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DailyDirt: Technology Is Changing The Way We Talk Because Internetz, LOL

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Mon, Dec 9th 2013 5:00pm — Michael Ho

Sometimes we can't even agree on the definitions of words, so it's not too hard to find examples of changes in communication technologies altering how we use words. Text messages on phones have made us lazy to spell words correctly or to spell out entire words or common phrases. Language is inherently flexible, and here are just a few ways some parts of our language have changed.

Linguists are officially recognizing that "because" is being used in a new way and have dubbed it the "prepositional-because" when it is followed immediately by a noun. However, the prepositional-because isn't limited to being followed by a noun, it can also be followed by verbs, adjectives, interjections and adverbs. [url]
In case you didn't know, the simple period as a punctuation mark can be used to indicate anger. Yes. It. Can. [url]
The ubiquitous LOL is becoming nearly meaningless -- no one is really laughing (quietly or audibly). LOL can be used sarcastically to indicate something isn't funny or just whenever a person doesn't know what else to say... so it's the new "like, yeah, um, well, really" word. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

Filed Under: grammar, language, lol, meaning, messaging, prepositional-because, punctuation, text, words

18 Comments

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McCrea (profile), 9 Dec 2013 @ 5:07pm

Then what are triple exclamation marks for!!!
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Anonymous Coward, 9 Dec 2013 @ 5:14pm

tHeRe aInT No rUlEz!!!
nuff said
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out_of_the_blue, 9 Dec 2013 @ 5:46pm

You kids don't have complete thoughts. Because.
It's from watching television, which was already called "the vast wasteland" in the late 1950's, and has never improved. And. It. Never. Will.
The world is being dumbed-down in ways most people are already too stupid to grasp.

13:46:08[o-117-8]
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Automatic Grammatizator, 9 Dec 2013 @ 6:40pm

Re: You kids don't have complete thoughts. Because.
Stop slitting your wrists with Occam's Razor! It's supposed to be used to trim the fat from ideas so they don't get weighed down or become redundant. It's not supposed to be used to keep someone stupid by feeding them an overly simplistic view of the world.
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btrussell (profile), 9 Dec 2013 @ 7:36pm

Certainly a different spin to account for the lack of education being taught.
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Androgynous Cowherd, 9 Dec 2013 @ 7:44pm

And then...
And then there's LOLOLOLOL. Laughing Out Loud Out Loud Out Loud Out Loud? Not to mention LOOOOOOOOL. Indications that "LOL" is mutating from being a shorthand for a phrase to being a word with its own morphological rules, representing a sound effect. Which makes "LOLOLOLOL" rather redundant with the original "Hahahahaha".
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CharlieBrown, 9 Dec 2013 @ 10:12pm

I red that punctuation article about the full-stop last week. Quite good, really. It's something I never do unless I'm in a real hurry. But I can understand those who do.
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CharlieBrown, 9 Dec 2013 @ 10:15pm

Gay
Speaking of language changes, "gay" is the only word I know to have changed meaning three times. It started out as "extra happy" (ie Flintstones and Noddy) then became "homosexual" (no example needed) and finally, at least here in Australia, now means "stupid" (ie "How gay is that?").
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Ninja (profile), 10 Dec 2013 @ 1:01am

Language evolution is fascinating! I feel old when I enter the IRC channels nowadays and can't understand half of what is said hahaha.
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Rekrul, 10 Dec 2013 @ 1:16am

Don't forget that apparently you can now make any word past tense by adding "ed" to the end of it. "Sleeped", "drived", "thinked", etc.

Also, it seems that "of" has (haved?) now become an acceptable substitute for "have" when following the words "could", "should" and "would".

Plus "your" and "you're" are now interchangeable, as are "their", "there" and "they're".
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2013 @ 5:10am

Yes, it is a sign of the apocalypse - the end is near.
Prepare yourselves for the inevitable.

omg - noobs
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justok (profile), 10 Dec 2013 @ 5:47am

I'm going to re-purpose the ellipsis...
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2013 @ 6:09am

Re:
You are dumbed down in a way too stupid for you to grasp.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2013 @ 8:07am

like lawyer babble and the government changing the definitions of the wording of the Constitution ....daily
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2013 @ 11:57am

lol.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2013 @ 1:03pm

haha
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Kronomex, 10 Dec 2013 @ 1:58pm

I find it rather disturbing when you continually hear kids (and some under 30's) not laughing at something but saying "LOL" and conversations taking place via text messages even when they are in groups. This, to me, is the slow destruction of language and personal interaction between people and it's only going to get worse.
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Anonymous Coward, 10 Dec 2013 @ 6:13pm

Re:
Yes, it's horrible.
Those damn kids. - Git offa mah lawn raat now!
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