Tip.It Times Presents: English: Its Proper Form

[rambaldi]

I think the author has missed a very large part of the internet history; now I know a lot of us are in our teens (myself included) and therefore we would not have been around to witness it but message boards, the older style forums. You have (some forums still use the format) a limited amount of characters to utilize and posting twice (even if it's a continuation of your previous post) is seen as a great offence. Because of this limit the first set of "net slang" started to come up. This set of abbreviations has permeated into the rest of society thanks to limited character sms txt messages (which people believe has actually saved our thumbs) and this has created a loop, the people now using the internet make use of this slang because of its previous association with the internet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to point out something about the article though: In it I noticed you have used the comma quite often; a few times correctly but not always. I easily spotted with in the first two paragraphs instances where the semi colon (;) is meant to be used but has not been. I do not usually pick up people for punctuation but if you are going to comment on others then you need to check yours first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A continuation of this discussion: The English language is evolving, do you type "John's book" or "John his book"? The second phrase there might sound bizarre but it is the original and how it used to be written (the feminine abbreviation did not stick). Another example is colour/color although that was an attempted forced change (to make writing quicker as well)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am not lazy when it comes to typing but my typing usually is not as clear and concise as the above post. I have trouble with English even though it is my first language and I am very smart, yes I am tooting my own horn here, I am not going to why I make this statement but I am going to say do not judge others on their English skills; it just furthers the elitist frame of mind and if we hope to get along we must overlook it.

[Guest AshKaYu]

Good job! Maybe the tippers could employ you as their weekly reporter :)

[Nova_bros]

This article is very interesting in the sense that not only does it relate to the game but it also relates to any other game, chatroom, message board, etc. However, i found this article to be a little...boring, to be quite honest. It simply points out the obvious truth of runescape. However you need to remember, the majority of people that play runescape are children, kids, teens, etc. I speak for all of us that simply "cutting corners" and being a lazy typer is definitely not a good habit, as it can even jump the gap between computer and homework (AAAH!!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel that articles such as "Call me a noob, i dont care" and "homeless new items" are much more interesting and really spark ideas, rahter than stating the obvious that the runescape language, grammar, and basically all text in the game is, and always will be garbage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Intesting = 7.5/10

 

 

 

Relation To Game = 7/10

 

 

 

Importance = 6/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall an O.K. Article

[blad3lord]

first, i have not read through all of the arbitrarily large number of replies to this topic, so I am sorry if anything I say has already been said. I completely agree that in a situation such as this, using a message board, or any other circumstance when you do not have a size limit on your sentences, it is unacceptable to type in shorthand. However, when using the private message function on runescape, I personally view shorthand as acceptable, as it allows more information to be communicated in a set amount of time.

[Gaskyl]

I never did get into the habit of "leetspeak" or Internet abreviations, and seldom use lines like "U 2." There are a few times a word has to be deliberately mispelled as the censor program sometimes bleeps innocent phrases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder how many stares I get when instead of "LOL" they see above my persona " *laughing* " ?

[Gugge]

Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!! :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a topic very dear to me as you who read the rant board may know, and I am very glad you put the focus at it :D

[ocanderson4]

I understand the point of the article. And I agree with the message it convies (sp?).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In defense for the argument of English is my second/third/fourth/whatever langue (sp again?) English is a tough one to learn. I have made a study, completely informally, and I have found overall that English is one of the most complex ones to learn. Most other langueges (sp?) have up to 30 or so rules on how to spell or construct sentences and of course there are the few exceptions that prove the rule. English is more of the rule proving the exception. I have had several friends with IQs in the upper ranges (120+) and most of them have been forgein (sp?) exchange in my college classes. I served as "translator" for them. They knew the rules but the context eluded them on a regular basis. Many of them also missed so much of the slang (heck even I miss a lot of it!) and the background culture (like why Memorial Day is so important in the USA). But enough ranting on that subject.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn't have time to read all of the post but I find that in certain situations that shorthand is very apporiate. My parents work in a lab (one chemistry and the other medical) and I have learned part of the shorthand that goes along with it. For instance: stat. That means I wanted that 15 minutes ago. Or something like "It is a 0 1 1 nothing." That refers to a diamond that lists in groups the properties of chemicals for safety reasons. Or in emergency situtations shorthand is valuble. A few years ago an F4 tornadoe went through a town just 10 miles to the north. There was NO, repeat, NO indactions what so ever that it was coming. For the next 96+ hours Amauter Radio Operators (Hams) were the only communication link the town and the various emergency workers had. We followed key people so they were in contact with each other and we also went to various nursing homes, shelters, and hospitals where there were patients from the local hospital (which was hit) so they staff there had access through us to the patients records.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough ranting. I thought that was a very well thought out article.

