master it once, know it for life!) It isn't required that I like or approve of every mutation. Heck, if I were the Fiery Old Testament God of Language and Music (FOTGLM) there would be no rap or hip-hop at all. Then again, there might not be any jazz, either. It broke all the rules, too, and offended many classical music purists.