Tuesday, August 11, 2009

I'm not alone anymore!

It has long been a premise of mine that the Internet (and modern technology in general) has led to a decline in language. Think about l33t-speak and txt usage. It's a far cry from the standard language used just a few decades ago. This article from Least I Could Do supports this argument, as well as the decline of communication in general.

From the article:
I’ve talked before about the demise of written language, largely due to the internet. With symbols, shorthand and ‘leet speak’ so common online, I can only shudder in horror at the thought of how future generations will write to each other.


http://forums.leasticoulddo.com/index.php?showtopic=29882

Who's giving orders around here?

Kotaku's Mike Fahey wrote an article about the upcoming NERF sequel for Wii. His article finishes with the following quote:

Looks for NERF 2 to hit store shelves this fall.

As a language teacher, I understand some of the difficulties students have with using command forms. In English, it's relatively simple. Omit the subject, but the verb still has to match the omitted subject. The only subject to take an -s ending in English is the 3rd person singular (he/she), which also is one of the only subjects that cannot be used with command forms!

Source: http://kotaku.com/5310004/ea-re+nerfs-the-wii

Monday, August 10, 2009

What time is it? Time to check your tenses!

This story got reported on a few websites. Apparently a college professor researched online communities by playing an aggressive character in City of Heroes. Kotaku reported it thusly:

Sticking strictly within the game's rules, Myers nevertheless quickly set about making himself unpopular by...doing what the game advertising itself as allowing people to do: create a superhero and battle other superheroes.

I don't think the game ever "advertising" itself, but "advertised."

Source: http://kotaku.com/5308780/college-professor-trolls-for-science-finds-people-hate-him

Don't leave me hanging!!

From roosterteeth.com:

You probably want to find out more about my radical new technique. Don't worry, I'm planning on writing my thesis about.

You always hear grammar nerds saying how you shouldn't end a sentence with a prepostion. This isn't exactly one of those cases. Rather, the problem here is ending the sentence with a preposition because they left out the object of the preposition. I think it's safe to assume that he's writing his thesis about the "radical new technique" referenced in the previous sentence, but it could just as easily be something completely different.

Source: http://roosterteeth.com/viewEntry.php?id=1378