Chatspeak, Cyberspace slang, Online Shorthand and Emoticons 1

[craigsboyd]

I felt that perhaps this would be a good topic of discussion here. It certainly makes an impression and has indeed affected our ability to communicate.

I will employ it from time to time, but my use is usually directly related to my familiarity with my audience, the relative importance/gravity of the subject matter I am addressing, and perhaps most importantly, the medium I have chosen to use. I also limit my use to the most commonly used, widely accepted, abbreviations and terms.

An argument could be made that this abbreviated form of communication speeds up the process of conveying ideas. One could also argue the the use of emoticons gives an added dimension to the written word and can greatly enhance one's ability to express feelings (we all know that certain words and sentences can have completely different meanings based on the emotion with which they are said or read).

There is, in certain circles (ever widening I might add), quite a bit of opposition to their use. Many very valid counter-arguments can be made about the drawbacks this type of communication poses, and the risks that surely exist should its use continue to widen. Some would go so far as to maintain that in the end it will only hinder our ability to transmit thoughts, feelings, and information. That it has already had a significant, negative impact on the internet as a whole and more specifically fora like this.

So what say you group? Worst curse to communication ever or just another tool to be utilized appropriately to express ourselves?

[sub]craig1442@mchsi.com[/sub][sup]

"Whom computers would destroy, they must first drive mad." - Anon​

[/sup]

 

[bcastner]

Worst curse to communication ever or just another tool to be utilized appropriately to express ourselves?"

. smileys and emoticons: I have to admit that they can help at times. I do not use them, but others have made quite clever uses of both. Honestly, I am just not that clever.

. count me as a curmedgeon for abbreviations. IMHO FWIW FYI I hate them.

Best,
Bill Castner

 

[strongm]

Thing is, normally when we speak to someone about 80% of the communication that occurs is actually non-verbal (eg facial movements, body language, tone, pace, etc.) . Only a small part of the communication is the actual words themselves.

In the online environment all we have is the words themselves, so we've lost 80% of the communication. Emoticons provide people with one way to add back in some of that non-verbal element. Sure, they're not ideal, and sure, they don't replace all of that missing 80%, but they can go some of the way.

Biggest problem with them is that, apart from a very small subset, there is no universal agreement on what each emoticon really means. Plus there's been a proliferation of 'emoticons' that are not actually emoticons, they are just small pictures. And they get misused (and I have as big a problem with emoticon misuse as I do with langiage misuse), and abused (e.g. putting a smiley after a horrible insult does not magically make the insult inoffensive)

 

[bcastner]

strongm,

I could not agree with you more. I recently finished a consulting contract where one key issue was to use Internet-based conferencing features, including a special Conference room setting with large screen display, digital cameras, whiteboard features, etc..

Client says: "Hey, this will save us a fortune in travel costs."

Me: "Don't cut your travel budget. There are just some things that require the mano y mano, face-to-face, physical contact. As much as I admire the potential of on-line conferencing, I would not use it for say, a marriage proposal, or anything were serious money is involved. I need to watch their facial expressions, how they use their hands, and just a general sense of the verbal and non-verbal actions."

 

[bcastner]

Please edit above "were" to "where".

I have typed this in error three times in the last week, and my apologies that somehow my fingers and brain are confounded.

I suspect it was due to having to type a long document where the phrase "Were as..." was required a million times.

 

[manarth]

Bill, I must confess to being confounded.

I cannot think of a single occassion where one would type the phrase 'Were as', where as I can imagine unlimited opportunities for the phrase 'where as'.

Perhaps you could enlighten me?

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[strongm]

We were as surprised as you

 

[manarth]

ah yes, I see the typo....

I suspect it was due to having to type a long document where the phrase "Were as..." was required a million times.

...but where would one use 'Were as' deliberately?

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[bcastner]

Were as the party of the first part agreed to the party of the Second part that ....."

 

[bcastner]

I should say something in more detail.

I was asked to join an arbitration panel for an IT dispute. The issue was a custom software project, and not a small amount of money was involved. Really, the issue was that the software did not work as expected, nor under the time frame expected, and the vendor included an arbitration clause in the contract.

This dispute is something I normally stay as far away from as possible, but for various reasons both sides nominated and agreed to my role as arbiter.

Having provided that background, the original contract between the parties included multiple times " Were as" and normally one would expect "Wereas..." And since writing an opinion, my little fingers have consistently screwed up typing where, were, etc.

There was an article in the Washington Post two weeks ago, discussing the issue of people getting a song in their head that they cannot stop. I likely am quoting this completely incorrectly, but the most often song was "Amazing Grace", followed by several Elvis hits.

Something close to this has happened to me after typing a million times "Where as...". The where were wear stuff becomes invisible to me on a CRT. It would never escape me in printed form.

