"Rules Grammar Change"-Our Shapeshifting Language

The English speaking community has conformed and adhered to a certain set of rules regarding how to write and speak. Besides slight changes in grammar, the basic setup of a sentence has remained fairly constant: subject, verb, and then everything else. However, what would happen if these rules were to suddenly become obsolete? The Onion, poking fun at this idea, brings about a curious point. Under what circumstances should grammar rules change?

As we become a more electronic nation, our language becomes simpler and lazier. Slang words are appearing in dictionaries and certain acronyms such as “lol” are used in advertisement and other forms of communication. To a certain point this may be okay. But how far will we take this simplification until it becomes a permanent change? “Rules Grammar Change” may be an exaggeration, but the concept it portrays is a growing issue.

 Instant messaging, texting, and facebook have changed the dialogue of our generation and those below us. When comparing emails between our parents and ourselves, one may notice some striking differences: we use abbreviations, they don’t; we no longer capitalize appropriate words, they do. Some individuals go so far as to use instant messaging acronyms within formal text. The biggest rising issue, however, does not lie with our own generation but with that of our younger brothers and sisters. I have personally intercepted a note between my twelve-year-old sister and her friend that read, “i will c u 2morrow.” The young generations of today are abbreviating the English language beyond recognition, insulting all English scholars and those who spent the time to learn its rules.

Let pretend for one moment if such an occurrence described in “Rules Grammar Change” were to become real. Former texts, both scholarly and non-scholarly, would become as obsolete as those written in Old English. How will the nation deal with such change? Grade school children will have the easiest transition as they are currently learning grammar and language arts. Having just been through all of our schooling, our generation will struggle to accept such drastic changes. Like an older person refusing to learn how to use a cell phone, we will refuse any changes in the rules we studied so fervently or so long. Protesters will emerge, and the nation will split as it did in the 60s; however, this split will be due to a very different type of war.

Chaos and disarray will strike the nation if “rules grammar change.” Yet many do not realize that this exact thing is already happening at a much slower pace. As each generation becomes more technologically adept and ways of acquiring information become faster, our minds and our language become lazier and more compact. The Onion finds humor in the grammarian’s nightmare surrounding changing rules, yet we are already seeing the effect of such language barriers creating obvious rifts. Would your grandmother be able to decipher a text message between a friend and you? Small changes lead to larger changes, and grammarians across the nation must fight for the English language to maintain its glory days and prevent a younger generation with such a “strange, unintelligible way of speaking.”