I can't understand what you're saying!

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I have a big favor. I know that in texting writing "ur" or "2" for to is acceptable. But honestly, when you post like that, I don't understand what it is your trying to say. I usually just skip over the whole post, because it looks like gibberish to me. Please, this is a nursing forum, not facebook. Can we write in standardized English so we can ALL understand the content? Thank you.

Specializes in CDI Supervisor; Formerly NICU.
"Your" changed to "you're" in thread title. Just had to do it. Whew! I feel better now.
Ok, but now you have to do it to all of them.
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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
while i agree about the textspeak, sometimes i have to wonder if we're a bunch of old fogies.:oleslie
No. It isn't just the older people. I am young, and I dislike text language. It is so juvenile and lazy.
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I'm not a big fan of text speak myself, and if a poster starts to get obnoxious with it I simply move on.

What I find a bit comical though is that the medical profession itself uses it's own unique brand of abbreviations not found in any proper English class that I know of, not to mention an over abundance of penmanship so poorly executed even the most hardcore of first graders would shudder......yet we get our panties in a bunch on an informal, off the clock, online forum over proper usage of "you're", "your", and "you are". :rolleyes:

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Specializes in Med/Surg, DSU, Ortho, Onc, Psych.

Oh come on! This is getting a bit ridiculous.

The word 'and' has been abbreviated for years as '&'.

And I for one hurt my shoulder not long ago, '&' still want to enjoy using the board, so I try to type a bit differently, though I try not to use too many abbreviations.

Most of us know what 'pt, MAR & meds' stands for.

I do agree that using txtspeak all the time is annoying, I can't understand abbreviations all the time.

But we also use contractions like 'can't' now. In my mums day you were not allowed to use them in essays etc.

The world has changed & will continue to change, I think the TOS need to be changed to keep up with the times.

The world has changed peoples and it probably won't change back.

I ask the moderators to put up a gentle reminded re using too many abbreviations before posting or have a reminder that pops up automatically. If people fail to comply do not post their query/queries.

And AN is NOT professional sometimes, I have to really disagree with that, it is a venting site with some education material posted in, it is not a professiona journal by any means. I would say it is a semi-professional site for all and anyone - who aren't nurses - to vent and have their say on just about anything.

And people use txt speak on phones to save money on the characters you use, as you get charged for more characters you use.

Get with the times peoples.

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Abbreviations are not the same as textspeak. They just aren't. Using the ampersand (&) is not the same as using "u." It just isn't.

Using "can't" and "DVT" and "appy" and "PRN" is different from saying, "U no I don't want 2 c hr 2day."

As for AN not being a "professional" site, the desire is to maintain a fairly professional atmosphere as compared to many un-moderated (or poorly moderated) sites where anonymity seems to bring out the worst in members.

For the present, textspeak is not something we are happy to see. An occasional usage isn't going to bring down the ceiling, but someone who posts a lot in text shorthand might be asked to spell things out in the future.

Is it worth the couple of seconds you might save to have many members take your message a little less seriously, or at least have to get past the initial impression textspeak creates? That is not to say everyone has to be all formal and precise. There is plenty of room to be casual within limits. Still, I would think most people would want to present themselves and their posts with their best foot forward.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

1337 5p34k or "leet speak" is still okay though right? I mean it's mostly English.:D

While where are talking languages do you know somebody who can understand the binary language of moisture vaporators?

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1337 5p34k or "leet speak" is still okay though right? I mean it's mostly English.:D

While where are talking languages do you know somebody who can understand the binary language of moisture vaporators?

I have no idea what you just said, please splain??? :bugeyes:

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.
There's a difference between commonly accepted computer shorthand (lol, irl, fwiw) and textspeak. Computer shorthand is an efficient way of communicating long words and phrases. OTOH, Textspeak in a forum that has no 140 character limitation is often just laziness or bad habit. Writing "u" instead of "you" doesn't save much space or effort for the aggravation it creates.

I use twitter quite a bit. Very few people "tweetshrink" (a program that would change longer sentences to fit 140 characters like "RU4rl?"). You're forced to clarify, distill your language, or realize that particular thought wasn't so earth shattering anyway and scrap the whole thing. Can you imagine Roger Ebert replacing (actual tweet below)

"In the Land of Blood and Honey." Angelina Jolie's directing debut about sectarian violence in Bosnia. My review
.

with n d lnda bld n $ etc? srsly gmab! N pls don't do tHiS sTuFf e1TheR!

I know my grammar isn't perfect and consider punctuation more an art form than a set of rules - (eek! improper use of a hyphen) so I don't correct other people. When I've been in a hurry I've mistakenly used you're in place of your, etc - but it comes down to a question. Who are your intended readers?

Do you only want those who use the letter "d" for the word "the" to read it and/or reply? Do you want to irritate most of the people here so much they wouldn't read/reply to your post even if they had the perfect solution to your problem? I see it as in my interest to cast as wide a net as possible if I'm to get the most benefit from posting here.

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I'm not a nurse after a certain hr, the I'm just me, and I use "ur" for you're. And so on. I'm down to earth and keep it real no facade. I speak clearly, properly, and correctly well over 40 hours a week. I'm home now. Glad to meet you all tho.

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Question: how will ever learn to read my Dr's writing, so I will know what she's asking me to do for the patient?

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What does that have to do with asking AN members not to use textspeak in a forum where they don't have character limits? This isn't a rant against all abbreviations--just the bad habit of using text shorthand in a forum where it has proven to be more irritating than useful.

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I did not read all the posts, but I think some are using "text speak" because they are on ipads, iphones, other smallish devices and typing is sometimes difficult. But I agree, we all should use standard Engling. Thank you for reminding me of that agreement.

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