Skills we should keep or lose 4

 As computerization continues formerly essential skills like cursive writing or being a human calculator have perished. It’s hard to get a bead on whether good grammar in writing is actually going extinct, or if reading poorly written emails and post make me think it is.

I use Twitter now for some of my posts, but when it first came out, I did not use it because I could never get used to using only a few characters to get an idea out. I am not that smart or precise in my writing. Language is constantly evolving and therefore, so is grammar. An article published by Reader’s Digest discusses a few significant changes.

Twitter and cell phones, allow us to be lazy and use emojis and acronyms to get our message out. This has shortened many people’s written communication styles. In the same line, as more people communicate over screens, extra letters may be added to certain words to add emphasis: “Mom, it’s fiiiiine.”  Adding the letters convey, to me at least, an attempt to be sarcastic or rude.

Many people do not identify themselves as many in my generation did. The use of more inclusive pronouns and descriptors such as the gender-neutral they/them — is becoming more and more common. Several grammar authorities including the Associated Press and the Chicago Manual of Style now recognize the singular “they” as the default pronoun over “he.”

In punctuation news, the misuse of the apostrophe — such as “its versus it’s” — has become more common than its proper use; exclamation marks are becoming a common courtesy, and using a period can make or break the tone of your messages.

While this may cause grammar purists to shake their heads in dismay, these “lang-mods” seem to be here to stay. Language is evolving and over time what we see as lazy, rude or impertinent will be seen as normal. Formal writing will still be needed to help keep things clear, but formal writing may be seen as the fine point, and not read by many. I struggle with the new grammar and hope that It goes away, but I know it won’t.