Saturday 16 January 2010

So we are talking about a certain kind of fetish . . .

Now when I skimmed for Google's expertise on the word 'fetish' it gave me quite a range of meanings and examples. I was not very interested. The word 'fetish' always means to me anything that one gives excessive attention to. Hmmm. Talking about that, I would like to spill forth in words the fetish that has accosted me but registered its presence only now. A fetish for expression of language in the way it is meant to be. Let me be clear about this: An obsession to write words in its full form and an irritating tendency to dislike short forms. Well now this kind of a fetish is not uncommon but in my case I go a step forward and tend to associate this attribute of writing in short forms to the writer itself.



This fetish particularly drives my friends crazy as I insist that they avoid short-forms of any kind. 'U' instead of 'you,' 'k' instead of 'okay,' 'lve' instead of 'love,' etc. I am quite fine with using standard short forms like 'etc,' 'e.g,' but shorter forms of short words is a tad annoying. This holds true with words with an apostrophe. People write the complete word but leave out the apostrophe. Why? It reflects a laziness on their part to place the symbol before a particular letter.

Talking of connecting people's characteristics and their way of writing might be far-fetched but this is what I involuntarily do once I read what they have written. I was not trained to do something like that but then it is something inbuilt. If the person uses short forms, I think: "There is another lazy individual who thinks (s)he will lose time if the entire word is written." After the advent of mobiles, this is the norm. All the words are shortened and most of the times punctuations are given the slip. Let us see a sentence like that:

Shll met by 5 k dnt b lte. 

Were you able to decipher this message. It says: Shall meet by 5 okay. Don't be late. 

Some might argue that language is meant for communication and as long as you communicate, it is fine. But a sloppy communication style is no excuse for a well-written effective style of communication. Now I am beginning to think that it all boils down to style. I am adding style and elan to my fetish. The one who uses short-forms excessively is devoid of any style or elan. Period.

Photo credit: Internet

32 comments:

  1. I have had emails sent to me in that oh so abbreviated form. It was so bad that I had to read the whole paragraph, then read it line by line thrice and then if all else fails, call the sender and ask exactly what were you trying to say. It was not even close to what I understood. lol

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  2. Ha ha. Its sure irritating when emails are sent that way. Been long since you came here Gaia.

    Take care.

    Joy always,
    Susan

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  3. and now, to top it all, we have twitter! the life-is-140-characters thing. expect more short forms. SMS is 160 characters!

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  4. Perhaps soon there will be a whole new language form invented for such purpose, not for PC use but human use in tandem with technology.. ughhh ! . :(

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  5. I love your posts, you have ALWAYS something very intersting to share.

    I could not agree with you more. I have never liked shortening of words and the example you post here beautifully underscores the craziness in the doing so. Even when I send text messages, I write the words out. With the exception of *you*, which I occasionally write as *u*.
    Have a lovely Saturday my very talented and eloquent friend.;)
    xoxo
    Zuzana

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  6. wll twas 1 hlleva pst.

    Just kidding. :)

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  7. Vinay: Oh yes!That Twitter. I avoided it on purpose. Facebook and Blogger serves my purpose so consciously stayed away from it. If SMS does not accept my character length, then I send two messages :-)

    Been long since you came by. Hope all is well.

    BM: It has already made its presence felt big time so :(

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  8. Zuzana: Your words always bring about an infectious enthusiasm. I treasure your visits. Thanks for the kind words. I endorse your points. I am also one of those who type out the entire message sans the dictionary prompting which is equally irritating.

    Have a great weekend and lovely week ahead.

    Joy always.

    Govind: GRRRRRR.

    Just kidding :)

    Have a fruitful weekend and week ahead.

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  9. We all would like to be understood. I'm with you in that writing well is the best way to be understood.

    I don't get twitter or facebook. I like to read well written, meaningful posts. Even fun, easy to read ones like this one that you've written well. Gave me a smile. Thanks.

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  10. Dear Distinct:

    Thanks for coming by. I appreciate the comment. I am glad that you left with a smile. Be sure to spread the smile to someone who does not have one.

    Joy always.

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  11. Yes!!! It is annoying when people use short forms.. I always tend to think they are lazy or 'wannabe'! Bad on my part to judge but its irritating people can't type a few extra letters.

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  12. Yo Sameera, you just said it.

    Glad to see your comment on this Sunday morning.

    Take good care.

