The destruction and butchery of language
 

am i alone in desparing at the destruction of language in todays society? i know languages addapt and change, i dont speak in the same way my grandparents did but in recent times i have begun to wonder if all the kids are doomed to a dumbed down version of language.

this is not a spelling or grammar thread.

if the kids keep getting dumber, so will the language.

My grandparents are round this week, and yeah, they speak elegantly and articulately, they can say a mean sentance for sure. Just sadly what they express so brilliantly isn't interesting WHATSOEVER.

however, this being said, it's sad that especially in america the collective IQ of the youth seems to be slipping about 10 points each year. we're going to be surrounded by retards before too long.

oh wait...

I can read books of the 18th century , and I understand almost everything.
Language isn't changing that much ( at least french ).

Don't go blaming the youth. Or at least exclude me.

I speak as correctly as I can, and I write the same way - grammar, spelling and all. If you really are concerned about language though, why don't you make an effort to capitalize and punctuate correctly? I know you say this isn't about that, but how can you talk about language and disregard the structure of it?

that is your own opinion, but you have already conceded that language changes and adapts. That is the fun part, you are going about it all wrong, don't be so prudish about language. Making up and adapting to others changes in speech patterns, intonation, implied meaning, syntax, etc etc is what makes language truly and art form.

non proper english that I cant refuse:

saying "them" instead of "they" or "those"
saying "seen" instead of "I undestand completely"
saying "bust-a-bitch" instead of "make a u-turn"
saying "fo sho" instead of "I agree"

and of course, who could live without the universal verb noun and adjective "fuck"?

yes it is my opinion, well spotted sir. what i was trying to make a point about was the fact that we seem to be dumming down somewhat. yes language adapts but we seem to be going backwards. thats not prudish, merely my observation.

If you're not talking about spelling and grammar, then which part of the destruction do you take umbrage at?

if i have to read this bum telling people they're wrong and being righteous one more fucking time...

greetings, children! I am yr archenemy.

:)

I lust for the destruction and butchery of language.

the rending of written words sustains me!

yr words are dying, even though they still drip from yr lips and fingers!!!

hearken!

a day will come, in yr not-so-distant future, when a global-pig-latin will be spoken!

until that day arrives, I shall do what I can to make ready.

LOLOHOLSIHOHOHO!!


[editbot:FAILURE64353.0934]

Eyha hatwa reaa ouya alkingta boutaa? Ti'sa appeningha owna!!

i just meant my spelling.

perhaps this is a generational thing?

^^^ an honorable yet fruitless gesture.


Iway cay utway uway idday arthay.

^^^ that means GTFO in ethiopian.

I disagree that we are going backwards linguistically, I think that the progression is ever foward, as more people adapt the English they speak it only signifies progress of English, as that is what the language is. English is a bastard language, which evolved continuously like Swahili as it comes in contact with other languages. We adapt the grammar, syntax, intonation an pronunciation of other speakers continually to understand and enjoy each other. We are progressing, not digressing, and making our language exceedingly more interesting in the process, but that is also just, my opinion.

I think the LHC has doomed us all. I just read everysingleword of a verylongparagraph and

agreed.

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dude like your so like right dude innit. whatyouonabout? like theres this stuff and its like really y'kow like hard and its like i dunno like man what you saying like dude your right.

that's the spirit!

i know no other.

slain in the spirit!

Well if it's lack of eloquence that you have a problem with then I'm sure you realise that it's snot something that is exclusive to today's society.

Might I suggest you edit your circle of friends and cease all contact with public transport and its conduits.

It's snot, it's snot, it's snot.

Snotty nosed, punk kids that need a daily dose of words. Or a dictionary to the face.

We're all just learning to speak American.

lol (or something)

Language is a virus from outer space.

now we go back to where our beds and tv.......is

i don't know how it is in english language, but language educaion here is going bad... Belgians are known for speaking at leas two or three languages fluently, definitely when they had some education, but nowadays most kids leaving schools here don't speak french very well, or at all. it's also been stated that students starting university didn't know their english good enough. it probably all has to do with this new idea in education: students shouldn't have gramar or spelling as seperate subjects, but have to read a text and get their grammar and spelling out of it.

as for our own language: critics say youth doesn't read anymore. in school, students are no longer obliged to read certain books, they sometimes have to read one (choosing from a list), but hardly anyone does, in these internet days. the stress in dutch classes is on reading and understanding business texts or newspapers. (i was lucky to have a few teachers who rebelled this: we read hamlet with the whole class and one of my english teachers had written a whole book on english short stories, novels, poems and special vocabulary for us. he isn't allowed to use it anymore because of the 'mix-everything-thing)

i can rant for a long time about how the education here is going bad but i won't bore you with it.

It's too true. This summer we had to read three books, (The Stranger, I finished that in one day, All The Pretty Horses, fivedays, and The Poisonwood Bible, one week) and there were a ton of students in my AP Literature and Composition class who didn't read. I guess it is to be expected, considering many people did read. But this is the highest level of an English course that my school offers. The people are only there for the GPA boost/college credit if they pass the AP test.

Last year, people hardly read anything. MY teacher and I talked about why she couldn't get her students to really elevate and sophisticate their level of writing and diction, but we sort of boiled it down to the fact that a lot of it simply comes from reading. It can't just be learned through vocabulary tests.

Anyhoo, I'm off to school.

I'm reading Hamlet next week in class. I'm excited, hahahaha

Diesel has hacked EMMah's account.:eek:

oooh have fun! how are you going to do it? we gave everyone a part and read it out loud- not exactly acting but still fun. i was ophelia!

i believe with chomskians that language is reinvented in the brains of every new generation and therefore mutates accordingly. there is no canonical language. "butchering" language is a part of life and it's how new languages are born. which is the reason that today we don't speak anglo-saxon, or occitan, or latin, or babylonian, or indo-european.

the prejudice of "good" vs "bad" language is a class prejudice of the educated classes vs. the so-called hoi polloi. still, as a social phenomenon, it requires a measure of convention, and when that convention is left too far behind, either from artistic endeavor or from dysfunction and incompetence, communication breakdowns occur. hence, the media, or certain professions, which require either broad or specialized communication, require a very restricted language.

still, if communication was the only function of language,"bad language" could be denounced as faulty-- however-- language is also a weapon. obscurity can be the equivalent of military fortifications, pitting one generation, or one social class, or one region, against another. furthermore, the majority of language occurs in absolute silence-- it's not spoken-- it is an internal tool that individuals use to sort out their thots.

[edit: ^^^ lolfuturistic]


in the future, pinkie fingers will be replaced by [enter] keys.

TO YOU

the main thing with epopel getting stupider and not being able to read and comprehend what they reead is that it drives the whole of society down into a superstitious, ignorant state.

the middle ages sucked shit.

You're despairing at this, and yet you deliberately neglect the simple rules that lend an ordinary written sentence a modicum of elegance, such as correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation?

As the kids say, wtf?

I think Alex beat you to that gmku.