Greetings, Americans. I am Kai, Kellie’s beloved pen pal. Oh, and I’m British, so, yeah I win.
That’s very debatable. I mean, who won the Revolutionary War? But let’s not get into a historical argument about the awesomeness that is America.
I’m ignoring that. And you are not allowed to ‘correct’ my British spellings. Such as colour.
You’re killing me here! Must restrain my inner Grammar Nazi.
Yes. Yes you do indeed need to restrain your inner Grammar Nazi. For I am British, I am of England, and therefore WE INVENTED THE LANGUAGE!!
WE MADE IT BETTER!!!
Ignoring that too. Right. General musings. What shall we muse over?
I’m not sure. They said we could talk about whatever we wanted. We need something interesting to muse over.
Yes. Something so incredibly sophisticated and muse-able that it shall be legendary in your class.
Oh right. Because I definitely need to be legendary in a class of about five people.
I sense great sarcasm in your tone..
That’s a very interesting notion Kai. How is one able to detect sarcasm in the printed word?
And like that, I give us a subject! Well, this subject actually causes so many problems in relationships. It has actually caused people to break up and fall out of love because they can’t actually be sure of how their partner/friend is saying something. If there was a way to, like, write in a sarcastic font or something, it would make things so much better.
Don’t you think that’s a little bit silly? I mean, if you love someone enough, you should be able to detect their voice inflection based on their diction.
That is very true...you have me there.
I do agree though. If there was a “sarcastic font” we could use in this growing age of technology, perhaps there would be less animosity in the world, because we would actually know when someone is being serious. Do you think that the sarcasm issue is more prevalent in the younger people/teens? Or can the older generation be more bitterly sarcastic?
I think it is more present in younger ages, such as our generation. However, it is very much occurring in conversations of the older generations! My mother and my sister are always going at each other’s throats because my sister thinks that the answer ‘k’ is a way of showing that my mother is irritated, whereas my mother just uses it because it is the quickest response, and she wants to get things done.
I have a problem with the use of “K” though as a single letter response. I mean, it almost seems unfair. People take the time to type out something important, or maybe not always so important, but either way, they have a connection to what is being written, and the recipient just almost carelessly gives a short, quick response, then goes on their merry way. I mean, it doesn’t take much time at all to even write “okay” in comparison to “K”. I know that this is a growing problem as more and more people get irritated with such a dismissive message, and frankly, I can see where they’re coming from. It almost makes you feel like the other person doesn’t really care what you had to say and was just trying to get you some kind of answer, because that’s what you wanted.
Exactly! And ‘text-speak’ is a huge problem in today’s society among younger ages. I mean, come on people. “I wud like the job coz im well gud @ talkin wid peeps” is hardly going to get you a job! I’m not sure how your text-speak is across the pond, but here it’s just horrendous! And if it stayed within text messages, it wouldn’t be as big a problem, but it has infected young people’s language in all forms. I have read some dreadful pieces written by children in the school I go to, and they actually have some very good content and relevant points, but when represented by this vulgar text-speak, they just sound ridiculously foolish and...without using swear words, down-right idiotic.
Sadly, the same problem persists over here. Thankfully, I have not seen it quite as prevalent in papers written by high school students, although there are some tragic cases in which that is false, however, even on social media websites this use of “texting language” remain. It’s a shame that kids don’t realize that colleges actually look at the Facebook pages and Twitters of the prospective students they are considering accepting into their schools. Once these admissions people see the things some of these kids post, whether it be their language, their content and behavior, or the pictures, there is no way that that college would accept them. Sadly, this really has infected our generation like you said. It makes me fear for the younger generation, the ones growing up with iPhones and Tablets. I mean, we at least know how to appreciate a desktop computer and know to not whine when we can’t download a certain app. Or, at least I would hope so.
Yes! My god, it is just so SO incredibly annoying what some people put on their pages on social networking sites. And if universities and colleges look at them (which I didn’t know they did....I’ll just be going on my Facebook page a second..), it would be a crying shame for someone not to get into their univerity of choice and ruin their future because of careless language and grammar! And for heaven’s sake, do NOT get me started on the pictures posted. Girls flaunting their assets all over the web is neither attractive nor appropriate for their ages. And as you’ve said, fearing for the younger generations to come. Well, over here, it’s too late for that. There are 9 year olds going round in Daisy Dukes and mini skirts and high-heels, faces plastered with make-up, head of false hair extensions. Some would blame celebrities for being bad role models, and I do partially. But even then, most of their language isn’t infected with the text-speak virus! At least they can speak properly, and justify themselves in proper English (or their respective language).
