shud i b anoyed by this? r u?

[lovestolift]

For the record I find this no more annoying than the endless list of acronyms that everyone's supposed to know
ie: DOMS, BBR, BOR, PC, AC, OP, CGBP et al, see what I mean.

These can be annoying if you don't know them, but they are idiomatic. They come with the territory.

The only part that annoys me is when someone deviates from the standard, accepted acronym and makes their own. For instance, PR (Personal Record) is the normal, accepted acronym, but I occasionally see PB, meaning Personal Best. However, I think of Peanut Butter when I see PB. I also see 1RPM (One Rep Personal Max, or so I assume), when the accepted acronym is 1RM (One Rep Max). 1RPM normally means One Revolution Per Minute (yes, I know this would be out of context here). If you are listing your 1RM, it is unnecessary to state that it is your personal max.

Perhaps a list of commonly used weight training acronyms would be useful on the site?

[Owehn]

Perhaps a list of commonly used weight training acronyms would be useful on the site?

That would actually be very helpful for those of us for whom stronglifts is our introduction to weight lifting.

[hazmat]

Chat-speak and text-speak, IMHO, is more responsible for people failing to use proper grammar and punctuation in forums. I'm not a fan of it at all. I don't even text-speak when I text people. Makes a few of my friends nuts that I'm a stickler for proper spelling/grammar in text messages, but I don't know any other way. I wish more people for whome English is their first language would take the time to use it properly.

And for God's sake, if something of yours goes missing, you LOSE it. You don't LOOSE it....that one drives me batty!!!!

[atypical1]

Chat-speak and text-speak, IMHO, is more responsible for people failing to use proper grammar and punctuation in forums. I'm not a fan of it at all. I don't even text-speak when I text people. Makes a few of my friends nuts that I'm a stickler for proper spelling/grammar in text messages, but I don't know any other way. I wish more people for whome English is their first language would take the time to use it properly.

And for God's sake, if something of yours goes missing, you LOSE it. You don't LOOSE it....that one drives me batty!!!!

Kick ass! You used chat-speak ("IMHO") in a rant against chat-speak. Your post drips with irony

james

[atypical1]

I understand that our language is evolving just as it always has and I'm surprisingly alright wiht that. My pet peeves revolve more around people botching up common phrases like "for all intents and purposes" which end up "for all intensive purposes". The latter is simply aping what someone else has said where the former actually shows an understanding of the phrase and the words that encompass it.

I'm also not a big fan of "IMHO" or "just my two cents". Those have become the most overused phrases lately. There's simply no reason to say them because unless you're providing some sort of source we are going to assume that what you're saying is your own opinion. It's like we are ashamed to make a statement without giving it some sort of caveat and really weakens what you have to say.

james

[hazmat]

Chat-speak and text-speak, IMHO, is more responsible for people failing to use proper grammar and punctuation in forums. I'm not a fan of it at all. I don't even text-speak when I text people. Makes a few of my friends nuts that I'm a stickler for proper spelling/grammar in text messages, but I don't know any other way. I wish more people for whome English is their first language would take the time to use it properly.

And for God's sake, if something of yours goes missing, you LOSE it. You don't LOOSE it....that one drives me batty!!!!

Kick ass! You used chat-speak ("IMHO") in a rant against chat-speak. Your post drips with irony

james

Slick how I worked that in, no? I was wondering if anyone would catch it.

[eLvarouza]

I'm also not a big fan of "IMHO" or "just my two cents". Those have become the most overused phrases lately. There's simply no reason to say them because unless you're providing some sort of source we are going to assume that what you're saying is your own opinion. It's like we are ashamed to make a statement without giving it some sort of caveat and really weakens what you have to say.

I agree with this. However, I tend to be direct and people always get pissed at me, so I've started softening things. I honestly don't know if I was being too direct or if people were just being silly.

For example, if I say: "that movie sucked", someone is bound to get pissed at me and say something like "just because YOU didn't like it doesn't mean it sucked!". I've always just assumed that it's obvious that when I say that the implicit meaning is "I think that movie sucked", not "I didn't like the movie, therefore it was terrible and nobody should like it".

Everything I say is "my opinion", so why should I have to precede it with some disclaimer? Maybe I'm wrong here and I should be more "polite" or whatever, but I just don't understand. It's really annoying to have to precede everything with "I think..." or "I don't think..." in normal conversation.

[nburge]

I tend to agree - I hate it when people use shorthand when they write me a personal communication because I think it shows a lack of respect. At the same time I would caution against harrassing people just because they use this sort of language - you could just boycott their question, or politely point out their mistakes. Banning them seems quite harsh punishment if they are seeking your/our assistance.

I can decipher some of the gibberish you see written here and I agree it takes more time. I guess I look at it as a bit of a challenge, sort of a crossword for the modern times.......

[atypical1]

For example, if I say: "that movie sucked", someone is bound to get pissed at me and say something like "just because YOU didn't like it doesn't mean it sucked!". I've always just assumed that it's obvious that when I say that the implicit meaning is "I think that movie sucked", not "I didn't like the movie, therefore it was terrible and nobody should like it".

Everything I say is "my opinion", so why should I have to precede it with some disclaimer? Maybe I'm wrong here and I should be more "polite" or whatever, but I just don't understand. It's really annoying to have to precede everything with "I think..." or "I don't think..." in normal conversation.

