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Noobs talk like this. CU l8r. Some people hate them.

But is noob speak ruining the language? Are our kids failing English cuz they spell because c-u-z and have no clue what to do with an apostrophe? Is texting, twittering (does anyone actually Twitter?), instant messaging, and Facebook posting creating a generation of illiterates for whom writing is nothing more than a form of slang quick-speak based on instant expression and totally detached from organized thinking?

According to this Canadian article that might be the case. If nothing else, it’s fun to read.

Professors are seeing their share of bad grammar in essays as well.

“The words ‘a lot’ have become one word, for everyone, as far as I can tell. ‘Definitely’ is always spelled with an ‘a’ –’definately’. I don’t know why,” says Paul Budra, an English professor and associate dean of arts and science at Simon Fraser.

“Punctuation errors are huge, and apostrophe errors. Students seem to have absolutely no idea what an apostrophe is for. None. Absolutely none.”

He is floored by some of what he sees.

“I get their essays and I go ‘You obviously don’t know what a sentence fragment is. You think commas are sort of like Parmesan cheese that you sprinkle on your words’,” said Budra.

But is bad grammar really something new and is it confined to kids? I once roomed next door to a football player who wrote his essays first then etched in the commas second, sort of randomly, with hope, concentration, and not much success. He’s an adult now. And how many adults actually know when to use it’s or its? Its a shame really. Or should that be “it’s a shame?” l8r

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