<curmudgeon>

Further proof that today’s youth is losing their grasp on proper English is given by the “lingo” used in SMS mobile phone systems. Granted, this is not a phenomenon exclusive to our youngsters, as the use of SMS-capable mobile phones is quickly gaining ubiquity in the population at-large. And I realize that part of the reason for the lingo is to keep messages short so that they cost less. Still, I see this as just another dumbing-down of the language to a generation already inundated by TV and radio programs where personalities use horrible grammar and pronunciation, to say nothing of the proliferation of “dialects” like Ebonics (sorry, I had to mention it). Anyway, the story mentions a website called transL8it! to help translate between “English and Lingo” and vice versa in case anyone’s interested. Sigh, I guess I can either bitch about it or go out and get my own so I can be “with it.”

</curmudgeon>