Yeah, I love it when people say something like "Just because you didn't like the book doesn't mean that it wasn't good." Really? By definition me saying that something sucked means that I didn't like it. Taste is always going to be subjective isn't it? I don't know why we seem to have a hard time accepting that. I don't think it's a matter of being polite at all if it's simply stating your opinion. But I've found myself saying things like "well, the movie wasn't to my taste" instead of just saying that it sucked. But it really means the same thing

james

[JasonLB]

Well, technically, "that movie sucks" is an objective claim, while "that movie wasn't to my taste" or "I didn't like it" are subjective claims. This is exactly why Kant argues aesthetic judgments (judgments of taste) aspire to universal validity -- people go around saying things like "that is beautiful" and "that is ugly" as if everyone ought to agree. I couldn't care less about being polite, but it is at least diplomatic to mollify the language of our opinions, otherwise we end up spending a bunch of time dealing with "just because YOU didn't like it..." retorts.

[TakeFive]

Well Hello fellow grammer scolds!

Here's a website you might enjoy:

http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

It's only going to get worse folks. With the rocketing popularity of Twitter, poorly punctuated and incomplete sentences will become the norm for much of the population. On the positive side though, anyone with marginally above average writing skills may have a bright future.

But more seriously, I think this is an another example of the bifurcation of our society. We are headed towards two classes: the educated who will do well, and a large underclass that will barely eke out a living. A lot of kids will grow up thinking text speak is acceptable without realizing it's a silent handicap.

Much like dropping "He aint got no..." into your conversation, which immediately bestows upon you (rightly or wrongly) much about your class and education, text speak will do the same for your writing. I would be amazed if kids weren't already using it on their resumes.

Another example - table manners. And I don't mean confusing the salad fork with the dessert fork, or even talking with you mouth stuffed full. I've seen beautiful, well dressed, college educated young women (yes even some relatives) eat like pigs at a trough. Yeah, guys too but it seems more shocking from the women. I've been to enough business lunches to know that the people that eat like this are not looked upon favorably, and hurt their advancement.

But back to the topic. I think all you can do is push back (against text speak) in you own life. Don't respond or ask senders to email you when they can write out their message. I've done this with regards to cell phones. When someone calls with a lousy connection or crappy phone and I know it can wait, I insist they call from a landline or better cell. Life-minutes are too valuable to keep repeating "What?, What?, What?" Same goes for deciphering text garbage.

[hazmat]

Well Hello fellow grammer scolds!

Here's a website you might enjoy:

http://www.apostropheabuse.com/

It's only going to get worse folks. With the rocketing popularity of Twitter, poorly punctuated and incomplete sentences will become the norm for much of the population. On the positive side though, anyone with marginally above average writing skills may have a bright future.

But more seriously, I think this is an another example of the bifurcation of our society. We are headed towards two classes: the educated who will do well, and a large underclass that will barely eke out a living. A lot of kids will grow up thinking text speak is acceptable without realizing it's a silent handicap.

Much like dropping "He aint got no..." into your conversation, which immediately bestows upon you (rightly or wrongly) much about your class and education, text speak will do the same for your writing. I would be amazed if kids weren't already using it on their resumes.

Another example - table manners. And I don't mean confusing the salad fork with the dessert fork, or even talking with you mouth stuffed full. I've seen beautiful, well dressed, college educated young women (yes even some relatives) eat like pigs at a trough. Yeah, guys too but it seems more shocking from the women. I've been to enough business lunches to know that the people that eat like this are not looked upon favorably, and hurt their advancement.

But back to the topic. I think all you can do is push back (against text speak) in you own life. Don't respond or ask senders to email you when they can write out their message. I've done this with regards to cell phones. When someone calls with a lousy connection or crappy phone and I know it can wait, I insist they call from a landline or better cell. Life-minutes are too valuable to keep repeating "What?, What?, What?" Same goes for deciphering text garbage.

I work with a gentleman who has been in the professional field many years longer than I have and he uses "text speech" in professional emails. If the older crowd is already doing it, I fear for the children who aren't being taught not to, who are being taught that it's totally acceptable in the professional world and children who just don't care enough to realize that your speech and writing reflect much on the type of person you may or may not be. Not that the speech/writing judgement is right, it's not, but it is the way things are.

[TakeFive]

I work with a gentleman who has been in the professional field many years longer than I have and he uses "text speech" in professional emails. If the older crowd is already doing it, I fear for the children ...

These kinds of discussions always remind me of the movie Blade Runner and its dystopian split society, illustrated by the narrator (Harrison Ford):

“That gibberish he talked was city speak, gutter talk. A mishmash of Japanese, Spanish, German, what have you. I didn't really need a translator, I knew the lingo, every good cop did. But I wasn't going to make it easier for him."

I recall one or two Heinlein novels of a future with a functionally illiterate underclass and a phenomenally wealthy educated elite. I too fear we are giving kids the tools of their own destruction.

[lovestolift]

This has turned into a truly interesting thread. Did anyone notice that JasonLB referenced an 18th-century German philosopher? We can complain about the illiterate and uneducated all day, but apparently it is not much of a concern around here. Who thought a strength training site could boast such a large number of the intelligentsia?

[Mehdi]

Great thread indeed.

I find girls texting me with that chat speak, without punctuation/capitals/ORDER, a turn off.