THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS IT NOW SPOKE

I have always loved words and the English language and believed one should be competent at spelling and grammar throughout one's life.

What appalls me these days is not only the way people speak but also the way they spell. I really think a lot of it is caused by the habit people have, particularly the younger ones, of constantly sending text messages to one another on their mobile telephones. Apparently it is important to keep these messages short if possible...I am not sure if this because of the cost factor or sheer laziness but it is quite common to see 'words' such as "wanna" "yr" "yep" and so on. It is quite extraordinary and at times quite difficult to decipher exactly what is being said/written.

We oldies were taught how to write, spell and speak and I imagine this has stayed with us throughout our lives but, only the other day, I found myself answering in the affirmative to a question and saying "yep". Shock...horror!!! Did I really say that? Yes, I did and now realise how easy it is to become word lazy.

I imagine if I came back to earth in say 30-40 years time I may have difficulty in understanding what people in the English speaking countries were saying or even writing. As it is unlikely that will happen I will just have to try and gently adjust to modern jargon but try to avoid using it myself if I can.

Talking of mobile telephones...the other day MOH asked a younger woman, aged he thinks between 30 and 40, just what it is that people seem to constantly be ringing each other about. Her answer was quite simple and straight forward, "Oh" she said "they will make calls just to let a friend know they have been to the bank or some such unimportant event" which really doesn't seem to us to warrant making a call about". Is it just that they have to continually use those 'phones because they have them? One also wonders when will they get the message that using mobiles when driving a car is not only dangerous but also illegal unless they are hands free and even then I feel they are a great distraction to the driver.

When I was young we still managed to keep in touch with family and friends quite easily without all these 'mod cons' such as mobiles and computers. Oh well, once again I must admit I do not belong in this modern age...I use a computer for fun although I find these days that even they have taken the place of a good old fashioned telephone conversation. I often long for the sound of a friendly voice but it seldom happens any more. More's the pity.