As in this sentence, what does the word "bizerk" mean. It is not in my dictionary.
"Okay wow, now i am just ranting, please forgive me, sometimes I get all worked up and I go bizerk...."
Not even M-W could handle this spelling of
berserk. This is what AHD has to say:
http://www.bartleby.com/61/66/B0206600.html
Dear acasey,
This seems to me to be typical of the type of shorthand spelling that (young) people use to chat on the internet. It appears that things are shortened and spelled phonetically, without regard to linguistic history.
I have been thinking a lot about this, how language and spelling/grammar (de-)evolves through popular usage, and I really think the impact of chat (and pop culture in general, e.g. rap) is going to be dramatic, most likely sooner rather than later. Did this come to you in an internet communication? While I'm inclined to get upset about the trend, I guess it's just a fact of getting older....
Of course, having graduated from Bizerkeley, it may mean something else all together!
maria
I wanted to post this story elsewhere on AWAD, but couldn't find it a few days ago. Evidently, it's still only available in vidoe. But this is a n even more appropriate spot for it. It's an NBC News special report entitled "Instant Messaging Alert' about the new abbreviated IM language being adopted by this generation of teens and it's overall affect on the direction of the English language. A must for any true linguaphile, a fascinating report. It's only 2:20 long. Here's the link (after the page comes go to "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" and click on the final link, "Instant Messaging Alert" this will bring up the video (disregard that obnoxious Microsoft ad, its only about 3 seconds long):
http://www.msnbc.com/m/v/video_news.asp?0dm=C1HPV
A long time ago I saw erroneous etymology of "berserk" alleging that it came from
"bare sark = nude" meaning fighting with no clothing or armor on.
Juan,
That is exactly what I was talking about! It wasn't email; it was IM, instant messaging. Thank you so much for that link. As an amateur anthropologist, I am fascinated with all things involving cultural (and physical) evolution, and this major shift is right under our nose. And the way that things are picking up speed nowadays, I don't think it will be long before this new version of 'Esperanto' is accepted. Babyboom II is on the way, and they will surely push us AWADies aside! I guess the good news in all of this, as the middle aged English teacher stated, is that she was fearful that the younger generation would stop communicating through the written word altogether, and this has at least postponed that fateful day!
Onward!
Maria
Wasn't there a similar sort of flap last year or the year before about SMS-ing? And IM is hardly news, but going by the other contents of the page, it looks like a recent report.
Bingley
It was a somewhat enforced absence as I was in hospital over Christmas being treated for kidney stones.
I think SMS stands for Short Message System, but I am open to correction on this point. You can type a message into a handphone and then send it to someone else who has a handphone. Very popular, as it costs much less than actually phoning someone. The point is, all the things that the extract was saying about IM's eventual deleterious effects on the language with l8r and so on were said a couple of years ago about teenagers using SMS.
Bingley
> so on were said a couple of years ago about teenagers using SMS.
But SMS (aka texting) is still rather new in the US, Bingley. An entrenched part of life everywhere else on the planet, but not yet so ubiquitous in the States. I think the fractured cellphone market there may have something to do with that. It is quite amusing to read US tech columnists discussing the rise of the SMS phenomenon, just as the rest of the world starts contemplating MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service/System)
Here's a Message Board Abbreviation Dictionary I happened to find while surfing tonight. Handy to have, actually:
http://ad-free-message-board.com/abbreviations.html
Good to see you.