Is internet slang becoming its own language

[Zhaveros]

Internet slang to me, reeks of laziness. First time I saw someone use h8 I almost gagged on it. I don't correct peoples spelling, but I don't enjoy reading it either. I am concerned that it will become part of English and the language will devolve and become harder for foreigners than it already is.

[Zaralis]

i Dizouvered a nuw langweiz newbs , cuz i got pwnage! C U's l8ter. But on a serious note: i dont mind when people use it , but i still like the good ol' real english.

[Elegiac]

i Dizouvered a nuw langweiz newbs , cuz i got pwnage! C U's l8ter. But on a serious note: i dont mind when people use it , but i still like the good ol' real english.

I think I just died a little on the inside.

[galluk]

Of course it will. People are doing more and more talking online, less and less talking face to face. Eventually, the world will be one, globalized language, derived mostly from the internet.

[DeltrusDisc]

As much as I hate admitting it, being a big English nerd.

Yes, yes it is.

like4reelzbro

[-Ethos-]

Thralls balls please no.

[Stormcall]

Internet slang makes me sick.

Does it really take that much more effort to type out "you" instead of "u"?

I don't abbreviate works to letters(so no "u" for "you" or "ur" for "your"), but acronyms do not bother me. "Brb" is fairly quicker than "be right back", especially if you're going back and forth so that you're having to say it with some frequency. Likewise, if something happens that you wanna get to quickly(your kid spills his drink, your dog decides that rather than letting you know he needs to go out, he's just gonna take a piss over on the washing machine) but don't wanna leave the other person hanging, "brb" is preferable to "be right back".

That said, I'd never use "brb" or "omg" or "wtf" or certainly not "lol" in regular spoken conversation. I do know people who do, though...

[Zhangfei]

I don't abbreviate works to letters(so no "u" for "you" or "ur" for "your"), but acronyms do not bother me. "Brb" is fairly quicker than "be right back", especially if you're going back and forth so that you're having to say it with some frequency. Likewise, if something happens that you wanna get to quickly(your kid spills his drink, your dog decides that rather than letting you know he needs to go out, he's just gonna take a piss over on the washing machine) but don't wanna leave the other person hanging, "brb" is preferable to "be right back".

That said, I'd never use "brb" or "omg" or "wtf" or certainly not "lol" in regular spoken conversation. I do know people who do, though...

I'm English so I prefer "I shall return shortly after I deal with the unfortunate event that has, sadly, upended my current gaming/life experience" but nobody even bothers with "ISRSAIDWTUETH,S,UMCG/LE" anymore.

[DeltrusDisc]

Fact of the matter is, I remember 7 years ago, people gave you crap for saying "lol" or "brb" in person... now?

People say anything and people don't think anything of it.

[Frostys99]

There are those who will always be resistant to change. The fact of the matter is a slow and gradual evolution is already occurring. Language just like anything evolves based on efficiency and productivity. If it's more efficient and conveys the same meaning then eventually it will become what was.

[Frozenbeef]

My 12 year old cousin constantly says stuff like "epic fail lolz" to her friends >.<

She also spells out "O.M.G" "W.T.F"

I use it online but it just seems weird to use it/ hear it in real life :S

[Durmindo]

No, Grammar Nazis abound keep us safe.

lol i don't know why i'm laughing so hard.

OT: Very unlikely

[Djuntas]

I sure hope not. People (Often me aswell) already have terrible english.

[Harpocrates]

need more details to properly answer. In some ways yes and some ways no

[Aceshigh]

Avari get off the forums.

No it will not become it's own language outside of the internet. It will influence the English langue more and more as time goes on though. In my 4 years of online gaming I have already notice a pretty large change in it.

[Wildtree]

need more details to properly answer. In some ways yes and some ways no

There really isn't more detail needed...
Will it become it's own language? The answer is NO.
It's a slang, and will remain just that. A slang. It's a dynamic slang, and in a constant change at a rather fast pace. That alone stands against the creation of a new language. Secondly, languages are entirely there to communicate. Any language we use as humans has 2 key components:
1 - Communication in writing - That would be possible.
2 - Communication with voice - That would be nearly impossible. Unless everyone accepts to sound like complete retards is the new normal.

It's what it is. Despite of the internet's popularity and importance. The online slang is for once inconsistent, and varies by platforms and communities. Plus, it's still rather a minority resorting to it.

[Thatwsntmilk]

YOLO will die because people that use it will die.

[Kendrel]

English Language BA on the go here, so I've done quite a lot of work on the definition of language, dialects etc and what separates them.

At the moment, it could be define as just a dialect at best at present, but most likely it would just be viewed as a different variety (distinctions between varieties, variations and dialects being quite prominent). Complications arise as, at the present form, it's largely a written form of English so subject to its own inherent rules and there has been little intrusion on verbal English except out of very niche areas. At the moment, internet English largely represents a more efficient variety of the language with words being streamlined for quick communication in an arena with caps on available characters.

It won't be long before it's recognised as a legitimate variety, but it won't replace or subvert any other versions of English outside of the internet realms, imo. Other forms of English are currently less recognisable to Westerners and still hold legitimacy in the realm of socio linguistics - Manglish, Singlish being 2 obvious choices.

[Anakso]

I don't think so, widespread keyboards on phones are killing of a lot of the unnecessary abbreviations I think. A few still stay like lol, rofl, imo, fyi, btw and so on but I don't think we'll really be seeing more develop since the need for them has kind of been erased. I don't think they really originated online since we always had keyboards on computers, they more originated from texting when you would have to press a number 3 times to get a certain letter.

So I don't think the current abbreviations are going to disappear any time soon, I mean it would be strange to type rolling on the floor laughing in full, but I don't think we're going to be seeing more of that language develop so it won't become it's own language.

[Joey Ray III]

omg yolo? never heard that before. that's pretty retarded ;(