At great personal peril

Lately I have been texting a little with a friend who also works as an editor. As we type our messages back and forth it struck me how difficult it is to meet the expectations of one who works professionally with words when you are hitting those tiny little keys to write a brief message on a cellphone. You almost envy those people who say “u” and “ur” and “g2g” and all those other short forms developed for such usage. But you can’t because as a writer or editor you think you are expected to (even if not actually expected to) use proper English including spelling, punctuation and grammar. It takes so much longer to push a message into the phone when you have to use punctuation and spell words all the way out. But even with that envy I confess to sometimes perhaps too quickly judging a stranger who uses that jargon and I’ve discovered I lose interest quickly in people who do. It may happen too quickly because none of us use perfect English every time, and there are times I am just as guilty as everyone else.

I have known several other people who judge that usage harshly but I can see its value if you are texting or IMing informally, at least as long as it’s understood you do know the proper way to say things. Of course, between two editors it can only be used for a humorous application. What is disheartening is when that usage creeps into more formal writing, something I have been noticing more and more. Working as an editor I see “bio” and “info” so often I get tired of changing them and sometimes in frustration let one go. It’s “biography” and “information.” And, “veggies” used once a century ago probably was cute. Every day every time it comes up isn’t cute, it is damned illiterate. VEGETABLES! Lately I’ve noticed the “al” is being left off “almost” just about “most” every time it comes up in copy. When did that start? I often wonder about a teacher trying to instill proper usage in her students and having to use anything written in the last 10 years to do it. How do you convince a kid the word is spelled “light” when every time he sees it, it is spelled “lite?” Or to take it to an extreme, is a biohazard a danger in one’s life story?

And get this: In spell-checking, the program didn’t even stop on bio, info or veggies! It didn’t like lite, though.

Still, I learned the hard way years ago not to be correcting everyone’s grammar all the time, even teasing in a friendly way. You can lose friends that way.

So, what brought on this tirade so early in my weekend? At the risk of alienating a very good friend, but hoping in not identifying anyone here it will not be taken personally, and shouldn’t be because “most” everyone says it these days, this is what I read when I first woke up. It was in response to the “3,000” post I made last night. “Congrats.” That isn't really to pick on one person, I know several people who say it that way and some who even say it to me, but it grates.

Of course, it is the thought that counts, so, “TY.”