A wonderful face from an ancient Roman pot.
I actually snagged this from my professor, who posted this for another student to use (dun dun dun!) with their project… But it fit into mine so well that I couldn’t help but use it in my own.
I’m a big fan of Scientific American (thanks to my nerdy roommate). I think the claims made in this podcast are interesting, but more study would be needed to truly see the effects of txting on standard English overall.
One commenter points out that a lot of SMS language began on IM programs like AIM and Y!IM, which is definitely true. I learned my first set of IM abbreviations such as brb, afk, and lol soon after I started using the internet to communicate with other people. It’s already part of a lexicon that is being integrated with wireless communication.
Now, do I agree with these findings? Like I said, more study needs to be done. However, I do believe that as long as spelling is taught effectively in school, then texting should not, in theory, interfere with one’s ability to communicate effectively with correct grammar and spelling.
I also think that there are pretty huge changes happening in the quality of texting/writing tools on mobile devices that will likely improve spelling, more through automated spelling correction (like the iPhone has) than through spell checking. Most web browsers couldn’t do spell checking in the 90s, but almost all do now, and it’s clearly made a big difference in things like blog posting.
None of that helps grammar (yet), but one step at a time.
All the arguing about media formats these days can drive you crazy. Or at least it drives me crazy. The reason? The suggestion that one form of communication is “better” than another—that one will “kill” the other.
I think every technology has its time and place. You can fight it, but what’s the…
Reading the rest of the post is beneficial; but Margaret Atwood makes good points about how if you wanna read on paper, do it; if not, read on a screen. The debate about technology dying out is clearly ridiculous, as we still use things that are considered obsolete, and we still like them.
Communication in any form is still communication. If only a few people can understand it, then it’s up to them to either translate for the rest of us, or not.
I like the idea here, but it seems to oversimplify somewhat. Sure, we can and will use “old stuff” if that’s what we like, but there are clearly some approaches that work and gain traction, and some that don’t. 8-track tapes are pretty much dead and gone, and I doubt that many people miss them. Vinyl isn’t dead, but is largely relegated to a speciality market (DJs).
And certainly from a publisher’s point of view, the economic viability of print and electronic publishing matter enormously. I also suspect that students may care quite a bit about this given the crazy costs (and equally goofy resale values) of print textbooks.
Click through to read the President’s notes and edits. <3
President Barack Obama and Jon Favreau, head speechwriter, edit a speech on health care in the Oval Office, Sept. 9, 2009, in preparation for the president’s address to a joint session of Congress. (via The White House)
Track Changes could never be so epic.
That is really an awesome shot :-)
@nprpolitics Why have I never heard of a “kerfuffle”?
“Revelations that the Republican National Committee urged fundraisers to shake the money trees by playing on fears of President Obama and “socialism” have ignited a classic Washington kerfuffle.”
Also carfuffle, cafuffle, etc. [f. prec. vb.
Now widely used as a colloquialism in the forms GEFUFFLE and (esp.) KERFUFFLE.]Disorder, flurry, agitation.
1813 G. BRUCE Poems 65 An’ Jeanie’s kirtle, aye sae neat, Gat there a sad carfuffle. 1816 SCOTT Antiq. xx, Monkbarns in an unco carfuffle. Ibid. xxix, Troth, my lord maun be turned feel outright..and he puts himself into sic a curfuffle for ony thing ye could bring him, Edie. 1823 MISSES CORBETT Petticoat Tales I. 333 (Jam.) Ye need na put yoursel into ony carfuffle about the matter. 1953 John o’ London’s 3 July 602/3 The word cafuffle is still in general use in her part of Scotland..as a noun meaning a state of confusion. 1955 C. S. LEWIS Surprised by Joy vii. 114, I could put up with any amount of monotony far more patiently than even the smallest disturbance, bother, bustle, or what the Scotch call kurfuffle. 1960 K. MARTIN Matter of Time 187 The girl next door and her boy friend are having a wee cafoufle in the garden. 1961 Radio Times 14 Dec. 3/2 You remember the cafuffle there was when the Ministry of Transport introduced their ten-year test for cars. 1971 Times 9 Jan. 16/4 Since the predictable pre-April curfuffle, there has been the predictable summer and autumn hush.
The use of the world kerfuffle here does a lot to change the tone of the quotation, especially when taken out of context. The writer of this piece could have used a stronger sounding word to evoke a feeling of strife or discontent. Instead, “kerfuffle” seems frivolous, as if the writer is poking fun at Congress and especially the Republicans for causing such a ruckus about Obama in the first place.
You’ve probably never heard of a kerfuffle simply due to the fact that it’s outdated. As illustrated by the Oxford English Dictionary entry (thank god UMM has access to it for freee!), this word has been sitting pretty dusty since the 1960s and ’70s. Why use such a vintage word to describe a political shuffle?
It could be that the writer chose ‘kerfuffle’ in order to poke fun at the republicans for using socialism as a tool for fear, and make them feel stupid all at the same time. It certainly doesn’t add any sense of agency to their claims of Obama’s political affiliations.
I really like your comments about the tone that “kerfuffle” conveys. I’ve used the word quite a lot over the years (although no idea why or where I picked it up), usually to convey that kind of light (to even silly) tone.
It’s particularly amusing that you opened with this, because there was quite recently a small flurry of activity (a kerfuffle? :->) on Twitter because I used “kerfuffle” in a post there. http://twitter.com/joeypatterson/status/11205626299
Nice start :-).
Welcome to a parking space :-)
I doubt I’ll actually use this for anything, but I want to be able to comment on some student blogs here so I made an account.
- My “real” blog is at http://UnhinderedByTalent.com/Phi
- My Flickr account is at http://flickr.com/photos/nicmcphee
- My university web page is at http://www.morris.umn.edu/~mcphee
