Page 957 - Wordsmith A Guide to College Writing
P. 957
Slang and Textspeak
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Avoid slang and textspeak in academic writing.
People enjoy using slang because it is informal, up to the minute, and
fun. Textspeak is the abbreviated language that people use to send
text messages on cell phones or online in chat rooms. Just as a
common language is a bond among those who speak it, so is slang or
textspeak a bond among the members of the groups that use it. Yet
the very things that make slang and textspeak appealing make these
types of language unsuitable for writing to a broad audience.
Writing requires a common language and is usually more formal than
conversation. Slang expressions are informal and tend to go out of
date quickly. No writer wants to use words that may be out of date and
even laughable years later. Slang expressions such as the bee’s
knees, hunky-dory, and daddy-o may have sounded up to the minute
decades ago, but now they are relics of another time.
Textspeak is a relatively new form of abbreviated written language
that is mainly used in text messages and sometimes in emails, online
