LOLlerskates

[memento_mori]

wAtz mo' imPoRtAnT: that language stay permanent & unchanging so every1 can understand what every1 else is sayin, or that language change with the times to reflect the people's changing attitudes?

 

[All Else Failed]

The language of a people naturally changes with time. I mean, you don't see anyone speaking like Shakespeare anymore.

 

[memento_mori]

but with the changing language, and like we were saying in the atheists thread, language is fragile. how much meaning gets lost between the thoughts you think and the words you speak?

with the don imus comment, did he really mean offense when he said nappyheaded hoes? and when did we take nappy headed or hoes to be exclusively black terms? judging by the context of the comment, he just seemed to be comparing the ugly and the beautiful: the cute girls basketball team vs the manly lookin girls basketball team.

and why didnt imus get the memo that the language would change so these words would be offensive? it seems like a breakdown in communication to me- a poor conversion of intended message to recieved message. should we try to perserve our language to try and avoid stuff like this?

 

[Magic P]

should we try to perserve our language to try and avoid stuff like this?

I don't think it could be a choice, mate.

 

[memento_mori]

im surprised im not getting more english in here, what with the way they spell things.

especially since the queen will be aquiring the US and making us talk more british.

right, Parka?

 

[Magic P]

it's good that people are trying to make things better. I admire people like that but sometimes the laziness and unwillingness coming from the majority kinda kill the act of the kindness a good deal.

 

[memento_mori]

it's good that people are trying to make things better. I admire people like that but sometimes the laziness and unwillingness coming from the majority kinda kill the act of the kindness a good deal.

:confused

no idea what that has to do with language.

but a good action is a good action, whether people join in with the good deed or not.

 

[memento_mori]

how about a universal language? like esperanto? does everyone see that happening sooner or later?

 

[SilentSinz]

not to be rude, and sorry if i come off rude, but can you rephrase that question so i can understand it? You lost me at language

 

[memento_mori]

language is constantly changing. we all know this, we've read some of ye olde shakespear. it's changing even faster now w/teh internetz and l334 sp33k and aim shorthand. sometimes we change words because we want to give them new meaning, like Truth and truth in The Things They Carried, truthiness on the Colbert Report, the difference between nigger and niggah, definitions of God, and making gay into a term for homosexuals. other times we defend the original or dictionary definition of the words.

my point is: i think we have at least some control over how much our language is changing. and does anyone one think our language is changing too fast?

r w gt 2 th pnt whr w cnt vn ndrstnd ppl nmre?

should we try to resist the changing times? clamp down on the mispellings and misuses of words we see every day?

i think its going to be pretty lopsided in opinions, for the people who actually think its an issue. i dont think we have enough noam chomskys or computational linguists to care.

 

[SilentSinz]

oh...ha thanks, much abetter understoood for us little minded ppl changing to fast, i dont think so, and i think it comes with the new technology everybody is so rush rush these days and with txt messaging, if you can make a 100 character sentacne into 65 why not?

 

[memento_mori]

how about the people learning english? they struggle so hard to learn proper english, which is hard enough, and then they have to sort through all this slang and aim-shorthand and people using words that have drastically different conotations than their dictionary definitions. is it really all that hard to just use proper english?

 

[SilentSinz]

no but ive lived in america my whole life so it dont effect me why should i care? people learning english should learn the short hand and what not because thast what is used in america today, if we teach someoon proper english in america they would so be lost, hell they might as well speak spanish if they want to get by here! im a spanish speaker as well, and i took spanish in school, but omfg..i didnt understnd one thing becaues proper spanish is so different from the way we speak it on the streest, same with english...i say roll with the times and update our schools

 

[memento_mori]

i can see it now. our working resumes will consist mostly of shorthand.

4yc - 4 years college or for your consideration?

lmao- laugh my ass off or let me apply online?

zomgwtfbbqhamster

and theres more to it than just teh blagosphere, its the general communication between people these days. im probably being too naive and optimistic, but sometimes i wish language was static where everyone knows exactly what everyone else means, with out what seems like meaningless change that causes tension and miscommunication.

 

[memento_mori]

fucking especially tho on aim. it sickens me sometimes just how our main communication has no personal contact. theres so much we miss when we talk to each other on aim. i <3 you especially seems so stupid with out the person there in front of you, who's to say it isnt her kid brother?

sarcasm is virtually dead with instant messenger.

i know you guys have had IM conversations that go completely downhill when they wouldnt have if you were in person, because you can show more meaning in person with your facial expressions and your body language and your tone of voice.

BHYVWEYUIGIHPDJBVYPI. post if you care.

 

[Peter Parka]

I can understand languages changing gradually as kind of part of a natural evolution however what I see happening these days is just laziness, people can't be arsed to write words out in full (text messaging is largely responsible for this!) or the're so lazy they can't be bothered to pronounce full words. I hate the Yorkshire accent over here where not only do they drop sylabols they drop whole words -"Going up t pub" ect.

 

[memento_mori]

*thumbs up* :-D

 

[SilentSinz]

this is true but your talking about night and day here, in the copmuter world its great tool to talk short hand, quick easy and lazy yes, but in the real world, its not as drastic as your making it to seem, no one is gona use short hand when it comes to serious job resumes or school work, or college....

 

[memento_mori]

you got me there, with teh internetz anyway. i did have some real life examples of people changing the meaning of words on you.

and maybe its not such a pressing issue for a lot of people, but it bugs me sometimes.

like, you know?
^^:mad

 

[SilentSinz]

yea i here your complaints loud and clear no biggy i just push threw life and take whats thrown on me. We have this new girl at work from the east coast, and shes tru getto (her wordz not myn) and were really good friends now, but it took me hours of talking to her to finally understand her slang, and what she meant by using certain wordz ive never heard of..so i gues its all the same, .....