What ever happened to the art of good conversation?

ziggy67

I don't know if it is just here in the UK but it seems that a lot of people have got very lazy when they are talking nowadays. I was brought up to mind my P's & Q's and I always corrected my children whenever they picked up bad habits off other kids. I cringe whenever I hear people say words such as:

Wotcha
Betcha
Ain't yer
I ain't
You ain't
Wasss...upppp? (What's up)
Ta ra now
See yer
Flipping eck..

That's just for starters without the usual swearing and slang that often accompanies it!

Are there any words that people use that you wish they wouldn't....or do you just go with the flow.

surfrgrl1

It has gotten much worse with texting. I still can't allow myself to abbreviate when I text. That probably makes me a dork. :huh:

plantgrrl

Text speak is the worst! If I see another "gr8" I'm going to barf. I spell everything out when I text too!

cm2two

oh lord...i type up jail cell interrogations for a living - KILL ME...i have to type exactly what they say and "gangsta speak" is the worst!!

moushtie

I deliberately use some of these. I have a relatively "posh" accent, and I find it sticks out a bit. So when I'm out on the street, I tend to pick up some of the local slang ( not swearing, just the conversational bits), just so I stick out less. I have no problems with them being used in conversation, it's part of the culture. I don't like seeing them used in written form though. Certainly not in formal applications.

cookiejones

The word 'ridonculous' makes me want to throw myself off a bridge. It annoys me to no end. I feel unbelievably old as I work with two girls who use it all the time. Sigh....

robin52077

oh lord...i type up jail cell interrogations for a living - KILL ME...i have to type exactly what they say and "gangsta speak" is the worst!!

that sounds like a very interesting job!

JennieD3

I have to go with the flow or I'd go crazy. I live in Ilkeston and there is even a book called "Ay up me duck!" dedicated to our local dialect. It's not just lazy speech either, there are words that just aren't used anywhere else e.g. scratin and coursey.

TavistockToad

I deliberately use some of these. I have a relatively "posh" accent, and I find it sticks out a bit. So when I'm out on the street, I tend to pick up some of the local slang ( not swearing, just the conversational bits), just so I stick out less. I have no problems with them being used in conversation, it's part of the culture. I don't like seeing them used in written form though. Certainly not in formal applications.

Yes! its kids who can only write in text speak that get me....

and anyone who puts 'lol' at the end of text messages should be taken out and shot...

gel91

personally it doesn't annoy me, i dont tend to use it either though but each to there own id of had no idea people could actually get annoyed by words??

with some people i think slang with come naturally if there brought up around and but texting i guess its just for the sake of being quick but online theres no point missing out 2-3 letters of a word for no reason

but saying that im a crap speller and have done it myself a few times when i dont know how to spell something but i wouldnt go out of my way to do it

starwhisperer

I am guilty of lol, mostly when I have no other response to what someone has texted me and simply want them to know i got it. On the other hand I spell out all of my texts, my friends daughter told me that I don't text I "word" . I decided that this is something to be proud of. Might prove my age, but it also won't detract from my intellect.

MiladyMetal

I am American and I still get what you are saying. My teen daughter and her friends on Facebook deliberately go out of their way to destroy the enlish language. The things they write half the time don't make sense since they are real words meshed with the made up or it is overly abbreviated. Our kids seem to be dumbing down!! Why?! ...and please do not get me started on the gangsta lingo, it drives me up the wall.

ooOOooGravy

I admit to speaking with 'ya' and 'anit' but its more of a dialect around here more than anything, although i speak properly posh compared to almost all my friends.

I dont 'text speak' type myself, but i understand why others do; however,The other day i saw an old school friend on Facebook actually write 'yhoo' instead of 'you'.... i mean, oh my dear god?!?!?!?!? Text speak doesnt grind at me to read it, but this annoyed me enough to delete him and was in a bad mood all day because of it, i really dont understand peoples logic, sometimes!

plantgrrl

Ah crap! I love "LOL." It's a product of message boards and IRC I think. Had to convey a joke through typing so, "LOL" is a valuable tool in my conveying-emotion-through-text arsenal.

