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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Has ny1 else wuunndered howz thez kidz r gonnaz pazz their GCSE's in English?

24 replies

igglepigglegotobed · 20/06/2009 20:36

I swear I cant understand my niece's status updates on facebook. I think they are bare good but could be nang and today she was out and it was jokes!

WTF

OP posts:
cockneydadtobe · 20/06/2009 20:38

i is heerin you who needs puncutaion and spellin and stuff is it

Lizzylou · 20/06/2009 20:39

Innit

Er

Word

melmog · 20/06/2009 20:49

chill geezas. nuff sed.

starlightexpress · 20/06/2009 20:52

Hopefully their English teacher will have explained about making their writing appropriate for audience and purpose.

Most of them will ignore it.

Fraf, innit?

shadowofacow · 20/06/2009 20:52

EH??????

dilemma456 · 20/06/2009 20:53

Message withdrawn

dilemma456 · 20/06/2009 20:55

Message withdrawn

HecatesTwopenceworth · 20/06/2009 20:58

2b r nt 2b tht is th q, innit. res'pkt.

The country's going to the dogs.

badgermonkey · 20/06/2009 21:09

They don't use textspeak at school, though. I get the very occasional lower-case i for "I" or 2 for "to" but I just mark it wrong. I still get plenty of work written in Standard English.

You could see it as a sophisticated use of the code-switching we all do, all the time - after all, who speaks the same way to the person at the bus stop, their boss, and their best friend after three glasses of wine? Nobody, of course; switching between registers is a skill and maybe we should be pleased our teenagers have mastered it so effortlessly!

Ninkynork · 20/06/2009 21:18

It can be amusing.

My all-time favourite from a school-run FB "friend" is:

Chavva Chavonnay Is thikin do u have to be thick to work in a school office???

It's incorrect to call it textspeak anyway as it's typed /written. That winds me up more than the form itself

Ninkynork · 20/06/2009 21:27

Oops, no disrespect to you badgermonkey I know it has become a word now but it really pisses me off. Particularly when people use the noun "text" as a verb.

"Jeremy I text him and then she text me back and called me a slapper then he text me..."

scaryteacher · 20/06/2009 22:42

Some of the little dears do use textspeak in their GCSEs though - I've just marked some (well, given them nil as I can't make head not tail of what they're saying).

midlandsmumof4 · 20/06/2009 23:37

It takes me ages to write a text message because I absolutely cannot get my head around incorrect spelling and lack of punctuation. Comes from being schooled in the 60's I suppose with a very strict English teacher .

AitchTwoOh · 20/06/2009 23:56

ninky that drives me NUTS too. i text you is present tense, texted is in the past. gggrrr

Nahui · 21/06/2009 00:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

midlandsmumof4 · 21/06/2009 01:04

Sorry Hahui-no can do. I've tried but it just doesn't look right. Why can't people just speak to each other-can't get much quicker than that .

Nahui · 21/06/2009 05:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

StealthPolarBear · 21/06/2009 06:24

I don't get the "I prefer to just ring someone" argument.
If I want to ask DH to pick up some milk on the way home, it isn't important enough to interrupt his train of thought or expect him to answer his phone in a meeting, so I text him. He'll glance at his phone when it suits him and read it. Ringing means "I need to speak to you now". Same for email - "just walk to the person's desk". So they have to drop what they're doing and attend to you THAT MINUTE rather than checking their emails at a time it suits them! I know which I think is more considerate!

katiestar · 21/06/2009 09:11

YABU and patronising to assume that because kids use textspeak when they text, they are incapble of writing properly on paper.

MaureenMLove · 21/06/2009 09:14

When DD texts me to ask me if she can do something, I text back saying, 'spell it and ask me in a fashion that I might understand and I might let you!'

MerryPonymum · 21/06/2009 09:26

I've had to give in and use txt-spk for my free 30 online text-messages from Orange, because the character limit is 140 and it means I can pack so much more in (with two daughters away from home I get through a LOT of free texts.) Also being schooled in the 60s, I did find it hard at first not to type out everything in full complete with correct punctuation! It goes against a lifetime of training, doesn't it.

I despair though when I see it used as the norm out of text-context, I think some have forgotten that 'know' is NOT spelt 'no'.

And every time I see 'da' used for 'the' I scream and put my head in a bucket.

cory · 21/06/2009 09:49

if you'd ever read a medieval manuscript you'd know that they are far worse when it comes to abbreviations

but expanded into a modern edition, they actually look quite literate

StealthPolarBear · 22/06/2009 09:18

MP I write mine out properly and then go back and changes the 'and's to &, the 'to's to 2 etc

MerryPonymum · 22/06/2009 09:33

Me too Stealth and then take out the spaces before and after the &s, etc. I can pack quite an essay into my 140 allowance these days.

There is a certain thrifty pleasure to it.

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