One of the major criticisms of younger generations is our laziness in language. With tweet character limits and text messaging, our words are continuously chopped up into bits, and we appear to have poor grammar. We also appear to be losing our ability to speak eloquently. While these things are considered flaws, they’re actually a fascinating example of the evolution of language, which has been occurring since the dawn of language itself.

First, we seem to be lacking punctuation, especially commas and periods. This appears lazy, but a lack of punctuation in social media has, in fact, become a form of punctuation. Punctuation is just a way of communicating the tone or nature of what a person is saying. If we can do that without punctuation, why bother?

If I’m telling a story and I ramble on and on without punctuation, the words merge together to express the nature of a continuous flow of words that convey an urgency to quickly tell the story. In instances like this, while it may be grammatically incorrect, you can almost read the narrator running out of breath. That’s the point. Each period or coma is like taking a breath. If I’m ranting, or quickly trying to communicate something of urgency, I will be taking as few breaths as possible.

Another example is using the word “like” when telling a story, which young adults get called out for constantly. The word “like” allows the storyteller to summarize an event or dialogue without having to quote word-for-word and still get the point across. “Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice was like, I can’t love you because you got my sister dumped. You look down on my family, and your pride is stupid cause no one likes you.” As opposed to having to memorize the entire quote from the book, the example paraphrases it. Using the word “like,” makes it clear that these were not the actual words used.

Due to character limits and communication through instant messaging, people are actually getting better at communicating their points in more efficient ways. U may b annoyed w/ how this is spelled but u stl know wat Im saying. In fact, fascinatingly, some of these shortened words convey different meanings, especially for the word “what.” “What” “wat” and “wut” all have different uses. “What” is typically used at the beginning of a literal question and in more traditional cases. “Wat” is less of a question and more of an exclamation that doesn’t require an answer. “Wut” does require a response, but is meant to show extreme confusion beyond what the traditional spelling could convey.

Language only remains the same over time if it’s dead. If you were to see words from old English, you probably wouldn’t understand the context. Old English and Middle English are both fundamentally different languages from modern English. I think most of us would agree that our current model of English is easier to use than what people were used years ago. So what’s wrong with continuing to keep an open mind to further the evolution?

On top of everything, it’s important to bear in mind that English and writing classes are still required in high school and college. Essays are still assigned, resumes still need to be made, and so our abilities to write properly are not diminishing, regardless of whether we utilize them. The point of language is to have the tools to share thoughts, whether that be through abbreviated or traditional means. Just because people now have the ability to express thoughts without needing to spell them out completely doesn’t mean we can’t use proper grammar if we need or want to.

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