# When Technology Changes Language **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 15, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692 "2022-08-15T13:24:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/1 "2022-08-15T13:24:26Z")
Apart from the trivial examples of new words being added to dictionaries (Internet, email, etc.), do you have examples of new technologies influencing the way we speak ? Back in the 90s, I remember a guy seated next to me saying over his then cutting-edge mobile phone “… I can’t tell you right now because I’m on the bus.” It was not the first time I’d heard a sentence like this in the previous couple of years and I remember finding it amusing that, before mobile phones, no one would have said “I’m on the bus” unless they were drunk or insane. We can all see you’re on the bus, man ! So, a perfectly grammatical sentence that had always been theoretically “utterable” but was [pragmatically](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pragmatics) pointless became totally acceptable thanks to a new technology. Can you think of other examples of the same phenomenon ? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/2 "2022-08-15T13:40:55Z")
“I’m still in New York. Let’s meet at the Royal Exchange in five hours.” ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/3 "2022-08-15T13:46:52Z")
If only the etiquette were widely accepted that when you’re on the bus, you don’t tell. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/4 "2022-08-15T16:09:10Z")
The mouse needs a new battery. Dial 9-1-1 (Mostly because of “dial,” which wasn’t a verb before dial phones were invented) Use the fob to start the car. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/5 "2022-08-15T16:25:04Z")
“We have to pick a conference session time that’s convenient for all the participants’ time zones.” ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/6 "2022-08-15T20:23:03Z")
“I took some great videos today on my phone and shared them on the cloud.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/7 "2022-08-15T20:46:38Z")
One that I find particularly fascinating is the word “pwn”. Normally, when a new word is coined, it starts out being spoken, before eventually making its way into print, at which point the writer needs to figure out how it’s spelled. And so you get uncertainties like whether a bandana worn over one’s hair is a “do-rag” or a “du-rag”. “Pwn”, though, was born in text, with one single unambiguous spelling, but it was in active use for a long time before anyone settled in on agreeing how it was pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2022, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/8 "2022-08-16T00:34:17Z")
I’m not sure it’s etiquette and concern for fellow bus passengers so much as “I’m unwilling to speak certain things where potentially hostile actors may overhear me and use the info to my detriment.” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/9 "2022-08-17T00:06:43Z")
I’ve been Zooming with my kids almost every Thursday night for two years. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/10 "2022-08-17T01:49:25Z")
When did “text” become a verb? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/11 "2022-08-17T01:52:08Z")
About 10 seconds before “txt” did. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2022, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-technology-changes-language/969692/12 "2022-08-17T03:48:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Pwn”, though, was born in text, with one single unambiguous spelling, but it was in active use for a long time before anyone settled in on agreeing how it was pronounced. It’s not the only word that comes from (mispelled) text before going to speech. _Filk_ and _teh_ did the same (and there’s probably other examples), although I’ll grant you they didn’t have the uncertainty of pronunciation.