It took a while, but I think I'm ready to follow up on the issue of language, particularly Internet speak and how it relates to our current vocabulary. Ebonics, Goth speak, Punk speak, and various "other" types of language made its way into our society in the 80's and early 90's. For the most part it's stuck--even in the way people write. My wife can contest to this a lot more than I can, but I see the problem is there. Perhaps the idea of language as being "soft" and easily adaptable comes into play, but surely that can't be the only answer. There must be a reason why Internet lingo is so sexy to be this easily adaptable.
This idea isn't something new. It's as old as time. Languages adapt and have gone through several dozen morphs over the course of years. From umlats to emoticons, it's what we understand and know--it's also something we've adapted easily and quickly but there is no governing body to tell us how we're allowed to talk or do things. Using "like" as a filler is annoying in and of itself, but using "OMG" takes annoyance to another level. That goes for writing or talking.
I've mentioned before that linguists really can't do anything about it because language does have a mind of its own. Is it that parenting is taken on new lows or is it the bombardment of usage of such language in media? I'm going somewhere with this, really. But it's going to be in segments.
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