Mine are more "buzz" phrases...though I think maybe these are more frustrations with society:

"In these troubled times..."
"Terror Attack..." (that sounds like a panic attack...insubstantive nouns...can they attack?)
"You People..." (this is more to do with my old job, knew a phone rant was coming when I heard this)
"My bad." (your bad what? You can't just "Pronoun, Adjuctive." You have to at least "Pronoun, Adjective, Article;" if not "Pronoun, Adjective, Article, Verb!")

More or less, my greatest dislikes are mispronouncing obvious things like, "the" and other things I didn't think you could mess up.

MiladyMetal

I am guilty of lol, mostly when I have no other response to what someone has texted me and simply want them to know i got it. On the other hand I spell out all of my texts, my friends daughter told me that I don't text I "word" . I decided that this is something to be proud of. Might prove my age, but it also won't detract from my intellect.

lol don't bother me that isn't my problem it is the way people write. I have a friend love her dearly, we went to school together but her facebook posts make me think she has always been a redneck hick the way she spells and writes. No offense to southerners just she moved to Kentucky a few years ago from Massachusetts and being and adult you think she could write and spell as one. Well TGIF everyone and enjoy your weekend. Hope no one pisses you off enough that you text them back, "Imma gonna git yo sucka". XD

solpwr

Chillax = Best. Word. Ever.

ooOOooGravy

Chillax = Best. Word. Ever.

It sickend me when this made it into the OED, along with some other words which i feel disgusted to type

AtticusFinch

Text speak is the worst! If I see another "gr8" I'm going to barf. I spell everything out when I text too!

I use the correct punctuation and upper/lower case text in the appropriate. I'd probably use a Quill if I could

dougstevens

You are absolutely right and I agree with you. Unfortunately, I fear far too few of us feel this way about our language.

Let's be honest, how often have you witnessed any of the following:
► Someone saying, "Oh, you know what I mean..."
► People circling back to the sender of the email asking for further clarification because the originator was too vague.
► Someone saying, "You know, its hard to tell facial expressions in [chat, email, texting, etc.]...."; or same goes for body language.
► Over use of pronouns within a single conversation. For example, a male co-worker was discussing a meeting that two other employees had about a sales report. He said, "Mary and Donna met to discuss the sales report. She said, '...figures look off, better check the source.' Then she said, 'which source? The numbers from the sales system or the formulas in the spread sheet?'" (My point is that in the conversation he conveyed, there was confusion regarding what the "source" means. More so, from my own perspective, I was confused on who saying "check the source." Was it Donna or Mary? Turns out it was Mary. Also, when he said, "Then she said...", I thought he was referring to Mary again, because it sounded like a continuation of her earlier statement. However, he meant to say, it was Donna responding to Mary's question.)
► Poor thought organization. Ever read an email or listened to someone speak and its clear that their thoughts are jumping around .

Its just the sign of the times that people, in general, are becoming more ambiguous. I like to think that the "Art of Conversation" is constantly evolving and changing. Like many other things, it follows a cycle, and in time the pendulum will swing back where people choose clarity over ambiguity.

dougstevens

Text speak is the worst! If I see another "gr8" I'm going to barf. I spell everything out when I text too!

As for abbreviated phrases. I thought words such as "GR8" or "L8TR" was clever on vanity license plates. It was kind of nice to read them in traffic. Sometimes you would see one that was a bit tricky to read; and figuring out what the owner was trying to convey became a mental game of sorts.

I am also okay with the proper use of abbreviated phrases within a specific profession or trained skill. For example, when learning about Morse code, you will find that it chalk full of abbreviated codes. Many of these codes have been standardized internationally, if not within a country. A Morse code operator can send and receive a message very quickly and distinctly.
Also, within a profession (e.g. doctors, lawyers, truckers) there exists jargon and abbreviated phrases which work for those within that profession.

However, where I feel that communication fails is when the level of ambiguity increases. The purpose of communicating is to share a thought, express ones' ideas or feelings, or convey an important message. Abbreviating words, replacing a phrase with an acronym works as long as there is no loss of meaning.


"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning." - Mark Twain

Coltsman4ever

What burns me most is "your" where it should be "you're". Even in a text a use the correct version. Why do people have so much trouble knowing the difference?

k2quiere

What burns me most is "your" where it should be "you're". Even in a text a use the correct version. Why do people have so much trouble knowing the difference?

