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I am sick of seeing people use ‘lol’, ‘rofl’, ‘pmsl’, and such other abbreviations expressing the fact that something is funny when they are communicating on the internet. I mean, how many of them actually roll on the floor laughing when reading a post? It has become systematic and doesn’t mean anything. Now, even French people use it, do they actually know what it means? I doubt it. I agree that when chatting to someone on the internet on prefers to use lively language reflecting everyday conversation. However, these letters do not reflect anything at all. How difficult is it to type ‘that’s funny’? or even ‘ahah’? or just to put a smiley, which has more meaning than these few letters? At least a smiley does show an emotion and when I see the letters LOL, the smiley I want to use is :-x .
In fact, I despise abbreviations in general. I think they are a nuisance to communication. Language is already not a perfect tool, but if we use abbreviations the risk of misunderstandings is increased. I DO use abbreviations, but only to myself or in certain conventional ways, as in writing bibliographies. We already make spelling, grammar and typographical mistakes, with the addition of abbreviations the text often becomes unintelligible. Despite the fact that French is my native language, I often don’t understand what many French people say because of their use of the ‘abbreviated French language’ and I waste precious time trying to decipher what they actually mean. The same is true in English, however I’m a little bit more fluent in ‘abbreviated English’, it still drives me mad though. I do tolerate abbreviations in mobile phone texts for cost reasons, although I try to avoid them as much as possible. Yet, when one is typing on a computer keyboard, it is just a sign of laziness, it is disrespectful towards the person you are talking to and also towards the language you are using.
Rant over!
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I’m sorry, but I will have to start with a big scream for my country of adoption, Ireland. ‘Stop building the motorway through Tara!’.
For those of you who do not know Ireland, the Hill of Tara was the ancient seat of the High Kings of Ireland. It is one of the most significant heritage site in Ireland. A motorway is at this moment being built, which is supposed to go through the Tara-Skryne valley. I invite you to have a look at this BBC article to have an idea of what’s going on.
Basically, the debate goes between those who want to preserve the national heritage and those who wish for a motorway so that they can get to work faster. I do support the improvement of roads in Ireland, but I think it shouldn’t be to the detriment of the national heritage.
Since the economic boom, the Celtic tiger as it is called, the country has been ravaged by new buildings. Housing estates are sprouting everywhere and deteriorating the beauty of the Irish landscape. There doesn’t seem to be any laws to protect the national heritage, or if there are, there are not obvious to the common eye. The infrastructure of the country does need to be improved, but it should also be planned and thought through, which I think is not the case.
In my opinion, if the motorway goes through the valley, it means that there are no limits, anything can be done to the country!
If you wish to learn more about the situation at Tara, visit the Hill of Tara blog or the activists site. If you feel concerned, you can sign the petition here. Help to preserve one of the most beautiful countries in the world!
