“K.”
Sasha Smith cringed at the sight of this one letter response. After spending 10 minutes detailing a structured and coherent argument, he had replied with one measly and insignificant letter. This one little letter immediately sent Smith into a spiraling abyss, overthinking the meaning behind it.
“Is he mad at me?” thought Smith, “Or maybe he is writing a longer response now? Or maybe he doesn’t care and has gotten over it?”
After spending hours lying on the ground with her phone over her heart and her arms crossed over her body as if she were lying down during an open casket viewing, Smith was exhausted and had come to the sleep-deprived conclusion that he had broken his phone and it was now only capable of typing one letter, and the system had chosen this one letter, so of course, it wasn’t his, or her, fault.
“Good grief,” said Smith.
A self-proclaimed aficionado of all things pertaining to language and grammar, she picked herself up and replied with “okay,” ending the reign of his perceptually snarky and insincere comments.
Smith had won the battle, but she knew, heavy-heartedly, that the war against shorthand texting was not over. An epidemic of laziness had swept the nation in a vortex of bad grammar and incorrect diction. She knew that there was more to come, and all she could do was continue to use purely long-form text.
Affecting Middletown High School students greatly, shorthand texting has manifested itself in within the walls of MHS and the screens of phones everywhere.
Used widely, shorthand is the use of abbreviated words and acronyms. Designed to make texting an easier feat, this second language has been perceived differently by many.
Owen Migdal, MHS sophomore, said that these changes to texting directly correlate with people becoming “stupid and lazy.”
On the other hand, shorthand has been seen as a contribution to society, in convenience, as society changes, so does the linguistics of texting.
MHS junior Erika Pritchard said, “This generation [millennials] is so fast-paced, people adapting to needing everything in an instant. I just think that shorthand is contributing to society.”
While millennials are seen to be pioneers for new lingo, various people agreed that the language used in texting varies according to age.
MHS media specialist Rebecca Reickel said that the “sweet spot” for evolving language is the age range of 14 to 16.
Agreeing with Reickel, MHS National English Honors Society advisor Debra Leonard said that it “started off with a younger generation, but now we see people of all ages using shorthand.”
As the “sweet spot” is a range of ages that only includes students, once can most likely see the effects of shorthand in school.
Not concerned for students as being impaired by this paradigm shift in texting, Reickel said that students have created “a separate part of the brain for it.”
“It doesn’t affect schoolwork,” she added.
Leonard, however, is cautious of the long-term effects that come from continual use of shorthand. She worries a linguistic issue will manifest itself as students move on to higher education levels.
“The problem will exist for students as they go to college and into the business world.” said Leonard. “Correct English grammar and usage will be required in formal documents.”
As the future looms over students, some are optimistic about the future of shorthand and its effects on diction.
Pritchard said that shorthand “adds to the changing society as well as future texting” because people continue to fill their schedules, demanding convenience and speed in tasks, including texting.
Reickel agreed and added that shorthand would be kept separate from everyday language and “will not affect coherence.”
