
The rules of written English no longer apply to millennials - imartin2k
https://mashable.com/2018/04/02/millennials-written-english/
======
eesmith
What we see is a generation for which the ability to write, for informal
communication, is more important than ever before.

Sure, a few generations ago people wrote diaries and carried on
correspondence. But most people did not write dozens or hundreds of notes per
day.

I want to moderate the enthusiasm of that piece. Many of the forms of
expression are 100 or more years old. Telegraph and ham radio used some of the
same mechanics of 'stripping anything unnecessary from their writing'.

Using capital letters to make things stand out (eg, to express yelling or
satire) is also at least several generations old. Adding a Trademark Symbol™
is also not new nor specific to millennials.

It's definitely part of an in-group identity. Then again, all language is like
that, is it not?

The article ended with: Perhaps we should add "IRL conversations" to The
Official List of Things Millennials Destroyed.

That reminds of something which came up during the Pirate Bay trial in 2010.
Quoting from [https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-appeal-day-4-its-
fun...](https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-appeal-day-4-its-fun-to-
run-101004/) :

> Roswall, presumably trying to speak the same ‘language’ as the somewhat
> techie defendants, got tied up a little;

> “When did you meet [Gottfrid] for the first time IRL?” asked the Prosecutor.
> “We do not use the expression IRL,” said Peter, “We use AFK.” “IRL?”
> questioned the judge. “In Real Life,” the Prosecutor explained to the judge.

> “We do not use that expression,” Peter noted. “Everything is in real life.
> We use AFK – Away From Keyboard.” “Well,” said Roswall. “It seems I am a
> little bit out of date.”

------
ddingus
Personally, I find millennials playful and creative I this way.

My default has always been to respond on the channel I am contacted on. And
where that's a new thing, or casual, conversational, I evaluate the norms and
proceed.

Result?

I have more fun with language more of the time. No complaints. Emoji ended up
surprisingly expressive. I've had entire, meaningful exchanges with those
things.

Sometimes, just exchanging the feels makes sense. I wondered, for example, why
we have a bomb emoji.

"You are the bomb" Of course we have one!

My own contribution to this mess is line breaks for emphasis.

An example might be either:

option one makes sense

, or

option two

, but

one must always consider the x factor

, otherwise;

It's a raw mess.

Same for lists:

1) this item is blue

2) this item is green

3) this one needs explanation (Don't be concerned with smell, just color)

4) catch all.

Single sentence ideas, expanded and structured for brevity.

Language is fluid. We are entering a generational time. The last of the pre-
Internet people are aging out. This kind of thing is only beginning!

Celebrate it. I am. Fun times.