I, personally, go for u'r...LOL (and NO, I don't need to add "personally" because the pronoun "I" signifies that it is me talking from personal opinion.)

Seriously, what most people consider textese was not developed because of the text feature on telephones, but it was developed in chatrooms and threads, just like the one we're using now to debate whether or not it's an acceptable form of communication, and most of the people creating this shortcuts were adults with degrees because, at the time, they were the ones who could afford the technology. Adults are just mad because our kids have taken these things to the Nth power giving a new perspective to our language, which is what actually keeps a language alive. Languages die because they stop changing.

Having said that, the thing that bothers me is when people don't realize the difference between casual conversation and formal discourse. This, to me, is a serious issue in need of remedy. Yes, I text with my teenage daughters, and yes, I use textese for brevity. I do, however, correct them for mistakes such as "kind of" and "should of" because those are common confusions/mistakes in usage not word play.

L8r

odusgolp

Ricockulous is much better than ridonkulous.... FYI.

Qarol

Text speak is the worst! If I see another "gr8" I'm going to barf. I spell everything out when I text too!

I use the correct punctuation and upper/lower case text in the appropriate. I'd probably use a Quill if I could

This gave me shivers...

xsargex

Watch the movie Idiocracy (same guy that did Beavis & Butthead/ Office Space). Freaking hilarious movie and a scary perspective on where we are truly headed.

_beachgirl_

Watch the movie Idiocracy (same guy that did Beavis & Butthead/ Office Space). Freaking hilarious movie and a scary perspective on where we are truly headed.

Great movie.

foremant86

It's unreal how incapable people are of holding a conversation "hey whats up, not much, you" is not a conversation!

aaaaand I have also noticed there are very very very few people in my life who are actually capable of giving a crap about YOUR life, most of them just want to talk about themselves and how everything effects them and they will just steam roll right over anything you have to put into the conversation and talk more about themselves.

It's one of my biggest "pet peeves"

Text messaging is completely annoying when the person can't form a full sentence.

bhope1122

Oh goodness. I'm probably one of the worst that does that. I say "OMG" all the time and when I'm e-mailing or sending a text, if I am really expressing myself, I spell out OMG as in OHHHH EMMMM GEEEEEEE!!!! Yeah - I'm that person. And I'm 35 years old. I should be ashamed of myself but I'm not. I have no problem typing ur for your or you're but when someone uses your when they mean you're, it drives me crazy.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Friday and wishing you lots of LOLz today.

Froggy1976

Watch the movie Idiocracy (same guy that did Beavis & Butthead/ Office Space). Freaking hilarious movie and a scary perspective on where we are truly headed.

Great movie.

Great movie, I agree but scary too. You can almost see it happening!

CountryDevil

Gr8!! nw I M goin 2 hav 2 chAng d way I TLK & txt 2 my kid. bt I undRstNd wot U R saying. aL d slang dEz days n normL QSO iz jst horrific. evN txt messages hav thR own lngwij. I predik dat d whol eng lngwij wiL b completely differn't 20 years frm nw.

Nette_54

I am another person who doesn't use "text speak " when sending messages and I use upper and lower case too, though I do follow the internet etiquette of not typing in all upper case as it is considered shouting. I do like to see the English language used correctly. Please don't take offence USA peoples but I don't like how the spelling of many word here in Australia are gradually changing to the USA way. When I came home to Australia after living in the UK for 10 years I found a lot of words had changed, thankfully in schools they still kept correct spelling but still people have become lazy. My daughters laughed when on election day I would not accept the how to vote cards from one particular party all I said was I don't vote for people who cannot spell........ then a lady asked what I meant so I asked her how to spell labour.......... she looked at the form then looked at me and looked at the form again, the party in question is the Labor Party................ In UK and Australian english there is no such word. Even this forum is correcting my spelling of the word labour . Oh I must confess I do use two short cuts and they are lol and msg for message. I have a friend who lives in the US and we tease each other all the time about the spelling of words and pronunciation of some words e.g. schedule. I guess it makes life interesting lol