STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

jen · Kate Spade

My next Lit paper: ST and language

honey · Gucci

maybe you could talk about how participating in sites like this impacts language. i've definitely noticed that my writing has become a lot less formal, which is something i struggled with when i was writing my grad school applications. i've always been the type of person to distinguish between my writing style and my speaking style, particularly when it comes to slang. but that distinction is blurring.

zeitgeist4 · Gucci

Another thing I've noticed (not just in ST) is that people pay more attention to the speed of their typing and less attention to spelling. Sure, if you're typing in a casual situation you're not going to pay much attention to typos. But if you continuously make these same mistakes, the line starts to blur and you forget what is correct and what is incorrect. For example I see it spelled "definatly" as often as I see it the correct way (definetly). The same with burgandy (wrong) versus burgundy (right).

Of course there's no way to tell if people just don't know how to spell, or if they're just typing quickly and not paying attention.

And thankfully it's not on this site, but it drives me nuts when kIdZ RiTe LikE thiZ aNd sPeL tHInGz rONg oN pErpOz..

Sandy · Kate Spade

honey wrote:

i've always been the type of person to distinguish between my writing style and my speaking style, particularly when it comes to slang. but that distinction is blurring.

YES!! I've noticed that my writing has become much less formal since I started IMing and posting. I find it more difficult to write papers, especially now that my major sometimes requires more technical writing. I catch myself using slang terms in formal papers more than I probably should. I think honey's suggestion is a great one. I don't have any others, but I think that's an interesting topic and I'd love to see what you end up with.

HeatherLynn · Gucci

im not sure if this fits in or not, but punctuation and capitalization aren't used as much in IMs or on this website.

I think that is a great topic!

NCshopper · Hermes

I feel like I've gotten so used to casually posting things that I'm just waiting for the day when I write "HTH!" or spell out : smile : in a business email.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

interesting!

here's a funy story that's somewhat related. I met up with a bunch of girls from another forum a bit ago and the online language actually seeped into our spoken language! Granted we were goofing around and whatnot, but we were calling people by screennames and saying things like "asstrick tear asstrick" (asstrick=inside joke for *) and "lemfow" (pronounce LMFAO). It was strange, but funny, and surprisingly normal...

tri_sarah_tops · Marc Jacobs

You picked a great topic! You may also want to research online gamers. My husband games a lot and it's like they have their own little language. He says weird stuff all the time. I think it's referred to as "L33t Sp34k" (would be pronounced leet speak) and was originally used by hackers but migrated to gaming.

Hermes

zeitgeist4 wrote:

For example I see it spelled "definatly" as often as I see it the correct way (definetly).

definately gets on my nerves, but zeitgeist... um... it's definitely... sorry! I do wish there was a spell check feature though - I find myself making little mistakes all the time...

NCshopper · Hermes

Misspellings of the word "dilemma" really bother me, as does "definitely." It's not "dilemna," "delimma" or "delima"--it's "dilemma."

Sorry. It's a peeve of mine.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

since this is something I'm kind of sensitive about I'm just gonna come clean:

1) I can't type to shit. Typing class? What's that?

2) I also can't spell. I m like, the world's worst speller.

I know I have typos and botched words on here ALL the time, and I'm sorry. It's embarrassing. I swear, I'm really smart IRL.

Hermes

NCshopper wrote:

Misspellings of the word "dilemma" really bother me, as does "definitely." It's not "dilemna," "delimma" or "delima"--it's "dilemma." Sorry. It's a peeve of mine.

someone at work spelled it dilemna the other day *cringe* other pet peeves of mine are simular vs similar, brought vs. bought, oh, and I saw another one the other day "through" vs. "throw" then there's the nitpicky ones your for you're, to for too or vice versa...

not that I am by any means perfect and I find typos in what I've written all the time!

