I wonder whether professional (human) editors will be needed in the future. With legions of texters inventing shortcuts (u, y, wut, sup, luv, dont, kthxbai, no, ik, idk), spelling "errors" are not only tolerated but admired and quickly propagated. And in cases where correct spelling does matter, sophisticated spellcheckers in the background supply the tedious brainwork. Y do u need 2 no? It either doesn't matter or will get fixed.
If your only goal as a writer is to communicate as quickly as possible, where does that goal logically lead? Will the written word be reduced to the shortest combination of symbols that can be understood by the most readers? How will that reduction play in different genres, geographies, and generations? In the future, will anyone be around to clean up in accordance with now-ancient rules of spelling, pronuniciation, and grammar?
That's why we still need people like me. I'm a professional (human) editor, and this is my blog. Welcome!
About me
- Gretchen
- Cary, NC, United States
- I love language. I love the way it looks on the page, sounds on the ear, feels on the tongue.... I even love all the little rules that govern its use.
And when I see language being misused as a blunt instrument just to get a point across ("You understood me, right? Why do I have to spell it right or pronounce it right or use exactly the right word...?), I cringe. Does that make me a purist, a preservationist, or just a persnickety pain?
If a player walks up to home plate with a 5-iron ("Hey, it's a stick to hit a ball...why does it matter that I use the 'right' one?"), what would baseball lovers say? Something unprintable, no doubt. But their love of the game the way it's supposed to be played is the same as my love of language. So let's look at the way language is supposed to be played.
Language lovers, unite! Or play ball! Or whatever...just help keep proper language in play.
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