Some call it bastardization; some call it social degradation. I call it evolution. Today I was reading an
article about the internet savvy Chinese. They have adapted various puns when on the internet. Take ‘88′, to
us english speaking crackers it’s just a number; even to the formal trained linguist of the orient, it’s a
number. But not for the text messengers. It turns out ‘8′ is pronounced ba. So put two 8’s together and you
get ba-ba. Sounds a lot like inky or winky ( or whatever the teletubbies names are) say goodbye right before
jumping down their trippy little rabbit hole.
I say good on them. It’s like vulgar language of the 60’s and like the ‘n’ word for Dave Chappelle and rap.
It’s evolution, it’s word play. There has always been a verbal and written language. Take a look at Carmina
Burana. A bunch of young teens writing in the formal written
verse about sex and drugs and alcohol (Gasp!) ? And Shakespeare inventing words that are still used to this day, oh my!
People need to play with language, they need to experiment and try new things. Hell english alone is one of
the choppiest, band-aide languages out there. And it’s evolving. And just because people are using it in
internet slang doesn’t mean it will end up being formal. Do you think for a moment that the common folk of
the late 1500’s – early 1600’s actually spoke like the play’s? No…but they understood, just like we do now.
So I say good for them, and good for all of those out there that are pioneers and play with words.