You vs U

[Starbreaker]

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

 

[Cakes488]

Well...when I post from my phone on the weekends which is not often because it's time consuming -- I really do want to shorten my post any way I can....I don't though because of the peer pressure around here LOL. I don't want to spend time defending my use of U...

Also the younger set uses this with no problem....not even a question....

 

[Scout101]

i don't mind it too much, but only let it have a 'pass' when it's text messaging, and you're trying to shorten things up where you can.

What really annoys me is when 'tards LENGTHEN words. Like the folks that can't handle the word "lose", and type "loose" every time. Just plain old ignorance. Same with the folks that can't handle the "their, they're, there" and "your, you're" choices.

Non-English speakers get a break, but they are usually BETTER at this than the people that should know better. Honestly, it's -5 points off the top of your argument for me when you fail 3rd grade English...

 

[backstept]

I can't stand it.
if you're typing on a standard 12 button phone keypad it's understandable, but if you have a full qwerty keyboard, even on a phone, then you have no excuse

u rly have no excuse 2 make ur words shorter when ur typing on a computer lol

wow . . . that was harder than I expected it to be
what's funny is I always read things like that phonetically . . . like 'what are oo doing?' or 'urrrr taking too long!' makes the person sound stupid in my head

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

I have no idea. Even when I type an SMS on my phone (without query keyboard), I spell my words and sentences out exactly as I would write them in a letter. Even if it takes 6 SMS'es instead of 1 to do it. Unless I don't like the person, then I don't go through the trouble.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

I blame Prince.

 

[Omnius]

FWIW, "u" is formal Dutch for you. Dank u wel!

 

[Kestra]

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

I do it if I'm texting a friend and in a hurry. It's not about laziness for me.

 

[Chekov's Phaser]

It's bad enough on the internet or in a text message, but I've literally had to break some of my student's habits of doing these kinds of "shortcuts" on essays. Talk about

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

I do it if I'm texting a friend and in a hurry. It's not about laziness for me.

But the difference between typing "you" and "u" is literally a second or two. Unless it's a matter of life or death, the difference between the two is negligible.

By the way: sorry, I don't mean to pick on you, I've just heard this excuse a lot.

 

[backstept]

if I was a teacher and I got an essay with 'netspeak' in it I would either give it a failing grade, or make the kid re-type it and take like 10 points off

but I'm not a teacher as evidenced by my own horrible use of the language on the bbs
capitalization, sentence structure . . . bah who needs it?

 

[Kestra]

It's bad enough on the internet or in a text message, but I've literally had to break some of my student's habits of doing these kinds of "shortcuts" on essays. Talk about

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

I do it if I'm texting a friend and in a hurry. It's not about laziness for me.

But the difference between typing "you" and "u" is literally a second or two. Unless it's a matter of life or death, the difference between the two is negligible.

By the way: sorry, I don't mean to pick on you, I've just heard this excuse a lot.

Oh don't worry, I don't feel picked on. I think it's more the way that it adds up, for me? I often send lengthy text messages back and forth, or I have several people texting me at work at the same time. Or I'm in a situation where there really is a sense of urgency and even the perceived amount of time saved helps me in some way.

Then of course there are the moments that I'm trying to coordinate with people during one of my events and every second actually is precious. I don't care for texting in such professional scenarios, but I've found that sadly my colleagues do and have had to adapt to it.

Edit:
I just thought of another thing. I multi-task, a lot. My brain can handle switching back and forth rapidly between various tasks and subjects which require my attention, but I do think there's some sort of time limit there. If I get too invested in one thing, it is difficult to switch back to another. I know a second or two may seem negligible but it can save me time in the long run from having to shift my focus back to the task on hand. I don't know if that makes any sense; perhaps I am just wired differently.

 

[nevermore]

I actually don't mind when people do this. I find it saves me a great deal of time, as I then know that I do not have to read whatever it is they wrote.

 

[Cakes488]

It's bad enough on the internet or in a text message, but I've literally had to break some of my student's habits of doing these kinds of "shortcuts" on essays. Talk about

There is absolutely no excuse for putting the abbreviated words on any kind of essay, report whatever....for school or work. But this just proves how this is OK with the younger set. I think if you have a problem with it ...most likely you're over 30.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

The dumbing down of society. Similar to using "axe" instead of "ask".

 

[JustKate]

I actually don't mind when people do this. I find it saves me a great deal of time, as I then know that I do not have to read whatever it is they wrote.

There are times when one smiley simply isn't enough!

I hate it. HATE it. It's OK in a text message, I guess - well, it's not really OK, but I can sort of understand it. But here or in emails? Well...

OK, I can manage not judging someone based on race, creed or how much money they spend on their clothing, but using u instead of you when you have access to a full keyboard? That's several steps past where my tolerance reaches its limits.

 

[C.E. Evans]

We R watching English evolv n2 somting nu b4 R vry eyz...

 

[Kestra]

I'm somewhat surprised by the responses in this thread when I see posters here misuse language on a regular basis.

 

[Starbreaker]

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

The dumbing down of society. Similar to using "axe" instead of "ask".

I started saying axt as a joke recently thanks to Futurama, and sometimes I say it in public without realizing it now.

 

[TheLonelySquire]

What is the fascination with shortening a three letter word to a one letter word? It's only three freaking characters. Don't be lazy! I would think it actually takes more effort to remember to shorten it to 'u'.

The dumbing down of society. Similar to using "axe" instead of "ask".

I started saying axt as a joke recently thanks to Futurama, and sometimes I say it in public without realizing it now.

 

[trampledamage]

I'm somewhat surprised by the responses in this thread when I see posters here misuse language on a regular basis.

That depends on the misuse. Some people like to write their posts here as though it was dialogue, so are writing out how they would speak it - dropping the 'g's or, in my case, typing 'cause rather because, stuff like that.

Also, there are some commonly made spelling errors that happen because people type quickly and don't check their writing. I do know the difference between 'your' and 'you're' but my fingers don't always type what I want them too, and I don't always notice it