atw: Re: Great Mate vs Gr8 M8

Nikki Ward wrote:
> 
> Yesterday as I was trawling through the Macquarie Dictionary, I noticed
> a page at the back of the book dedicated to SMS English (I often refer
> to it as: Smenglish.. and I got to thinking about why some techwriters
> pull up our noses at Smenglish (or do we?) and why?  Consider the
> following example:
>
>  Great Mate vs Gr8 M8  
> 
> What is the difference between the two and why should one set of symbols
> render the other as useless when in fact they are still the same in
> pronunciation and meaning and in fact nothing has really changed or has
> it? Has the meaning been diminished in any way? 
> 
[snip]
> 
> What is the potential impact on language as we know it?
> Does it threaten us because perhaps it may cause a dumbing down? I think
> of George Orwell's 1984 where language is limited and so the people
> become 'dumbed down' too... 
> 

I believe that how we perceive information as a first
impression is similar to how we perceive first impressions
about a person. Some people argue that they should be able
to wear whatever is comfortable all the time no matter what
the social situation because they're the same person no
matter what they wear and people should accept them for
who they are. Other people argue that different situations
call for different standards of dress out of acknowledgment
of levels of occasion and out of respect for societal norms.

Writing "gr8 tips 4u" is for an informal social setting,
sending short snippets of disposable information among
people who already know each other. Writing out "Useful
Guidelines" is for a business environment where you are
providing persistent information to strangers and you want
them to take your information seriously and trust its reliability.

-- Janice

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Janice Gelb          | The only connection Sun has with
janice.gelb@xxxxxxx  | this message is the return address
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