[oddfaery2]

Only took the time to read half that garbage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The author really just came off as if he is so much better then anyone else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's amusing to see you ridicule the author about his attitude... with such humility and constructivism.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, it seems many of the people with negative replies toward the article are taking the article too extremely. To me, it seems this person is referring to the people who type like illiterate morons, the most extreme of language slaughterers in the game...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simple, easily read, shorthand doesn't make me think less of the person typing it (at least in an informal setting)... e.g. when people don't capitalize sentences or "I" when typing single sentences at a time... or using "u" for "you"... that in no way makes reading the sentence more difficult...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This article was nothing but pointless and wont accomplish much of anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made you want to reply, didn't it? Keep in mind the purpose of the Times is not only for a good read, but also to entice readers to discuss the article, whether or not they liked what the author had to say... so if what you read got you stirred up and made you want to refute him, it accomplished exactly what we want it to.

[ForsakenMage]

Zonorhc, I salute you. That article just made my day perfect. It did have some mechanical errors by the way. :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only teasing, but definately you've hit the point home: everyone, make an effort to type properly and use proper English! No more of that

Varrock Library[/i]"]ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ãâ¦Ã¢â¬Å...and then the night rased his sord and hit the dragon in the hed and teh hed exploded liek a mellon...ÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬ÃâÃ

[jaklumen]

Bravo, Zonorhc

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made you want to reply, didn't it? Keep in mind the purpose of the Times is not only for a good read, but also to entice readers to discuss the article, whether or not they liked what the author had to say... so if what you read got you stirred up and made you want to refute him, it accomplished exactly what we want it to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

bravo, Oddfaery!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've used some shorthand for some things: tyvm (thank you very much) and yw (you're welcome) and the various laughter abbreviations... mostly because I want to type quickly, when I still have the chance, or just because they are generally accepted Internet abbreviations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read about the origins of the :) emote somewhere, which included pictures of the original Usenet discussions. Yes, there are going to be some Internet emotes and abbreviations that will be here to stay. But in general, a majority of the time I don't mind taking up a couple of lines in RS to complete my sentences. Even the NPCs in quest cutscenes do that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, there may be the excuse that one is not a native English speaker, is still in his or her teens, or is a busy sort of person. Oh, hey. IÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢m all three of those. Fancy that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This reminded me of when I put college papers through proofread programs that used MLA (Modern Language Association of America) standards, and in general, reading through MLA handbooks (I have my MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers 4th ed. right here) and similar textbooks. The gist of everything I noted was that published papers should be written to be able to be understood by the widest possible audience, taking into account non-native English speakers, and avoiding terms and shorthand that might be particular to certain media or fields of study. Granted, 'this is the Internet' might well apply for a java game like Runescape, but then, it is a game that many non-English speaking individuals play-- note that Jagex will be releasing versions of RS in other languages (see http://forum.tip.it/viewtopic.php?t=402013). I don't think I can assume all of them will be 100% familiar with leetspeak and Internet alternate spellings, can I?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is why I believe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In defense for the argument of English is my second/third/fourth/whatever langue (sp again?) English is a tough one to learn. I have made a study, completely informally, and I have found overall that English is one of the most complex ones to learn. Most other langueges (sp?) have up to 30 or so rules on how to spell or construct sentences and of course there are the few exceptions that prove the rule. English is more of the rule proving the exception. I have had several friends with IQs in the upper ranges (120+) and most of them have been forgein (sp?) exchange in my college classes. I served as "translator" for them. They knew the rules but the context eluded them on a regular basis. Many of them also missed so much of the slang (heck even I miss a lot of it!) and the background culture (like why Memorial Day is so important in the USA).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

is a valid argument. I can imagine this being true on Runescape (and an informal study in the game as well would be interesting)-- at the very least, I remember saying some sort of colloquialism to a friend who wasn't a native English speaker in-game and I had to explain myself.

[norfan]

Finally, a fellow 'Scaper who isn't a degenerate!

[oddfaery2]

perhaps "lazy typing" would have been better than "shorthand" for his article... people use acronyms/abreviations such as lol, tyvm, etc all the time... like I said earlier that doesn't make you look stupid or like you're an idiot...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

it's the "wat he do?" kind of talk that just makes me want to cringe upon site... the purposely using incorrect spelling and grammar to save 1-2 seconds of typing... I'm getting nauseated just thinking about it...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank God Charlie's permanently banned... LOL

[ktmcf121]

thank god! more people agree with us... we have a clan where the only requirement is literacy. it's a very exclusive club, most people's applications do not get accepted! you have no idea how much this makes me lose faith in humanity

[Joleen68]

I mispell things ocasionally (alot) because I was taught to spell in a Louisiana classroom. But my random misspelling is nothing compared to the things I am expected to understand. I am curently a lv 86 and leveling daily, I love to help people, but I cannot help you if I do not understand what you are saying. For example: Plz hlp me i is dyng. I will stand there and watch you Die as I am busy trying to figure out what you just said... Please people vowels are an important part of the English language, why do you think you must pay for them on wheel of fortune???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh and BTW (hehe) I am Dyslexic as well, I would like to point out that being dyslexic is a problem writing letters and reading them not typing! Typing has to do with memorising the keyboard! SO DO NOT CRY POOR ME I AM DYSLEXIC!!!!!

