This is going to be a rant.

I hate LOL speak!

Correction, as someone once said there is a time and a place for everything, and the time and place for LOL speak is in big bold letters on top of pictures of cute cats and the like. (I am all for LOLcats and other icanhascheezburger.com related sites)

I understand that there are times when your character use is limited, text messaging, twitter updates and other mini communications. Here’s what I don’t understand, why is it that you type a U for you or a UR for your? You are only saving yourself two characters, do you need them that badly? Fine, you are strapped for character space, but why do I need a decoder ring to read your text? I understand typos, I mistype more then anyone. I understand spelling errors, I am not great at spelling and when using a phone to post, it is hard to get it right. Can’t people try? I hate it when it is clear that the poster doesn’t care to write properly.

It isn’t the actual use of the LOL speak that bothers me, it is the laziness and lack of respect for the language that bothers me. When I see LOL speak in emails, memos, blogs or worse yet hand written letters and notes, oh it just kills me.

How hard is it to hit the shift key with your pinky as you type the word I? Obviously you seem to be able to do it when writing U for you. People who know how to type shouldn’t use these short cuts, it doesn’t make you look cute, it makes you look like you are 7 or 80 and just got your first computer.

I love that most programs now underline misspelled words with a red line. I could right click and select the correct spelling but then I would never learn. I try to figure the correct spelling out myself to help myself improve. I like to use the writing I do on the internet to improve my skills, spelling, typing, grammar, you name it. There is always room for improvement. I do a lot of the old outdated things and I know it is uncommon and unliked by the newer crowds but I do it, it feels right to me. What do I mean? Well like putting two spaces after a period, sure newer word processing programs automatically make the right space after the period but I started typing on a typewriter, and before the programs did such things. (and wordpress takes out the extra space when I save a draft, thanks for foiling me WP!)

I don’t mind using common acronyms like LOL, j/k and the like, these have become a way to express tone on the internet, like an emoticon. These are actually very important. I just want to scream when I see people who I know to be or I think may be really smart in life, look so dumb online, and now in written word. Working in schools I am seeing that kids don’t realize that these shortcuts aren’t part of english, and if we aren’t careful they will be part of our language. I already have had students tell me they don’t need to learn to spell because of spell check. I have seen the dreaded R and U in homework, scholastic essays and cards written to me, how is this considered OK?

I love the internet and I love technology, but we can’t let the tools that make life easier make us stupider. (Example Having a GPS is great, but you still need to know how to read a map and navigate or you will end up at a dead end with the little box in your car telling you to drive through the trees and no clue how to get home.)

I know this will get me more comments about how it is OK to use this bad english and that you don’t need to capitalize on the internet and that I am over reacting. I know that this will spark people to purposefully use LOL speak to irritate me. (As I have seen evidenced when I made a comment on facebook about this and now my whole family is out to get me with LOL speak.) I also know that this will only make people point and laugh at me when I screw up with my own typing and grammar, because lets face it, I’m no Grammar Girl.

As I type this, I see I am at over 700 words, and while I love to ramble on, the people of the internet and those who use LOL speak have stopped reading by now because of their short attention spans. So I am going to shut up now. I said my peace, I know it won’t change anything, but it bothers me. I just hear my mother yelling in my ear about proper writing when I read this stuff and it hurts.