I like to fancy myself as hip to the times, even though some people might disagree. I have a smartphone. I use Twitter. Heck, I read Us Weekly, so you know I am in the know when it comes to all the stuff that truly matters. Or so I thought...
I came across this article and it shook me to the core. Because it turns out that perhaps some of my habits are a little antiquated, and I was none the wiser. Basically, this story is about what an old fuddy duddy you are if you put two spaces between sentences instead of one. Um, what? Here I've been, happily hitting the space bar two times after every sentence, when the rest of the modern world was lazily only doing it once and laughing at me for being so out of the loop. I guess those Us Weeklys aren't as educational as I thought.
And it got me thinking. Is this the beginning of the end for me? Does it start with an extra space and end with me, shaking my fist at the youth and cursing their new-fangled technology? I can't even imagine the stuff Anna is going to have access to as she grows up - the kid can practically beat the hardest levels on Angry Birds, and she's only fifteen months old.
Kids these days (See? It's already happening!) don't even know how to write the English language. Cursive handwriting isn't a subject in most schools. Text messaging has taught a whole generation how to communicate entirely in acronyms. OMG! LOL! U R OOC! Using the correct form of "there", "they're", or "their"? Forget about it.
So perhaps this does mean that I've officially reached the peak of my coolness. Because if I was clueless about the new rules regarding spacing, I don't even want to know what other things I'm happily oblivious to. And you know what? I tried to get on board with the whole one space thing, I really did. And I have to admit that it's just not for me. I'll leave all that crazy stuff to the young'uns.
Let's put it this way, if you are concerned with grammar being 'cool', perhaps you've already jumped the shark. I'll will say knowing when to properly use "their vs. they're" and "it's vs. its" is a sign of intelligence. I'd rather be intelligent than cool any day...
ReplyDeleteSee, I told you I read your blog!!
Don't feel bad until very very recently I always used the double space too. Another blogger kindly pointed out to me that it's not proper to do so when writing online. I'm feeling very fuddy duddy for even admitting that (shaking my fists above my head)!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you Leslie. I use two spaces and have my whole life (I'm doing it right now). To quote an old Drew and Mike sound-clip...It's the way I grew up and the way I'm gonna be! Actually, if enough people make fun of me, I may change my ways. The ridicule has already started.
ReplyDelete