Weekly Program: "Txtng is Killing Language. JK!!!"
Linguist John McWhorter presents this TED Talk about texting; thinking about language in relation to race, politics and our shared cultural history. He says, “Texting is very loose in its structure. No one thinks about capital letters or punctuation when one texts, but then again, do you think about those things when you talk? In recent work, he’s been urging grammarians to think of email and text messages not as the scourge of the English language but as “fingered speech,” a new form between writing and talking. These digital missives, despite their “shaggy construction,” represent an exciting new form of communication in which “lol” and “hey” are particles, he suggests, and written thoughts can be shared at the speed of talking. Should we worry that knowing how to parse "haha kk" means we'll lose the ability to read Proust? No, he told the TED Blog: "Generally there’s always been casual speech and formal speech, and people can keep the two in their heads."
John McWhorter studies how language has evolved -- and will evolve -- with social, historical and technological developments, in addition to studying and writing about race in America. Enjoy this video:
This method of communication is often the most effective with younger Rotarians, children of Rotarians, and even commonly sen in the business world today. If Rotary is to be relevant to our society today, we must keep pace with effective communication skills.