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Monday, September 19, 2011

The Words, They Are A-Changin'


Writers, do you ever find it challenging to keep up with the times? Typewriters have given way to word processors. Writing style and what's popular in terms of genre changes rapidly. E-publishing has turned traditional publishing upside down.  And then, after the book is published, it is essential to build a social network and market one's own work.

Yep, it can be a real minger.

"What's a minger?" you ask. Even the language is evolving. The vocabulary might originate with teens -  like, ya know what I mean? - but the next thing you know these words are a part of our everyday speak. Click HERE to take a quiz and find out how well you know your 21st century buzzwords.

How did you do? Not so well? You might want bookmark this list (click HERE) from the 2001 Edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary.

But we can't blame it all on the younger generation; Facebook, Twitter, and texting have changed the very face of the language. Is "unfriend" really a word? Apparently. And even abbreviations, such as OMG, LOL, and FYI, have made it into the dictionary, according to this article (click HERE). For a comprehensive list of chat acronyms and text message shorthand, click HERE.

TWIWI? TFLMS. CUL8R!

Author: Pam Asberry
Website: http://pamasberry.blogspot.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/pamasberryfanpage
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pamasberry

4 comments:

Unknown said...

My brain hurts from this one lmao I'm 32 and only knew a few of those. Times are changing and so is the language but you know I'm not sure it's for the better. Already our children are having a hard time writing proper English due to the fact that they only know how to write abbreviated words they've learned to be able to text in a cheaper way. Makes me feel a little old lol
Oh well, what can you do!

Pam Asberry said...

I agree, Leanne; not all these changes are for the better but I think we have to roll with the times - at least, to a certain extent - in order to (a) survive; and (b) be able to communicate with the youngsters. God bless us all!

Tami Brothers said...

This is great, Pam. I actually work in a place where acronyms are the norm and I rarely know what they mean. People think I'm silly for typing out whole sentences when I send a text, but after trying to figure out that the report I need to send at work is simply a description of the item instead of XYZ acronym, I really don't care to try to decipher ones in a text message. Because Lord knows I could come up with some doozies if I needed too. :)

Fun post.

Tami

Pam Asberry said...

I know what you mean, Tami; that is one of the hardest things for me about tweeting, because I like everything to be proper and just so. Sigh. We'll just have to muddle through the best we can.