OMG! IM Lingo Won’t Rot Your Brain After All
New research at the University of Toronto has recently discovered that contrary to popular belief, the dumbed-down, abbreviated language we use for communicating over the internet in doesn’t actually affect our ability to write in formal English.
This is great news! It means you can sound as stooopid as you’d like when emailing, instant-messaging, or facebook-wall-posting with your friends, and still get an A on that Critical Theory paper.
In fact, the linguists at the University view this new lingo as proof of young people’s creativity!
After performing a study of 71 technologically-adept teenagers, the researchers concluded that
When chatting with friends, the teens cleverly fused different features of the language: written and spoken, formal and informal.
“It’s showing a real creativity and a firm grasp of the linguistic resources available to them,” said Derek Denis, a co-author of the study that is to be presented today at the Linguistics Society of Canada and the United States annual meeting in Toronto.
He said the unique study refutes fears that instant messaging is “the bastardization of the English language and the linguistic ruin of a generation.” It’s about time they chillaxed. (That was for you, Safire.)
