Open letter to my so-called friend

[XemaSab]

You are a grown-ass woman.

Please FOR THE LOVE OF GOD type out the words "are" and "you."

Not fucking "r" or "u," as in "r u going to Shasta tomorrow?"

For the love of all that is holy, PLEASE STOP.

It's like nails on a goddamned chalkboard.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Hey Xema...

You might want to do this privately...

Just sayin'...

[XemaSab]

2. Hi Peggy

Shocking as it may be, this person is not on the DU.

She will never, ever, ever know that I made this post.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. You know, that idea had not occurred to me!

I see...you're venting!

I understand that!

[XemaSab]

4. Friends? Off the internet?

What is this strange concept you speak of, human?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Uh...you were the one who said she wasn't on DU...

*I* said you were venting...

[REP]

6. (I think she was using irony)

Irony: the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of their literal meaning

[XemaSab]

7. Lol, I was venting.

[CreekDog]

20. R U venting?

[Tsiyu]

25. Nope. That's me there

Hey, u hv 3 psts 2go2 thirtythousand

kthksby

[russspeakeasy]

32. My problem is I understand you completely.

[av8rdave]

12. R U Sure?

[CreekDog]

18. i think she's posting this to be R-torical

[suninvited]

8. I think we all have one of those friends

I know I do.

Annoying as hell to me, as well.

[Dead_Parrot]

9. u mad?

[Amaril]

10. Where's that...........

...."poking a bear with a stick" smilie when you need it?

[madinmaryland]

16. No, she isn't. I'm mad!!!

[yankeepants]

11. I was reading the obituary of a young man who was killed locally

and I started to read the on-line guest book for the funeral home and was shocked and amazed at the use of all the texting abbreviations that his peer group used to write their condolences to a grieving family.

It seemed that in addition to not using whole words they had a great deal of trouble expressing themselves at all.

Just thought I'd chime in on the "r u" stuff.

[Bake]

13. U R so, like, last month ...

Bake

[saras]

14. R U Serius?

Nails on a chalkboard have a logical, objective explanation of their offensiveness, based on well-recognized acoustic principles.

This, on the other hand, is a twenty-year-old losing battle of personal opinion regarding linguistic change.

I don't like letters substituting for words, but I mind them less than I mind hyperbole like this. If you were a HR manager talking about the resumes and cover letters you are receiving, you'd have a real point.

But many young people have the problem that expressing themselves like old people sends a message that they don't want to send, or own, and it's more important to them than whether something the older people do works better. That is to say, only part of the use of single-letter words is to save time and space. Another is to create a cultural divide between those who tolerate them, even if they don't use them, and those who don't.

[XemaSab]

15. My friend is like, 50

Also, I am a technical editor. I get paid to be picky about stuff like this.

[CreekDog]

21. oh i wonder if a tech writer would be annoyed at my shorthand?

but it's so much easier to use U and R on an iphone than to spell out the whole werd!

[Mosby]

23. Don't worry, saul gud. nt

[madinmaryland]

17. THIS IS HUGH!!

[Adsos Letter]

19. So...r u gonna' go to Shasta?

My wife drove down from Grants Pass yesterday, and she said the weather was nice at Shasta.

[CreekDog]

22. Grants Pants is hot in the summer!

more enjoyable now!

[Adsos Letter]

24. Indeed it is. My in-laws live on 199, between Selma and Kirby.

Hot in summer, cold in winter, and beautiful year round.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

27. Grants Pass!

I lived in Medford for 6 months in the 90s. Beautiful country.

[Adsos Letter]

29. Medford and Ashland are both very nice.

[CreekDog]

30. that's what i said

[LiberalAndProud]

26. y4u mad?

I have a senior high school autograph book that belonged to my 87-year-old father.

The most common signature phrase was
2good 2b 4gotten.

I share this to point out that the phenomenon isn't new with texting, just more pronounced.

[Kali]

28. livestock brands

the old stand-by favorite when learning to read brands is written "22P" with the middle 2 rotated 90 degrees and read as "lazy 2"

[LiberalAndProud]

31. Yes! Brands were the first text messages.

And that is very very lazy indeed.