Amorphosity of Language
In the age of instant messenger and Facebook, our language is undergoing alterations which are far different than any it has undergone before. The essence of speech has taken a turn for the surreal. Instead of Norman invasions or linguistic revision by learned men, we are undergoing change by popular culture.
It’s not as if popular culture hasn’t changed language before, but now in the information age, there is faster growth of linguistic alteration without the necessary sifting of time. It has been the job of the linguist throughout eternity not to shape language, but to study and quantify it. Now it seems that our language is changing faster than we can keep up with it.
I have been hearing new phrases that are confusing, like “epic fail” or “That’s so rude.” I wonder if others who grow older are beset by this perplexion so early. I mean, my parents probably don’t say “far out, man” anymore, but it probably took a good few decades before it was totally eradicated. we still say something is cool to denote that we like it, like when I was younger. I believe that the typing culture of our day is altering the way we speak, and think. As Jack Matthews, a good friend of mine, used to say, “The limits of language are the limits of our world” and so they are.
I wonder, though, if it isn’t happening too fast. there must be grammatical rules and distinct meanings for slang and regular English. if we allow the language of LOL to enter into our college academics then we are destined to fail. I recently was made aware of a student paper which was full of “haha’s” and “LOL.” apparently I’m not alone. Other TA’s and professors have the same problem.
If we become accustomed to this type of communication, I also fear that the less time we spend in front of actual people, we may lose the ability to succeed socially. If we learn to read emotions from emoticons ( 
) then we may lose the ability (albeit slowly) to read those of humans.
Invite people over to grill. Talk with them. Smile. Think about what you type before you hit enter. it shapes the way people think of you, and respect you.
