# dumbing down in email communication **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758 "2006-01-06T17:23:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/1 "2006-01-06T17:23:00Z")
it must be the trend these days to write as if you barely made it through grade school. It’s fast, creative (communicating phonetically, using invented acronyms, etc.). I’m guilty of it, too. But, when my sister-n-law (working on her Phd) emails me, I’m always shocked with her communication and feel annoyed at the obligation (just a feeling I get) of responding the same way. I’ve read some of her papers, at her request, and while I’m no authority on writing whatsoever, I found them a little sloppy in content and organization. Nonetheless, she’s sought after in the academic community in her country (Taiwan) and once she’s completed her Phd, she’ll be launched into a lucrative career. To say the least, everyone is very proud of her. So, why is this petty little oversight irritating me so much? ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/2 "2006-01-06T17:32:12Z")
> [@pace](#): > > it must be the trend these days to write as if you barely made it through grade school. It’s fast, creative (communicating phonetically, using invented acronyms, etc.). I’m guilty of it, too. But, when my sister-n-law (working on her Phd) emails me, I’m always shocked with her communication and feel annoyed at the obligation (just a feeling I get) of responding the same way. I’ve read some of her papers, at her request, and while I’m no authority on writing whatsoever, I found them a little sloppy in content and organization. Nonetheless, she’s sought after in the academic community in her country (Taiwan) and once she’s completed her Phd, she’ll be launched into a lucrative career. To say the least, everyone is very proud of her. So, why is this petty little oversight irritating me so much? I’ve seen countless examples of people who graduated near the top of their class who can’t communicate in an intelligent manner in writing. The schools don’t care enough to teach it early, and by the time they get to college, their professors probably figure they’d have to flunk the whold freekin’ school if they started grading people on their writing skills. The entire nation has dummed down. You, however, shouldn’t feel obligated to follow suit. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/3 "2006-01-06T18:04:56Z")
> [@pace](#): > > \ feel annoyed at the obligation (just a feeling I get) of responding the same way. \ Why do you feel obliged to respond the same way? I learned to type when I was twelve, and have typed for a large portion of every day for most of my life now. It would take more effort and concentration for me to type in all lowercase than it does to type normally. It doesn’t take so long to type out an entire word that it’s worth using a harder-to-understand abbreviation. I type the same way whether I’m typing up a business letter, an email to a friend, or an IM to my daughter. Not having to think about the context actually \*saves \* me time and effort. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/4 "2006-01-06T18:15:11Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > Why do you feel obliged to respond the same way? It’s not rational, but when I get a half-assed email from someone, I always feel snooty replying with complete sentences and proper spelling and punctuation. I’m always a little afraid they’re going to think I’m trying to make some kind of a point. The fact that I _do_ disapprove of their sloppy communication doesn’t ease the feeling. And, **pace** , the D is capitalized in PhD. Be sure to caplitalize it properly the next time you email your sister-in-law. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/5 "2006-01-06T18:31:42Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > It’s not rational, but when I get a half-assed email from someone, I always feel snooty replying with complete sentences and proper spelling and punctuation. I’m always a little afraid they’re going to think I’m trying to make some kind of a point. > > The fact that I _do_ disapprove of their sloppy communication doesn’t ease the feeling. > > And, **pace** , the D is capitalized in PhD. Be sure to caplitalize it properly the next time you email your sister-in-law. 🙂 Maybe you SHOULD be trying to make a point. Abbreviating in a text message is a necessary evil. Email affords the economy and space to do it right. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/6 "2006-01-06T18:39:31Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > It’s not rational, but when I get a half-assed email from someone, I always feel snooty replying with complete sentences and proper spelling and punctuation. I’m always a little afraid they’re going to think I’m trying to make some kind of a point. As my father always said, fuck 'em if the can’t take a joke. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/7 "2006-01-06T19:00:41Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > I learned to type when I was twelve, and have typed for a large portion of every day for most of my life now. It would take more effort and concentration for me to type in all lowercase than it does to type normally. It doesn’t take so long to type out an entire word that it’s worth using a harder-to-understand abbreviation. > > I type the same way whether I’m typing up a business letter, an email to a friend, or an IM to my daughter. Not having to think about the context actually \*saves \* me time and effort. With the exception of me being 13 at the time, that sums up my feelings precisely. It amuses me when someone sends me a “dumbed down” email, I respond in my usual manner, and their reply then seems of a much higher quality. It isn’t that I’m trying to force anyone into doing things my way, but frankly, I find well-composed email much easier to read. I honestly think that if more people stopped and read aloud what they had typed, 70-90%\* of grammatical errors in email would be fixed. \*Actual statistical percentages non-verifiable due to being arbitrarily pulled out of my ass ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/8 "2006-01-06T19:55:07Z")
