Ever since Shakespeare breathed life into these words through his character Polonius, the world has tended to agree.
Why, then, are we up in arms over the way young people write nowadays? I'm sure it hasn't escaped anyone's attention that traditional orthography and punctuation have pretty much gone the way of the dodo bird when it comes to teenagers' use of the written word. The natural inclination of teachers, parents, and curmudgeonly people everywhere is to despise such a writing style as being indicative of a lack of a good education and willful ignorance.
As a descriptive linguist, it's not my desire to go on about how language should be, but rather to observe and contemplate how language really is. Language doesn't come from the dictionary, it comes from the people and is recorded (belatedly) in things like dictionaries and books!
Here are some reasons for truncated texting norms and alternative spellings that defy adult logic:
1) There are character limits on text messages, the primary form of communication for adolescents.
2) These indecipherable text messages provide privacy from parents and other adults.
3) It's a good way to express their personal pronunciation of different words, which helps set the tone of the message they're sending.
I could go on, but I'd be walking into a pit of hypocrisy, considering this post's title.
Next time I'll discuss the implications of "txt spk" (text speak) on the education of our children and the evolution of the English language.
*Disclaimer
My personal and professional opinions on the matter may differ drastically.
I think that you raise some interesting points. Being on the side of the linguists, the innovation in writing is quite fascinating.
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