There was an interesting post on the Atlantic Monthly blog yesterday spotlighting efforts by Buzzfeed’s editors to reign in spelling discrepancies among its stable of authors. The web is an incredible source of new slang and jargon and arguments about how to spell these new additions to our language. Consider your own position on things like:
- “website” vs. “web site”
- “email” vs. “e-mail”
- “LOL” vs “lol”
In much the way that the older media companies–such as the New York Times, the Associated Press, book publishers, etc.–have had to develop rules for its writers to follow over the decades, so too are exclusively online-only media companies like Buzzfeed having to try to come up with some standardization to spelling for the web-centric jargon that they heavily rely on.
Things to think about (and maybe comment on):
- Can you think of other style guides out there?
- What are some other places where you see new language and slang being documented or debated?
- Is spelling ever settled for good? If so or if not, why?
I believe that having a type of “spell check” is a pretty good idea for authors on the internet. Especially for writers for blogs such as buzzfeed or elitdaily and other internet publications. When there is proper spelling and grammar the reader is more inclined to look at such articles in a more respectable manner. However i don’t think minor differences in how email or lol is spelled will make a huge impact it still however creates a sort of dictionary within the online world of how things are meant to be spelled.
The “proper” English language has been always been debated on to determine which words are proper and which are not. Back in high school, I remember my friends and I would visit websites such as http://www.urbandictionary.com to keep updated with the newest lingo/slang (at not to mention, for some laughter). Urban Dictionary, in my opinion, is nothing more than an informal repository of “words” created by the public. Clearly, more reputable sites and sources, such as the Oxford Dictionary, are better known to be the rulebook for the English language. It is interesting to point out that words like such as “Tweet”and “iOS”, which were once part of Urban Dictionary are now part of the Oxford Dictionary and the Standard English language. Ironically, as I am typing this post, my browser’s spell check still shows that “Tweet” and “iOS” are nonexistent/misspelled words.