NCshopper · Hermes

detroit wrote:

NCshopper wrote: Misspellings of the word "dilemma" really bother me, as does "definitely." It's not "dilemna," "delimma" or "delima"--it's "dilemma." Sorry. It's a peeve of mine. someone at work spelled it dilemna the other day *cringe* other pet peeves of mine are simular vs similar, brought vs. bought, oh, and I saw another one the other day "through" vs. "throw" then there's the nitpicky ones your for you're, to for too or vice versa... not that I am by any means perfect and I find typos in what I've written all the time!

Ooooooooooh...the simular thing drives me nuts too!

And yeah, my spelling and typing isn't perfect either. I'm a full-fledged hypocrite when it comes to this.

zeitgeist4 · Gucci

detroit wrote:

zeitgeist4 wrote:
For example I see it spelled "definatly" as often as I see it the correct way (definetly).

definately gets on my nerves, but zeitgeist... um... it's definitely... sorry!

Argh, I knew I was going to make a typo in my speech about making typos!! I do know how that word is spelled though... the whole "bolding" one letter threw me off.

Hedvig · Coach

That sounds like a great topic, jen! Just don't use anything I've written as an example - I'm not a native speaker and I'm sure it shows.

Btw, I always enjoy seeing new words people coin on here, especially all the cute adjectives such as "bedroomy".

blubirde · Chanel

I think people should write more casually in professional settings. I'm not talking about using "irl" or ":)" or something like that. But in the legal world, documents and correspondence are cluttered with heretofore, therewith, etc. Such a pain in the ass and a waste of time. Speak/write in modern, composed, intelligent English and we'll all be the better for it.

That said, I do NOT want to see someone writing in all lowercase in a memo to me in the office. But I could certainly use some well composed sentences with some language it doesn't take an hour to read.

Your paper sounds interesting. You should post it here when you're done with it.

Hermes

zeitgeist4 wrote:

detroit wrote: zeitgeist4 wrote: For example I see it spelled "definatly" as often as I see it the correct way (definetly). definately gets on my nerves, but zeitgeist... um... it's definitely... sorry! Argh, I knew I was going to make a typo in my speech about making typos!! I do know how that word is spelled though... the whole "bolding" one letter threw me off.

lol - I suspected that's what happened - funny stuff

Hermes

blubirde wrote:

I think people should write more casually in professional settings. I'm not talking about using "irl" or ":)" or something like that. But in the legal world, documents and correspondence are cluttered with heretofore, therewith, etc. Such a pain in the ass and a waste of time. Speak/write in modern, composed, intelligent English and we'll all be the better for it. That said, I do NOT want to see someone writing in all lowercase in a memo to me in the office. But I could certainly use some well composed sentences with some language it doesn't take an hour to read. Your paper sounds interesting. You should post it here when you're done with it.

ok - interesting you should say this. I work in a blue chip corporate environment. Today, I sent a reply e-mail to someone who, after a stream of e-mails, sent me an email that only said "Thank you." I responded with "You're welcome. :)" I probably wouldn't have put the smiley in there had I not had the forum and IMing experience I've had... so it's interesting how it can carry over into other areas of communication. Really, it's like any community - you pick up on terminology, accents, etc. Just like when mid-westerners live down south for a while - they end up picking up some of the terminology and accent...

-- Edited by detroit at 13:26, 2006-03-08

zeitgeist4 · Gucci

My company is looking to hire an executive assistant for the boss and someone replied to an internet job posting via e-mail with her resume attached. She wrote a few sentences for introduction and then her resume. The introduction read something like this:

"Hello. Happy Monday :) I am interested in the executive assistant position. I can start tomorrow, hehehehe! {...some other stuff I don't remember...} THANK YOU!!"

Okay, she must be in chat rooms too much, because you do not say things like "hehehehe" and use smiley faces and ALL CAPS in a business environment. Especially with people you have not met and are trying to impress.

Hermes

zeitgeist4 wrote:

you do not say things like "hehehehe" and use smiley faces and ALL CAPS in a business environment.

first - that is crazy that she applied for a job that way.

so, do you think my use of smiley face for a close co-worker was innappropriate? that's about as lax as I get... but still - do you think that was an absolute no no?