Noooooooo!

I knew this day would come, but not quite so soon. Text-speak has officially been entered into the dictionary. No, seriously - right here.

Now, sure, being internet-savvy, I like my LOL's and my ROFL's and my BTW's well enough. But do I think they should be legitimized as actual words? Or should start to be seen as some sort of substitute for "real" language? Umm, no. Not at all.

My worry, of course, is that text-speak will creep in to my students' formal essays (it already has! I've seen rampant use of "u" instead of "you!"). And that this generation of readers/learners/texters will rely SO heavily on abbreviated versions that they'll begin talking in them. *imagines a funny conversation occurring, with "LOL" being spoken in place of actual laughter*

Something else that's occurring? A book-less library. (<--oxymoron?). That's right. A library filled only with....chairs and tables. No books. No tall shelves that house rows and rows of glorious literature. Instead, the books are digitalized. The wave of the future?? I certainly hope not. Because I still enjoy the sensation of having a book in my hands, turning the pages, smelling that new-book smell. *imagines a future world in which children point to a hardcover book and say - "Mommy, what's THAT?!"*

I guess I'm just an old-fashioned, old soul. I don't like these changes that are a'coming, though I know I'm powerless to stop them....