[Idarodo]

"0h noez tis iz wot iev bn weetng f0r lolz"

 

 

 

It's VERY annoying when many guys can't write properly. "0h nooz u n00b lololol i raeport u lolz!!1"

 

 

 

It's sad that internet is ruined by this. Some people can't just think how stupid it looks when they spell "hay can i haev sum fr3 stuf plz??????"

 

 

 

Finally I've found someone who think that this is idiotic, I really think Jagex should make something that transferres "n00bish" text to text that can be read. Good work!

[the_best371]

That's a great story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

People should know that speed is not important and that more important is how you write.

[KingExtreme]

i read the article every week and never really respond, but this week i felt compelled to. i am not an english major nor am i even close to being the worlds best speller, in fact i'm horrible. i do feel sometimes that i need some sort of secret decoder ring to read some of the things i hear in banks. i think your article was spot on and i applaud you for it, it is well written, and i enjoyed reading it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, the same situation applies for me. I read the article every week and this week's article is very well-written. In fact, I can't get the meanings of people using shorthand, and I always have to check the following website to check the vocabulary. This is rather ridiculous and very uncomfortable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Runescape Vocabulary Guide

[Conrose]

Shorthand never bothered me... I am used to reading it. I don't use it myself though. What bothers me are the people who start insulting me because I don't type in shorthand or "l337"... of course, due to the fact that I type at 75 words per minute on average (Yeah, there are some days where I top out at 90 wpm), I really don't have a need to try to save a few milliseconds. I've seen 5 people's homeworks typed in l337, 4 of em ended with F's (The fifth was an A+ because the subject was l337, lol)so I understand that it can affect one's own typing in real life situations. Why can I understand l337 so fluently... well, I regularly IM a dyslexic chap from Britain, so it isn't a problem at all for me... just when people start flaming at me for being proper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for all you dedicated l337 and shorthand typists... the next one who accuses me of being a 30+ year old man with a literature major... know this... I hated Literature class in High School, and I definitely am not going to major in it when I enroll into College in a few months riding the waves of my off the scale SAT scores (Okay, they were still on the scales, just apart from the pack). But in the mean time... I got to take my beloved Steph out on a few dates. 8)

[bookwormi1]

That article made a lot of sence. What's the point in typing for people to read if they can't? I type as fast as I can, which means I make typos sometimes, but I correct them with a *word. People are becoming dumber because they type like this, and also text messaging. i know tons of people who cannot spell for toffee. They are the ones that are always texting. If this happens to a more extreme degree, and mmoreso with the internet, English could end up being extinct for 'predictive text' noncense.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, it's annoying.

[violetann]

I think people need to distinguish between acidental miss spelling and purposeful miss spelling.

 

 

 

AKA acidental miss-spelling is when someone attempts to spell but makes a typo or just a mistake often with weather and whether etc. those people fair enought i don't mind them they are trying. btw i'm dylexic so excuse me if i do some minor mistakes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though the ones which do the "waz u gunna sell me dat?" often the spelling dosen't even save time. after all was's S is close to the wa then x.. most of them just think they are cool for doing it but they don't realise that after all it's best they learn now then when they are older and they have to or they work get a job beacuse those 'nerds' are their bosses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

also english is a language it is to express comunications, feelings etc. you can't do that if you don't understand them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

p.s if anyones done programming they will know the importants to know some spelling (even though there american often.. most are the same) after all with out some spelling the internet wouldn't exist... well with out geeks it wouldn't and neather would games.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so love your geeks or not preaty games :)

[Nicolescat]

I think it's a great article. It started getting really bad when people would ask me (in chatspeak), "Why do you type normally?" and my only retort was, "Why do you not?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funnily enough, I've never heard the English classroom excuse, but the eerily similar, "OMG, IT'S MSN - NOT AN ENGLISH EXAM." Or, at least, an incoherent version of that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great job on it; it's needed to be said for quite some time, in my opinion.

[Intriguing]

Very enjoyable read, predominantly because I relate to it. Keep up the good work.

[Kingblah]

I have to agree - i really relate to this article. At least my views are shared by others - it does annoy me and ruin the atmosphere of the game when you see stupid abbreviations which everyone copies like they have no mind of their own, which usually involve adding -ddy or -bby etc to the end of the word. Come on - it doesn't take much effort to type the actual names of something, instead of something that sounds like it came from a caveman!

 

 

 

Another of the worst abbreviations i have seen is "pots". A pot is something which you can make with clay, and store stuff in. And yet nearly everyone seems to use it to abbreviate "potion".

 

 

 

Have to say though, there have been one or two friends I have met that can type properly, and i'd like to meet more!

[joso]

liek omg u r sooo rite!

 

 

 

Anyway, I completely agree. Thank you for saying what many of us were thinking. Nice grammar, too. :)

[richpoepaap]

Nice article, a joy to read.

 

 

 

I do not have a problem with people who use shortenings of words like people (ppl) or please (plz), as I use them myself.( in runescape only :wink: )

 

 

 

But I try to keep the rest of my spelling like verbs,etc...accurate.

 

 

 

But I hate leet speakers and the people who have a grammar that is just horrible.

 

 

 

A little shortening is no problem to me, but too much is.