The Charm of Textually Based Eloquence

The Charm of Textually Based Eloquence

(Note: writing some blurbish garbage on English doesn't necessarily mean I'm a smart ass and know everything about the language. Silly errors are bound to appear, so don't nitpick and judge, yo).

[Note Note note : since Blogger has gone all psycho, I'm using some nifty e-mail to blog system thing. Just thought I'd share that awesome info with you, in case the whole thing attaches some dodgey spam about Russian brides for you to buy online at the end of my post. Word]

Language is dead. Or, rather, it's lying on the floor, making 'awkward turtle' hands at the world as we are bombarded with " HI HW U" and " K N U". How did we get to this stage? How did conversation … 'evolve' from:

"Good afternoon Sir Fabulouslyeloquent, how are you?"

"Why good afternoon my fair/ average complexion lady! I am well and yourself?"

To:

Bob: Hey.

Mary: Hi.

Bob : how u

Mary: ok and u

Upon many occasions, it has been said that nobody really has control of language – there is no "Language Police" (credit due to Mr.David there, a fine English educator) that patrols the tongues of unsuspecting civilians, eager to beat them to a pulp should they let slip a slang or a lazy pronunciation. In terms of natural selection, the organisms most adapted to living within the environment will outlive those that cannot. So, does this mean that our language is catering for a lazy environment?

We're living in a world proficient in it's technological advancements, yet as time wears on and predictive text pulls in, we find ourselves negligent of spelling and grammar. When I type on my Blackberry, I (at times) make a conscientious effort to count the number of spelling errors I make to try and better myself, instead of typing gibberish and hoping the dictionary would enlighten me with the supercalafragilisticexpialadocious word I would like to use. But not all of us do that. People that send messages containing wrongly spelt words that own a phone with built in dictionary have some long, hard thinking to do about their lives and the way they spell it.

However, in a world where two sentence questions and one word replies fly back and forth over cybernetic high ways (low ways in terms of conversation, haha – your dose of dryness) … it's somewhat special to find a person that types out words in full. A person who presents themselves eloquently over text based communication. It's fantastic. What's even better, apart from minding their p's and q's, is the thought that they're making an effort. I guess that's all we really want in life: to see people are making an effort to talk to us, impress us, engage us. It's stimulating.

However, I know there are people in this wordy world who type like pros but cant converse to save a life. If you're intending to be skilled at one medium, at least attempt to balance it out on the other half. It's useless being a written Jedi when you can't wield the lightsabre, you know?

Therefore, I'll be proud to admit that I would undoubtedly be more inclined to speak to the weirdo that says "Hey, how're you doing tonight?" than someone insanely hot who says "Hey. Sup?" Having an excellent command of language isn't a definite prerequisite for a good friendship, but it sure as hell makes you slightly more attractive…however, if you rock up with a message reading "Good evening, fairest maiden, I love you. In manus tuas commendo spiritum meum".

The latin, you see. Kills it. Whattt.

Oh, by the way, what is the purpose of having entire conversations based on the sending and receiving of SMILEYS / EMOTICONS!? Grow up and learn to speak.

That will be all, now I'm off to pwn n00bz @ COD ;).