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  13. My son brought something up a while back which I had to agree with him on. And, now it bugs me quite a bit.
    It seems just wrong that the English language puts the exclamation mark and question mark at the end of the sentence. Doesn't it just seem logical to put it in front of the sentence? Then the reader would know how to read the sentence.
    Okay, there is my rant. You got yours so now we are all equaled out.

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  14. Hi Grayquill: Your first comment here. My pleasure.

    Well, I don't much agree about the mark being in the beginning of the sentence. It seems a bit illogical. But then we all have our own rants and grouse.

    Thanks for the visit.

    Joy always.

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  15. Short forms are a complete no no in official mails and the likes.
    But I feel it is alright to use short forms in Sms's and informal mails...

    Wht abt commnt sctns thou? Is it accptble 2 do so hre? :D

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  16. Ashley: GRRRRRRRRR.

    Long time huh?

    Take good care.

    Joy always :)

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  17. my kids text alot and they've taught lots of short forms for words. I'm a word person so short forms...not my thing.

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  18. Dear Sarah:

    I am glad that you are a word person. Kindred sisters.

    Thanks for coming dear one.

    Joy always.

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  19. oh, what a neat post! one that touches my own word-heart! i grew up loving the sound of words, the look of words, the feel of them - almost as if they are "real" [and i must confess that to me they are "real"] - that said, however, i have over the years come to my own particular "style" in using words and things thereof - for example, i very rarely use the formal/proper style of capitalization and punctuation - not out of laziness but out of my own creative license - and in trying to make the words/thoughts more my "own" - does that make sense? in terms of text messages etc i do totally know what you mean - again, i think it's more an indication of societal/cultural changes/attitudes over an individual's - but dare i even guess as to that - the other thing about text messages anyway is that on my own cell telephone i am limited to the number of characters per text message so i do sometimes use abbreviated words - anyway, didn't mean to ramble - great thought-provoking post, as usual, lady!

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  20. Hello!!visiting your blog for the first time..all your posts are fresh and interesting..managed to avoid short forms, this being my first comment..;)..love your blog

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  21. Dear Jenean:

    Capitalisation and punctuation are part of style.

    As for texting, hmmmm . . .

    I immensely value your comments, Jenean.

    Thanks for coming by and saying nice words.

    Joy always.

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  22. Hello Sridharan:

    Thanks for coming by. Well, how did you land here? I appreciate your kind words. Please do come by often and feel at home. Your visits will be cherished by me.

    Joy always.

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  23. just wondering if "smileys",convey lot more than saying "i'm smiling", "i'm angry"...one plus point of short forms..what do you think? :D

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  24. Sridharan:

    I like smileys as well. They convey a lot more than that which is expressible. They are way better than irritating short forms which look sloppy and uncouth.

    I would not categorise smileys under short forms though.

    Thanks for coming by again. I cannot access your blog. Why is that?

    Come again.

    Joy always.

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  25. Hi! Susan,

    tat's b'cos i'm yet to start blogging..:D..

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  26. Sridharan:

    Do start writing. You can never even think how fun its going to be. You might even surprise yourself. Do start. We are all waiting to read your thoughts.

    All the best :-)

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  27. Hi Susan,

    I'd been looking fairly randomly for other blogs that might interest me when my eyes alighted on this post. I don't know anything about this texting thing [I don't even have a mobile phone], but I do cringe when words are misused through ignorance, because our ability to express ourselves accurately is compromised thereby. I wrote a piece on this subject quite recently that you might be interested in:

    http://dennishodgson.blogspot.com/2009/11/mind-your-language.html

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  28. Dear Hodgson:

    Thanks for coming by. I am so delighted to have met somebody who has not have a mobile phone. Hats off to you.

    I shall be glad to read your post and in the meanwhile it would be lovely if you could give your invaluable insights on the other topics here that would interest you.

    Joy always and peace
    Susan

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  29. Short forms, SMS lingo, and grammatical errors are probably here to stay. I've seen professors who make silly errors and don't realise it.
    Sample this: We must 'rise' funds in the capital markets :)

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  30. Sandhya:

    Thanks for coming by. I know that this is here to stay. But I am quite sad with it.

    Come by more often.

    Joy always.

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  31. I immensley admire your writings; truly compelling and intruguing in numerous ways.

    I believe that i have the same fetish! I horrifcly dislike this prevalent disfigurations of words!


    I feel obliged to thank you for giving me the chance to review your mental and emotional expressions:).

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  32. Dear Mohamed:

    Thanks for the lovely words.

    You are welcome and do drop by often. I am sure we will enjoy the dialogue.

    Joy always :-)

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