Question...

[Olivia Bauer]

Wut do u th1nk uv ppl who tipe leik dis?

[Sister Grace]

I think they don't know how fast I delete their text messages. Down here, when you get pulled over the first thing a cop  does is check your text messages. I would at least want my criminal friends to appear halfway intelligent....
hahah.

[Jack]

I hate that crap.  Takes half as long to type so the recipient can spend three times as long trying to decipher it.  And if someone types like that, what they've got to say is never worth reading anyway.

[Sister Grace]

I hate that crap.  Takes half as long to type so the recipient can spend three times as long trying to decipher it.  And if someone types like that, what they've got to say is never worth reading anyway.

a word i never use, but.... "amen"

[Rev. Powell]

When I see someone write in textspeak in a public forum, I conclude they're young and clueless about the wider world.  Not understanding that your particular slang/jargon isn't universal is either a sign of low intelligence or, more charitably, simple inexperience. 

[bob]

I hate that crap.  Takes half as long to type so the recipient can spend three times as long trying to decipher it.  And if someone types like that, what they've got to say is never worth reading anyway.

I completely agree.

[ghouck]

It depends. I see everyone's points, but there is a place for it I feel. Obviously it only fits where both sender and recipient are comfortable with it. It's used in gaming a bit, where one needs to get a message out fast, and other people generally know what is meant even with the misspellings and abbreviations.

That said, there's really three different methods being used in AJ's example. "wut", "u", and "ppl" are shorthand so to speak, just used to save time. "tipe" and "leik" are just misspellings, and "th1nk", "dis", and "uv" is just crappy, stupid netspeak. I see the situation where 'shorthand' is useful, and if time is an issue, then many misspellings are OK to leave be. It all depends on the environment, the 'rules' get looser in a private setting.

[Psycho Circus]

Wut do u th1nk uv ppl who tipe leik dis?

Idiots, that are rapidly destroying their language and literary skills, who also have no patience. Not only does my sister type like that, she talks like that too! 

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Wut do u th1nk uv ppl who tipe leik dis?

Idiots, that are rapidly destroying their language and literary skills, who also have no patience. Not only does my sister type like that, she talks like that too! 

When I was teaching I had students turn in assignments with these spellings.  They didn't know which was the real way to spell.
-Ed

[RCMerchant]

As a cartoonist, I sometimes type certain words phonetically-such as "I think Imma gonna puke!" or "Yew gotta purdy mouf!"
But not the abbreveation crap. (I DO have a BIG spelling problem with certain words.)

[indianasmith]

I weep for the trashing of the language of Shakespeare and Churchill.

[Paquita]

Bah I hate it!  OK sometimes I use "cuz" or "cos" – I don't even know where "cos" came from, it doesn't make sense, but I just picked it up.  I always try to make a point to spell things out, if anything just so I don't forget how to spell!  Even when I played World of Warcraft I would spell stuff out, sometimes ignoring a random typo in the best interest of time, but even then I typed a lot faster than those abbreviating douchey gamers.  Although, I will purposely type like a douche when I'm pretending to be someone else, but that's all in good fun!

As a cartoonist, I sometimes type certain words phonetically-such as "I think Imma gonna puke!" or "Yew gotta purdy mouf!"
But not the abbreveation crap. (I DO have a BIG spelling problem with certain words.)

RC you make a good point!  I don't mind misspelling in a casual setting such as a forum if it is to portray how you actually speak.  Now I know I'm no historian,  and I know I'm putting my intellect on the line here which can be dangerous, but I believe before the widespread use of the printing press and the standardization of spelling, literature was written as it was spoken by the writer and that was completely acceptable as an intelligent way of writing.  I always like reading old poems and stories that are kept in their original written form because it gives a little glimpse into the dialect of a certain region and time period.  It kind of makes the modern way of writing seem stiff and boring.  That's why I never really pay much mind to misspellings, especially when they're obviously phonetic mistakes.

I do like BFF though, only because I can say it stands for Big Fat Friend.  And WTF because I don't like to swear.

[Sister Grace]

I weep for the trashing of the language of Shakespeare and Churchill.

I had to take Ebonics my sophomore year at UT. Of four and a half year of college, that was the lowest score I have ever received in the entire history of my education.

[indianasmith]

You were required to take a course in a laguage that does not exist?
What the heck was your major?

[Leah]

here's what I think:
1)

2) I sometimes talk like DIS, but I don't give a rats ass about leet talk at all. If I text, it's usually with WORDS, not abbreviations! It's even more embarassing when a figgen English 3 student uses leet in their essays. I'm not an English teacher, but that there is a big ol' F-