Yesterday as I was trawling through the Macquarie Dictionary, I noticed a page at the back of the book dedicated to SMS English (I often refer to it as: Smenglish.. and I got to thinking about why some techwriters pull up our noses at Smenglish (or do we?) and why? Consider the following example:
Great Mate vs Gr8 M8
What is the difference between the two and why should one set of symbols render the other as useless when in fact they are still the same in pronunciation and meaning and in fact nothing has really changed or has it? Has the meaning been diminished in any way?
Considering perhaps that these symbols we call words or signifiers carry with them connotations for example, one is formal and the other isn’t, one carries connotations of ‘coolness’ (if you are a young person for example this might be your preferred method of communication).
Could we say that the evolution of Smenglish is related simply to effort and space on mobile technology?.. Is it here to stay? Should we as techwriters live in denial or acknowledge its existence but only for certain contexts?
What if a techwriter was editing a Smenglish novel designed for mobile devices or a user manual available on mobile technology…? What rules apply?
What is the potential impact on language as we know it?
Does it threaten us because perhaps it may cause a dumbing down? I think of George Orwell’s 1984 where language is limited and so the people become ‘dumbed down’ too…
All food for thought… I would be interested in your responses as this area of language fascinates me .. and I want to see what role it has to play in techwriting… oh and by the way you don’t have to answer all the questions, just pass on your thoughts..
Word Warrior
April 18, 2008 at 8:56 am |
Hey Doc..
I think we may have discussed this before in another forum (or over a bottle of wine).
The advent and advance in the use of Smenglish can be compared to the size of images being used for communication. As a parent, I am intrigued to see the sharing of video clips among friends on mobile phones, yet the ‘parent’ generation of the same kids are all shopping for large format LCD TV’s with HDT etc etc.
I think the mobile phone has forced a change in the way people are processing information, and Tech writers should at least be cognitive of this.
The mobile generation is learning to make assumptions from clues. For example: if you type HOME on a mobile, often the word GOOD will be the first choice the phone will use. My daughter tells me that it is a new ‘thing’ to send messages, and leave all the words as chosen by the predictive text dictionary. The skill is translating this into the message intended. A skilled kid can tell immediately what the real message is, to such an extent that seeing GOOD with his eyes, may not even mean that the brain has seen it that way. It may have already changed that image to HOME before it hits the reading part.
I think because of this, Tech writers should at the very least be more careful to keep ALL ambiguity out, so that assumptions cannot be made.