The Destruction of the English Language

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 6:57 am

What's been worse for the English language: cell phone messages, the Internet, or the South? The South, of course! ALTHOUGH, the Internet has one thing the Southern States do not have . . . L33t-5p34K! What is it, you ask! Well, here we go:

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. How, now, brown cow. I wandered lonely as a cloud. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Translates to:

th3 KWIck BR0Wn PHox JumP$ 0v3r THe L@Zy D09. HOw, n0W, 8R0Wn C0w. 1 w@ndeR3d LoneLY 4$ 4 ClOuD. 4 b c D e F 9 H 1 j K L m N O P Q R 5 + U V w X Y z

Here's a more advanced version of L33t-5p34K:

I am an elite hacker and i am good at Quake 3 Arena. Fear my mad skills, dudes

Translates to:

1 am @n L33+ |-|@><0R @|\||) i OWNz0r 4t Kw4K3 3 4Re|\|@. PHe4r |\/|Y m4|) 5|<iLl5, |)OODz

Um, you're probably wondering, "Why Foul?! Why show us this debauchery of the English language?!" Well, I'm not sure, really. I thought it was interesting at the time. I guess I also felt it is something every user of the Internet (you and I) should be aware of--for better or for worse. And, hey, perhaps you'd like to learn about this Internet lingo yourself! Well, here you are:

www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A787917.

Enjoy!

Post by **Lord Mhoram** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 8:06 am

LOL This is so ridiculous, it's funny. Cell phones with text messaging has some weird lingo, too...

Post by **Landwaster** » Sun Sep 28, 2003 2:56 pm

I h8 it.

Post by **The Leper Fairy** » Mon Sep 29, 2003 11:52 am

1 |)0 2

+|-|3 |_3P3R F41RY

( |_41R3

Post by **Theo** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 12:01 am

There's no comparison. L33t-5p34K - and chat-speak, generally - is just annoying (though I've never seen anyone use the former except as a joke). Southern (white trash) speak, on the other hand, is hilarious. I can't get enough of it. (I guess I find it exotic.)

Theo

Post by **The Leper Fairy** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 11:22 am

Southern white trash speak? Do-tell.

Post by **Worm of Despite** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 11:32 am

Republican WASPs in the South, I presume.

Some of the most common misuses of the English language my fellow Southerners make:

"I ain't...", "I don't want none", or the showstopper:

"I ain't done nothing!"
I always give a big wink, nod, and a thumbs-up whenever some kid does that. God I love ignorance.

The list goes on, and even teachers in my old high school made those mistakes. Once a Southerner always a Southerner, I say. Education ain't gonna do a thaang teh remedy'et!

Post by **Blue_Spawn** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 1:59 pm

English was butchered the moment US was created and all of the Southern slang/Ebonics/H4X0|2 followed.

Post by **Landwaster** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 2:09 pm

Blue_Spawn ... please note that we do a fair share of butchering the English language down here in Australia, too!

Post by **[Syl]** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 3:31 pm

And I'm sure Shakespeare would go into convulsions watching... listening to, rather... Snatch. *shrug*

Post by **Landwaster** » Tue Sep 30, 2003 3:46 pm

Shakespeare did enough damage on his own ... leave him out

Post by **Nav** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 2:27 am

What about political correctness? That's been ersponsible for the destruction of words. Just have a read of 1984 if you want to see where that road ends up (or watch the film if you're short on time).

Post by **The Leper Fairy** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 12:25 pm

Sylvanus wrote:And I'm sure Shakespeare would go into convulsions watching... listening to, rather... Snatch. *shrug*

ohhhh yeah.

Post by **Theo** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 9:09 pm

The Leper Fairy wrote:Southern white trash speak? Do-tell.

A few acessible examples off the top of my head include most of the characters in O brother, where art thou?, Mickey and Mallory in Natural born killers, the Hitch-Hiker in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and, particularly, several characters in Preacher (the comic by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon), especially the 'Good Ol' Boys' in the second and fourth book.

Post by **Landwaster** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 1:14 pm

Umm , those good ol' boys ... were they meanin' any harm at all?

Post by **Gil galad** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 9:24 pm

i butchered the language plenty with my old cellphone but now predictive text means i dont have to anymore, and its easier to type if you just spell things properly :p

Post by **hierachy** » Thu Oct 02, 2003 9:39 pm

My elecution is pure and true <said in the clearest voice you have ever heard>

But my spelling sucks...

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 4:38 am

WHen I first found out about l33t, there were only one or two things I used - other than that its just plain irritating.

w00t!

Post by **Theo** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 8:13 pm

Thought I'd post a link to one of the best essays about the subject I've read, "Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell:

www.resort.com/~prime8/Orwell/patee.html

It's nearly 60 years old but still highly relevant - actually, like a lot of the stuff ol' George wrote. Give it a look.

Post by **Forestal** » Sat Oct 11, 2003 8:40 pm

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Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

The Destruction of the English Language

The Destruction of the English Language