Summary of “Texting Shorthand Annoys Purists and May Have Lasting Impact” by Seth Mydans

In his 2007 New York Times article, “Texting Shorthand Annoys Purists and May Have Lasting Impact,” Seth Mydans addresses what advocates and objectors have said about the effects of text-messaging on the English language. Text messaging presents an opportunity for language change, which some embrace as growth but others challenge or resist because they see it as a decline in standards. Mydans describes how texting has created its own vocabulary, drawing on acronyms (LOL for “laughing out loud”), homonyms (CUL8R for “see you later”), and abbreviations (MTFBWY for “may the force be with you”) of English words or phrases. These changes represent what Mydans calls “the realignment of spelling with sound,” a project luminaries such as George Bernard Shaw advocated. Here, words are spelled as they sound, such as thru instead of through. There has been some backlash, such as when New Zealand Parliament member Judy Turner expressed concern through texting language that schools, rather than allowing students to use that language on exams, should educate and raise literacy to certain standards, “Skoolz r ther 2 educ8 + raze litracy 2 certn standrds.” Mydans offers a counterpoint to Turner’s point, citing Denis Pyatt, a linguist and also a high-school principal in New Zealand, who explains that the English language is not in some pristine form that warrants protection from “alien incursions.” Instead, Mydans encourages others to learn Text Speak by using a translator, transl8it.com.