Just a somewhat unrelated note, I am extremely curious as to what British slang-ish stuff sounds like. Because here it is repulsive. But touching on your point about the young girls behaving like they’re twenty-one: sadly, I do not think the blame is all on them, or celebrities for that matter. I mean, for them to be able to acquire the skimpy clothes and large quantities of makeup and/or hair colorations, their parents have to be involved. What nine year old has a job? They couldn’t pay for this stuff by themselves! It’s the parents who are at fault for allowing their kids to run around looking and acting the way they do! Times have changed, and certainly not for the better. The objectification of women in society’s eyes has taken such a tight grip on our younger generation that today’s women feel as if they are imperfect, or could never be loved if they don’t flaunt themselves and act in such inappropriate manners.
You are so right there. I have been disgusted by the parents of children at my school. At parents evening (Brief note for the Americans, that’s basically their form of our parent-teacher conferences), children of all ages are with their seemingly ageless parents, who should be 40, but are dressing and acting as though they’re 17. It is just....there are no words to describe. There are several girls in my art class, and they are completely spoilt, have no concept of manners or proper grammar, and you think “oh wow, their parents must be so ashamed.” Then you see their parents, and you think “Oh, no okay. Now, NOW I see where they got it all from.”. And these parents will openly blame everyone but themselves when their children are sleeping around town, getting drunk and who knows what else! I mean, I have lived more than others of my age, but hey, you’ve read my writing here. Am I unedumacated? (lol, sorry. OH LOOK! Text speak has even infected me! See, it’s so easy for it to just drop in to your everyday language!! I apologise for my improper vocabulary there. But so far, reading this, I would appear to be a well-behaved young man, am I right? (Please tell me I’m right...!) I am able to go out partying and living my life as a young adult does without having to talk in abbreviations and wrongly placed inflections and other such mannerism developed through text-speak and disgusting parenting!! Okay wow, I have rambled since the dinosaurs. Your turn. Sorry!
It’s quite alright. You make several good points during your rambling. It’s just sad. Isn’t it? The way things have deteriorated under this guise of “progress”. I feel like intellectually, our society is moving backwards. But I don’t think that it’s the same all over. I mean, in Asia and the Middle East there are countries who, despite being looked down upon by Americans, are making great technological and educational strives while also maintaining the important values of society. But do we get to hear about it? No. Because they’re “different” from us. They don’t practice what we do, and that automatically makes them wrong. So we never get to learn about these great people. Instead, we remain holed up in our own little backwards world where everyone acts an age they shouldn’t and vocabulary isn’t increasing, it’s decreasing at an astonishing rate. It reminds me of the novel, 1984 by George Orwell. Their society thrived on using as little writing as possible, and made it a daily goal to shorten the world’s vocabulary. Is that dystopian future what we’re destined to fall into?
I’ve seen the stage production of 1984, and it was awesome! It’s a massive dystopia, and what’s scary about it is that you can totally see it happening in the next few years, maybe a decade. But there are so many people out there trying to show us what is happening to the world, and people recognise it, but just let it wash over them. I could go into passive audiences and the Hypodermic Needle theory, but that would a) carry on for several pages of me ranting and raving, and b) get controversial. Luckily, over here, we aren’t closed off to other cultures as you’ve just said the US is. However, we look to your country and see a successful continent. Foolish, albeit, but successful. And yes, oh lord yes. Asia is so incredible. They are THE perfect blend of the old and new. I went to a ‘Tokyo Day’ in London a few years ago, and their slogan was ‘So old. So new. So Tokyo.’ And it’s true! They respect their traditions and elders, and are so close with their roots, yet they are possibly the most technologically developed country on Earth! We could all learn a lesson from them. Well, I’ll try to round this off, since the time difference is a small problem here. It’s 23:37 here, and I have a few other things I need to do. I’ve enjoyed this so much! It’s great to have intellectual conversation with someone under the age of 21 for once! Well, from the lil UK to the big US, good luck with your future generations. It seems to me that some know what they’re doing. At least Kellie does!
Thank you for that Kai, and thank you for your input. It just goes to show you that there really are some sad similarities between our countries. Things are bad all over. But clearly there are people like us out there that recognize the problem. Maybe the more people realize that things are growing worse and worse, the more of a chance we have to escape the downward spiral our society is slowing falling into. One can only hope that things will get better. We just need to stay positive! Well, thank you for reading, and this is Kellie, from the second period Writing Center signing out!
Now our writing center musings are international! Thanks for sharing Kellie and Kai.
ReplyDelete