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<blockquote data-quote="Crimson" data-source="post: 330177" data-attributes="member: 5079">Still a form of communication, no?Language is elastic.&nbsp; Much of what you consider proper wouldn&#039;t have been at some point in the past; &quot;trendy&quot; was a slangy addition to the language in the mid-60s and someone probably groused about it.I&#039;m not pro-sloppy language, but I&#039;ve also come to find out that, far more often than not, it just doesn&#039;t matter that much.&nbsp; I don&#039;t know a person under 30 who uses capitalization or punctuation in casual communication (text, IM).&nbsp; On extremely rare occasions this might be confusing -- not sure if they&#039;re asking or telling me something, sometimes -- but usually it&#039;s easy enough to understand.&nbsp; Few things make someone seem as curmudgeonly as complaining about how other people write/talk.&nbsp; There are too many variables to expect conformity -- regional, generational, expediency.&nbsp;&nbsp; It&#039;s like sniggering at someone for using the wrong fork to eat a salad.Many people communicate verbally far more than in writing, and they do after all sound the same.&nbsp; For years, I couldn&#039;t understand why people would write &quot;could of&quot; until it finally occurred to me that they were mis-hearing &quot;could&#039;ve&quot;.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Crimson, post: 330177, member: 5079"] Still a form of communication, no? Language is elastic. Much of what you consider proper wouldn't have been at some point in the past; "trendy" was a slangy addition to the language in the mid-60s and someone probably groused about it. I'm not pro-sloppy language, but I've also come to find out that, far more often than not, it just doesn't matter that much. I don't know a person under 30 who uses capitalization or punctuation in casual communication (text, IM). On extremely rare occasions this might be confusing -- not sure if they're asking or telling me something, sometimes -- but usually it's easy enough to understand. Few things make someone seem as curmudgeonly as complaining about how other people write/talk. There are too many variables to expect conformity -- regional, generational, expediency. It's like sniggering at someone for using the wrong fork to eat a salad. Many people communicate verbally far more than in writing, and they do after all sound the same. For years, I couldn't understand why people would write "could of" until it finally occurred to me that they were mis-hearing "could've". [/QUOTE]

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