I guess the next step is to hear "Amazing Grace" non-stop.

 

[johnwm]

I've usually seen < Wereas> spelt as <Whereas>:

http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/whereas

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[manarth]

I've only ever seen 'Whereas' / 'Where as'; never 'were as'.

But I'm British, and we all know that Americans' spell things differently

<marc> i wonder what will happen if i press this...[ul][li]please tell us if our suggestion has helped[/li][li]need some help? faq581-3339[/li][/ul]

 

[mattKnight]

How about the phrase

"We were as one"

as an expression of unity?

I can also believe the validity of "were as" in some sort of legalese sense, but i admit it isn't a construct would use often!

Bacl to the original thread. Personally, I am not particulary bothered by the "standard" abbreviations
[ul]
[li]BTW[/li]
[li]IMHO[/li]
[li]RT(F)M[/li]
etc.
[/ul]

which are clear and unambiguous shortenings of known and oft used phrases. I agree that the extra effort of typing "By the way" over "BTW" is small, but an element of laziness has crept into many or all of our lives. In fact, I tend to view them like "tags" Likewise, I have used the standard "etc." for "etcetera". How many people have fully typed "etcetera" rather than "etc.", even in formal documents? Not many I suspect.

I agree wholeheartedly with strongm in that adding the abbreviation "LOL" does not excuse an insult. He also mentions the visual cues given in face to face conversation. There is no substitute for these, however hard we try to communicate clearly in writing, each person will apply their own emphasis which can subtly, or drastically, alter the meaning.

I personally cannot abide either "txtspk" or "h@x0r" in any context (I usually spell out all words when sending a text message)

Finally, the medium and context of the communication are highly important in the choice of language. I feel, "h@x0r" and "txtspk" are inappropriate in the TT Forums, however on the message board at

http://www.!L1k32h@x.com

they may be de-rigour. Likewise, no-one here would dream of writing "TINSTAAFL" (either in full or short) ina technical or commercial presentation.



Take Care

Matt
If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

 

[johnwm]

I've frequently been tempted to use 'RTFM' in some forum answers. I've managed to resist so far, generally by pointing the offending user to a FAQ.

Or is 'FAQ' inadmissible?

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If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first

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[elanor]

As a technical writer, I can tell you that I often dream of being able to tell people RTFM...

 

[ESquared]

As long as F stand for Fine I see no problem!!!

Hehe... no one would let you get away with that.

-------------------------------------
It is better to have honor than a good reputation.
(Reputation is what other people think about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.)

 

[ESquared]

By the way, I think the full spelling of etc. is not etcetera it is et cetera.

Whereas for wereas, I don't think it is proper spelling at all. There are 2,030 results from google on it, But there are 11,200,000 results for whereas.

Is there a single dictionary that has wereas in it?

And just in case anyone wants to spell out e.g., it is exempli gratia. But you might as well say for example.

-------------------------------------
It is better to have honor than a good reputation.
(Reputation is what other people think about you. Honor is what you know about yourself.)

 

[Dimandja]

>Is there a single dictionary that has wereas in it?

Considering the budding generation of Internet mispellers, you can be assured the word will worm its way into dictionaries.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

In the online environment all we have is the words themselves, so we've lost 80% of the communication.

The loss of facial expressions and body language wasn't born with the Internet. People got by just fine, for a number of years, writing letters to communicate thoughts and feelings. I have never seen hand-written letters include winking smiley faces (;-)) to indicate that the author was just kidding.

That having been said, emails, text messages and online-forums are often used to keep in touch with friends or to share ideas in a very laid-back manner. I do use the available smileys on Tek-Tips, but I generally detest emoticons. I never use them in emails, even to friends.... They just feel too "geeky".

As for texting, my phone has that cool dictionary-thingy that recognizes words made up from common key combinations (E.g. House is spelled out 4-6-8-7-3 instead of 44-666-88-7777-33), so spelling out words is much easier than using txtspk. Only when really pressed for space will I use abbreviations like "2" instead of "to" or "too".


And what the heck is

"Were as the party of the first part ...."

supposed to mean.?!? The word, even in legalese, is whereas.



John

You try to concentrate while staring down the barrel of a loaded Thnikaman.
-Strong Bad
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[Thadeus]

Correctly spelt, a wereass is typically a co-worker that seems like a nice enough fellow until you wind up out for drinks after work. Suddenly they go through a nasty transformation from man to ... well you get the picture.

The trigger for such a lycanthropic transformation is not limited to the after hours drink scenario. Wereasses also emerge during certain political, religious and social discussions. The most fearsome thing about a wereass is usually the completeness of the transformation.

It is especially frightening when you realize your in-laws carry the wereass gene.

~Thadeus