Argument Essay

Cassidy Chambliss

March 30, 2020

Shari McGriff

Composition 1

Texting & English Writing

Many people claim that there is a decline in communication skill due to the use

of texting and social media. John Humphrys, an author of a news paper article says

“that texters are vandals who are doing to our language what Genghis Khan did to his

neighbors 800 years ago. They are destroying it: pillaging our punctuation; savaging

our sentences; raping our vocabulary. And they must be stopped.”(David Crystal 2b or

Not 2b, Pg. 899) According to David Crystal, author of 2b or Not 2b, says that as a new

variety of language, texting has been condemned as “textese,” “slanguage,” and a

“digital virus.”(Pg. 899). People tend to think that the sort of language used in texting is

new and taboo. However, I’d say that this poplar opinion on texting is wrong, there is a

misconception of abbreviations, social media users don’t use “They say, I say” format,

and when you take a look at texting, it clearly is not and shouldn’t be categorized as

traditional writing.

There is a common misconception that the use of abbreviated words are new to

the English language and were introduced by the use of texting. However there is

obvious evidence against this claim. In 2b or Not 2b David crystal points out times in
history that abbreviations were brought to the English language. He says that in 1942,

about 50 years before texting was used commercially, Eric Partridge published a

Dictionary of Abbreviations. This dictionary included many text message-like examples,

such as age for again, 4th for month, and gd for good. Crystal gives another example

from 1711, when Joseph Addison complained of the way words were being “miserably

curtailed,”(2b or Not 2b, Pg 902) Like pos for positive and incog for incognito. These

examples show that abbreviated forms of words are not new but have actually been

around before texting was invented, and that there is always people that are going to

complain. The only real difference is what abbreviations there are now, we of course

use quite a bit more abbreviations now than older generations. The reason for the

increase in use of abbreviated words, comes from the use of mobile devices. Texting is

a natural response to the technological advancements.

The article Don’t Make Them Scroll Up in the They say, I say book, poses a

statement that in the use of social media, users forget to use the “they say, I say”

format, in which an author clearly stated what or who is responding to before stating

their own opinion or facts. I tend to agree with this statement, with the simplicity of the

internet and having the ability for a user to see exactly what they are responding to,

they tend forget to telling other readers what we are responding to. Although in many

social media apps, such as twitter or YouTube, our responses are typically under or

attached to the statement we are responding to. However, it should common practice

to assume that other readers may not be able to easily recognize what we are

responding to, so we should state what we are responding to. With that being said, the

ease of these social media allows for easier communication, and puts many people in
the middle of conversations that they may have never had without social media or the

internet. And I think that this ease of communication is a wonderful thing, and should

be promoted as long as users are able to make is easier for everyone to see what each

other is responding to online.

John McWhorter states that texting has been deemed the downfall of the written

words, but points out texting, properly, is not writing at all, and is actually more like

spoke language. Proper writing is a formal process and we tend to put a lot of thought

into it and we are able to look at what we have written already and change our plans

accordingly, making writing a much more complex thing than spoken language. For

example, McWhorter gives us a line from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire:

“The whole engagement lasted above 12 hours, till the gradual retreat of the Persians

was changed in a disorderly flight, of which the shameful example was given by the

principal leaders and the Surenas himself.”(John McWhorter, Is Texting Killing the

English Language? Pg. 1/3). In reality, people don’t speak like that, the writer has time

to think about what they will write and is able to change what they have written, so that

they can perfect their product, but most of spoken language is done on the spot and is

more casual. Therefore texting is not killing the English language but is actually a sort

of evolution of it, the use of cellphones and text messages has allowed an easier way

to casually speak to one another. So as long as people remember and know the basics

of writing and reading, which is taught in schools, then this new form of communication

is not really a problem, but an addition to newer generations language portfolio.

In conclusion, social media and texting is not a bad thing at all, but in reality is

probably helping society. I stand behind the opinion that the new “texting language” is
a fine addition to spoken language and is completely separate from written, formal

language. And, as long as formal language is taught in schools, and society uses it

when necessary then people should feel free to use new ways of casually

communicating through text messages.

Sources:

Don’t make them Scroll up (They Say, I say, Pg.166)

2b or not 2b (Everyone’s an Author, Pg. 899)

Is Texting Killing the English Language? (John McWhorter)

Txting is Killing Language. JK!!! (John McWhorter TedTalk)

https://www.ted.com/talks/john_mcwhorter_txtng_is_killing_language_jk#t-806281