I do it in IRC and other instant-message formats, too. I can’t help it, I _think_ in paragraphs and I type fast. It would take longer to distill into reductionary nuggets. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/9 "2006-01-06T20:17:46Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > It amuses me when someone sends me a “dumbed down” email, I respond in my usual manner, and their reply then seems of a much higher quality. It isn’t that I’m trying to force anyone into doing things my way, but frankly, I find well-composed email much easier to read. Same here. I, too, find that when I reply with fully formed and properly composed sentences and paragraphs, most people will respond likewise. This is good because I absolutely refuse to use leet-speak or other shortcuts. I actually find that it slows me down when I have to think about substituting ‘u’ for you, ‘r’ for are, etc. And I’ve actually given friends and family crap for writing to me in such a manner. They all think I’m a bit of a crank on the subject but that’s a cross I’m willing to bear. ---
**Author:** ![pace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c2a13f/32.png) [@pace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pace)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/10 "2006-01-07T02:39:17Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > … I always feel snooty replying with complete sentences and proper spelling and punctuation. I’m always a little afraid they’re going to think I’m trying to make some kind of a point. > > The fact that I _do_ disapprove of their sloppy communication doesn’t ease the feeling. > > And, **pace** , the D is capitalized in PhD. Be sure to caplitalize it properly the next time you email your sister-in-law. 🙂 I feel the exact same way. And I’ll certainly remember to capitalize the “D” in PhD–thanks for the reminder. ---
**Author:** ![Bernard\_Marx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@Bernard\_Marx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bernard_Marx)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/11 "2006-01-07T06:20:17Z")
> [@Kalhoun](#): > > I’ve seen countless examples of people who graduated near the top of their class who can’t communicate in an intelligent manner in writing. The schools don’t care enough to teach it early, and by the time they get to college, their professors probably figure they’d have to flunk the whold freekin’ school if they started grading people on their writing skills. The entire nation has dummed down. You, however, shouldn’t feel obligated to follow suit. There was recently a study done at the university I attended (in Aus.) and it turns out that a significant chunk of the supposed “cream of the crop” tertiary students are unable to write grammatically. I don’t mean they’re confused about when to use/not use an apostrophe, I mean they can’t construct a sentence. For example: > [@](#): > > Punctuation is strewn. Throughout the sentence randomly. I don’t know how anyone could look at that and not see how glaringly wrong it is, but apparently people can. I on the other hand am a grammar obsessive. I use semicolons in text messages. 😃 Now, I await notification of the many grammatical/typographic errors in this post. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/12 "2006-01-07T07:31:44Z")
> [@Bernard Marx](#): > > Now, I await notification of the many grammatical/typographic errors in this post. 🙂 I learned it this way so others would be able to read it easier. ( grammatical / typographic ) _You’re welcome._ ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/13 "2006-01-07T07:43:34Z")
pace - you sil is writing english as a second language. i think a little slack is in order. one thing, as i tap this out on my windows powered internet connected pocket pc, is that i don’t do caps & abbreviate where it’s easy. i’m sure crackberry users do the same. some of the dumbing down comes from using these smart devices ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/14 "2006-01-07T20:30:21Z")
> [@China Guy](#): > > one thing, as i tap this out on my windows powered internet connected pocket pc, is that i don’t do caps & abbreviate where it’s easy. i’m sure crackberry users do the same. some of the dumbing down comes from using these smart devices As a Crackberry user (although I’ve only posted on SDMB once with it), I don’t type any differently than I do sitting in front of my desktop pounding out an email. Sure, I can’t type as fast with it, but I’d rather make my messages more concise than to take grammatical or punctuation shortcuts. Most of the other folks in my office – a large majority of them being attorneys – also carry Blackberries. I’d estimate that maybe 75% of them skip some of the grammar/punctuation standards when they use them. Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s the younger attorneys who tend to type the same on the Blackberries as they do on their desktops. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2006, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dumbing-down-in-email-communication/338758/15 "2006-01-08T13:12:42Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > I do it in IRC and other instant-message formats, too. I can’t help it, I _think_ in paragraphs and I type fast. It would take longer to distill into reductionary nuggets. Exactly. People have asked my why I use capital letters and punctuation on irc, and the answer is always the same: it’s just easier for me. I have to concentrate to write badly.