Text Messaging Is Destroying The Pub Quiz As We Know It

The BBC reports that a lingustics expert has spoken up in favour of texting.

Professor David Crystal argues that such condensed messages enhance and enrich language skills.

He called it an “urban myth” that school work was riddled with text speech, and said in fact students knew when to use it in the right context.

Regrettably, his book is called Txtng: the Gr8 Db8, but I won’t hold that against him. And then, I read the following, also on a text messaging theme from Rosie’s blog.

You start every text message with “ha ha” and finish most with a smiley face.

Justifiable grounds for complaint, I can’t help thinking. And this got me in a bit of reminiscing about text messaging in total.

I bought a mobile phone for the sole reason that I hated speaking to people on communal phones, which is all you get when you’re a student. A mobile telephone enabled me to sit in my room and talk to people, without feeling all self-conscious.

So it wasn’t straight away that I attempted this new fangled SMS-ing. I never tried all the vowel-less malarky, but I didn’t quite get the hang of the punctuation straight away, using a stupid number of dashes in the process, thus resembling Emily Dickinson.

When it comes, the Landscape listens — Shadows — hold their breath — When it goes, ’tis like the Distance On the look of Death —

I did eventually get the hang of it and estimate I have used more semi-colons in text messages than anyone who isn’t insane. A cheery note from a friend on my course one Easter morning prompted this reply:

Put it this way, every page of Boyce and DiPrima’s Differential Equations is stained with my tears.

which remains my favourite text message to this day. Although of course, you had to me there. Or care about differential equations. Which I don’t imagine you do. I’m also pleased with managing to use the word “motherfucking” (as an expletive) in a pash-note.

Which reminds me, lower or upper case ‘x’s for kisses? And how many?

Sorry, boring things like this interest me.