To think people who use text speak in posts are probably less intelligent?

[lesley33]

Just as the title says really - that if you use text speak in your posts I do assume that you are probably a less intelligent poster.
AIBU?

Like reading Trainspotting!

But I did it. I think. Wait. Did I get to the end?

oh I LIKEY morto

spuddy - abbreviations are fine [bugrin]

"it allows a message to be conveyed quickly and clearly. Isn't that called communication?"

No, that's what using proper letters and spelling does. The fact that people have to make an effort to translate it only further proves that it is not "easier" than using proper English.

Text speak was useful at a time when you still had to use the dial pad on your phone to enter messages to text. Using it on a forum, when you have a whole keyboard at your disposal, is ridiculous. If you want to do so, fine, but don't try to defend the use of it as some kind of saving grace to the hardship of basic communication.

I agree. I assume that too.

If your posting name is something like mummee1991 and you post in text speak, I am going to judge you.

I also find text speak on forums very difficult to decipher.
It is like a foreign language to me too, so I tend to ignore these posters.
I also don't think it's about intelligence though, my incredibly clever ds uses it with his mates all the time.
Whereas I spend ages texting with proper grammar and everything.
I'm very old though, I don't like these new fangled words.

Are you very young Stranded?
Patronising .

I am a fast reader and do it by looking at the shape of the words, essentially.

So, text speak requires me to actually look at the letters in the words, because I'm not used to them.
That's why consistent lack of punctuation is annoying and lack of paragraphs is too.
It means I have to dedicate more time to each message.

That can't be a good thing in MN, surely? There's hardly any time for it already.

lesley, Zombie had been thinking of starting a similar thread in Pedants' Corner.

Text speak makes Zombie's teeth itch. She can just about understand its use in texts when one might want to use as few characters as possible.

That leads to Zombie's next question. She does not use Twitter but she understands that each Tweet is limited to 142 characters. When she has seen links to Tweets, she doesn't recall seeing text speak used in those.

Could someone who does use Twitter clarify whether the use text speak is common on there, please?

ROFLMAO
L8R
x

Stranded, you made a few mistakes:
itz NOT it's
And you used full stops and an exclamation point.

:o

Stranded - Yes I am old....so!

Zombie - AIBU is much better for this than pedants corner though? After all I am not being pedantic.

I just noticed that Luigi.
Stranded, you used punctuation.
Fail. [bugrin]

My sister & her friends use text speak all the time on FB. They're not less intelligent, they are less educated. Personally it's not my things & I do judge although try hard not to

There's nothing wrong with starting a sentence with "or".

I personally find txtspk irritating and hard to use but thankfully it's rarely used on MN. I suspect it will die out now that everyone has smartphones with autocorrect. I can imagine us all looking back at the Noughties as the decade of txtspk when we all had those primitive versions of mobiles.

Lesley. It's a it of an overjudgey OP so I'm going to say YABU even if I do secretly agree with you.

I can't do text speak, even in texts, because I really hate it. Does that mean I'm a genius?

Sorry stranded. It took me a while to read that not that I'm double your age or anything...

Zombie is not sure she agrees with you, lovely lesley.

Surely it is pendantic to be concerned by and to comment on something that one perceives to be a misuse of the language.

I don't really think anything about the poster, I just don't read posts with text speak. They make my brain hurt and I just skim past. Same as posts with no grammar, especially ones lacking in full stops.
This is entertainment not marking essays so I bypass hard to read posts.

pedantic

Zombie can spell. Really she can.

It must be time for her nap.

jin - Yes you are a genius.

Zombie - You are right of course. if we are being pedantic, this should be in pedants corner [bugrin]

Zombie - I thought you were going to avoid a nap?

Zombie - I thought you were going to avoid a nap?