The decline of punctuation.
The Internet has opened up an entire new world for us; each and every one of us can publish his or her own thoughts and opinions in any which way they want - be it via newsgroups, forums, blogs, websites; the sky is the limit and it's right there, under our fingertips.
This is a good thing, of course.
But (and yes, there is a but).
All this publishing of opinions and thoughts on topics as diverse as there are people in this world has had one big disadvantage. It has brutally murdered punctuation. Killed it dead, without any remorse. The comma? A goner. The full stop? MIA. Proper capitalisation? In Intensive Care. The apostrophe? Dead and buried. And don't even get me started on the colon and the semi-colon.
All these aforementioned punctuational elements have experienced a hostile takeover by either a band of fiendish exclamation marks, always followed closely by their henchman, the 1, or by the increasingly (and rather worryingly) popular ellipsis, also known as (...). Let me exemplify:
How it should be:
Cheers
* I loathe Usher.
This is a good thing, of course.
But (and yes, there is a but).
All this publishing of opinions and thoughts on topics as diverse as there are people in this world has had one big disadvantage. It has brutally murdered punctuation. Killed it dead, without any remorse. The comma? A goner. The full stop? MIA. Proper capitalisation? In Intensive Care. The apostrophe? Dead and buried. And don't even get me started on the colon and the semi-colon.
All these aforementioned punctuational elements have experienced a hostile takeover by either a band of fiendish exclamation marks, always followed closely by their henchman, the 1, or by the increasingly (and rather worryingly) popular ellipsis, also known as (...). Let me exemplify:
How it should be:
"I went on a date last night. All in all it went okay, but in the end we both agreed on not furthering our relationship. On a sidenote, I'd like to mention that I really appreciate the music Usher* is putting out there for our listening pleasure."How it presently is:
"Had a date last nite ... was ok ... wont see him again ... btw usher rocks!!!1"My goal is to bring back to life the joys and virtues of proper punctuation. How? I do not know. When? I cannot answer. But mark my words - they will be back. Are you with me? Viva la revolution!
Cheers
* I loathe Usher.
6 Comments:
NOOOO!!!! death to punctuation and all grammaatical perfections........VIVA LA Literatae Anarchista!!! (I just made thAt up.)
Fool: You are, of course, right - but that, and that only, is a situation in which the ellipsis can flourish. In any and every other situation it should be put to death as quickly (and quietly; we don't want to cause an uprising) as possible.
Red: Be gone, you heathen. Well not really, of course. The proverbial gone.
Cheers
I loathe Usher and his ridiculous dances as well! Somebody teach that guy how to act normal!
okay, guilty.
lets try that again....
Okay, I'm guilty. I remember the first time my poor usuage of english and punctuations declined. In one word: IRC. Ever since then, the practice has become a habit. Acronyms are my life.
Help me break the habit. I am willing to go cold turkey. I am with you.
At leAst I'm nOt uSInG ranDoM lowErcAse and UpPerCaSE leTTers in the foRMatioN of my WoRds. This annoys the crap out of me.
It's good to see I have followers in the pursuit of my noble cause. And by noble cause I mean both the joyful return of proper punctuation, and the intense loathing of Usher.
Cheers
Good anecdote - it's great that your pop actually put thought into 'how to address people online'. Did he ever get it figured out?
Cheers
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