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EDMONTON -- OMG! Ppl sure don’t no how 2 rite NEmore!
Translation: Zounds! People’s grasp of written English has degenerated to an appalling state!
If you don’t believe me, just ask city cops, who these days are forced to wade through so-called “textspeak” (or “txtspk”) in witness statements and auto collision reports filled out by the public.
“Sometimes it’s almost unintelligible,” says Sgt. Maurice Brodeur, who runs a patrol squad in the city’s southeast division. “We look at it and just have to laugh.”
Brodeur has received messages so laden with baffling textspeak that he’s had to phone his kids and ask them to translate terms, which these days can be as arcane as NE1 (anyone), F2T? (free to talk?) or even ROTFLMAWTIME (rolling on the floor laughing my a-- off with tears in my eyes).
Brodeur says it’s a sign of the times.
.....
“There’s no question, (textspeak) is creeping into the language,” acknowledges Sgt. Tony Simioni, head of the Edmonton police union. “But as long as we can understand what they’re saying, we can work with it.”
Of greater concern, he says, is making sure that young police recruits don’t do the same thing.
“People don’t realize how much of our job is writing,” he says, “and we have to maintain a very high standard.”
That’s Const. Ashley Emerson’s job. He trains new recruits how to properly write reports.
Potential recruits must pass an essay and grammar test before they’re even accepted into the police department, but even after that they spend a lot of time honing their writing skills.
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Excellent idea. Perhaps they should start doing this in schools. Wasn't it Alberta where they had to pass a penmanship class to graduate?
EDMONTON -- OMG! Ppl sure don’t no how 2 rite NEmore!
Translation: Zounds! People’s grasp of written English has degenerated to an appalling state!
If you don’t believe me, just ask city cops, who these days are forced to wade through so-called “textspeak” (or “txtspk”) in witness statements and auto collision reports filled out by the public.
“Sometimes it’s almost unintelligible,” says Sgt. Maurice Brodeur, who runs a patrol squad in the city’s southeast division. “We look at it and just have to laugh.”
Brodeur has received messages so laden with baffling textspeak that he’s had to phone his kids and ask them to translate terms, which these days can be as arcane as NE1 (anyone), F2T? (free to talk?) or even ROTFLMAWTIME (rolling on the floor laughing my a-- off with tears in my eyes).
Brodeur says it’s a sign of the times.
.....
“There’s no question, (textspeak) is creeping into the language,” acknowledges Sgt. Tony Simioni, head of the Edmonton police union. “But as long as we can understand what they’re saying, we can work with it.”
Of greater concern, he says, is making sure that young police recruits don’t do the same thing.
“People don’t realize how much of our job is writing,” he says, “and we have to maintain a very high standard.”
That’s Const. Ashley Emerson’s job. He trains new recruits how to properly write reports.
Potential recruits must pass an essay and grammar test before they’re even accepted into the police department, but even after that they spend a lot of time honing their writing skills.
More on link
Excellent idea. Perhaps they should start doing this in schools. Wasn't it Alberta where they had to pass a penmanship class to graduate?
