To the Editor,
I am writing to you as a follow-up to letters which you published in January from Roberta Docherty and Fran Austin. Sadly, the loss of cursive writing is only the tip of the iceberg.
Unfortunately, the loss is much greater in scope because it impacts usage of the Canadian/English/American languages. Social media, Facebook, etc. all contribute to the decline and misuse of our language through their lazy, shortened alternatives, predominately through texting. Adverbs have almost disappeared; the incorrect use of the word “so” at the beginning of each sentence; the incorrect reversal of “bring” and “take”; and the constant substitution of “like” for “as” highlight just a few examples.
I’ve learned recently that the use of a period in texting is forbidden because it has a totally offensive meaning now, rather than simply indicating the end of a sentence.
Today, we see and hear the partial loss of our beautiful language with all its difficult nuances.
Who knows what may be next?
Mardi Puttick, Meaford
Editor’s Note:
I can certainly understand the desire to cling on to what we know, and what makes us comfortable, but the English language has evolved since its beginnings roughly 1,400 years ago, and it will continue to do so largely to meet the needs of the current society. Humans have existed on this planet for roughly 300,000 years. It would be a little smug to suggest that a language that is only 1,400 years old should be held up as the perfect way to communicate. The reality is that we would have difficulty understanding an English language speaker from 1,000 years ago, and a thousand years from now our language will have evolved even more, particularly with the rapid move toward globalization.
