The language NEVER stops shifting. I don't mean English or any other so-called official language. I mean the ways we communicate a thing, one to another. I mean the special words we only use between pairs of people or in hobby groups. I have "tomatoes" and "The War" and "wamefousian", the last of which means a very creative and open-minded approach to rack, board, and the game of scrabble as a whole. I have "mull", which means refuse to decide.
I allow acronyms in my online speech, but not "u" or "2". Say "you" or "to" or "two". 2 is a number! But 2 is stretching, isn't it? It's a speedy solution in a world where speed matters -- like every other language situation. It is faster to say "leisure" than "ledger", and the dg softens as much as possible already. Contractions drop their apostrophes online and on cell phones -- and why not? Contractions are already legitimate evidence of the lazy factor that plays into every aspect of speech. It seems unfortunately appropriate that they should be streamlined. Don't becomes dont. Dont forget ur shoes, dude. Or dood or d00d.
We're swimming in it, we who live in the internet, the shining stream of language that is always heading -- richly -- downstream.
