April 22, 2010

In defence of whole words

Whole words are like whole grains. The difference may be just bran - but bran contains fiber. And we all know what happens when there isn't enough fiber in our diet - posterior occlusion.

The twitter lifestyle has taken its toll on thoughts as well as words. When it is acceptable to yell ideas to the whole world in 140 characters or less, there is little need to keep words whole. What started off as a measure of relief for cramped fingers on ancient keyboards, has now morphed into a dissonant assault on language sovereignty.

Da tru stmts v make wid da cripld words, do lil 2 convy da msg, let alone beauty. Instead dey tnd 2 frstrait n slo u dn. ur readin speed goes down, n da pleasure of readin disappears. When you tend to favor the shortened words 2 regular words, it directly impacts ur credibility. It is easy to judge a book by the cover. And the cover you present the most when you write is the words you choose. Choose the word, and nothing but the whole word.

I make no claims to even remotely being a purist. I have been known to occasionally dab in the forbidden myself. But, lets make a pledge, you and I:

If you have different keys for B, C & A,
we keep the L-O-Ls at bay.

SMS speak and l33t speak are a precious commodity, use them as sparingly - like expensive china.

Chirp in the comments if you agree.

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