'I wrote 2U B4'! British Library shows up textspeak as soooo 19th century

libraryland:

hydeordie:

If u really r annoyed by the vocabulary of the text generation, then a new exhibition at the British Library should calm you down. It turns out they were doing it in the 19th century – only then they called it emblematic poetry, and it was considered terribly clever.

Details were announced today of the library’s new exhibition devoted to the English language, exploring its 1,500-year history from Anglo-Saxon runes and early dictionaries to not dropping your Hs and rap.

…

The show will demonstrate how quickly language can change (does anyone today give a second thought to asking for a latte?), and how the same debates and fears crop up time and again. For example, one of the exhibits will be Jonathan Swift’s Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue, from 1712, in which he angrily suggests that English is in chaos and a state-sanctioned group of experts is needed to “fix” it for ever.

Good read! I do hate the shortened texting use of our language, but I have to admit it is helpful in a pinch :)

Source: hydeordie

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    If u really r annoyed by the vocabulary of the text generation, then a new exhibition at the British Library should calm...
  9. vorpalsamovar reblogged this from libraryland
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  11. lerevue reblogged this from libraryland and added:
    Good read! I do hate the shortened texting use of our language, but I have to admit it is helpful in a pinch :)
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  18. laurenashleyf reblogged this from hydeordie and added:
    But that doesn’t mean it’s not annoying as shit now.
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  21. ay3r0chay reblogged this from hydeordie and added:
    amazing.
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