I found David Crystal’s remarks about the ‘language’ of texting in Words, Words, Words refreshing, having been in a couple of conversations recently where folks were complaining about it. “Texting language is totally appropriate for its setting” he says. And goes on to note “New genres add to the expressive potential of a language”. To illustrate he quotes the winners of The Guardian Text Message Poetry Competition, including:
I left my picture on th ground wher u walk
so that somday if th sun was jst right
& the rain didnt wash me awa
u might c me out of th corner of yr i & pic me up
(Emma Passmore)
Now, I hope that some libraries somewhere are collecting examples of texting as it seems to me that it is an important part of current cultural expression.
Indeed, I suggested in my remarks [ppt] at the LIBER Think Tank on the future value of the book artefact and the future value of digital documentary heritage [pdf] that The Urban Dictionary was an important cultural document which should be periodically captured. I have not checked if anybody is doing this ….
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