My first sorry attempt to write about the perils of social media strove to answer the question, "Who are we and how did we get here?" As you can see from that post and from the follow up, there is no easy answer. In fact, I'm not even sure if there is an answer, for I still do not know the whole answer and nothing but.
Here is what I do know: I am me, you are you and the folks looking in on our conversation from some undisclosed location (but let's face it, it is most likely their living rooms, where they are spending their time lurking in on us and not socializing with their families) are just plain creepy.
But once again, as is my MO, I have severely digressed.
(And that's modus operandi, not Missouri.)
Anywho, what is clear from our trample through Social Mediasville is that we have developed this obsession with contractions. In many cases, this obsession has triggered the compulsion to make up our own contractions.
(And yes, I do have Conjunction Junction in my head, as you probably do now that I mentioned it.)
Take UR, for instance.
Those who paid the least bit attention during the K-12 years of school might remember something about some city named Ur that has some sort of historical significance. A quick Google search confirms that Ur sits in the heart of Mesopotamia in what is now southern Iraq. While I'd love to elaborate on this Sumerian hotbed of activity during the time of the Great Flood, I'll leave you to your own devices to read about it on Wikipedia. Don't trust Wiki? Read about it on About.com, where you will also note that there is a Memphis, Egypt in addition to Memphis, TN. I doubt the ribs and blues are as good in the former as they are in the latter, but c'est la vie.
And if you click about further from the Wiki site, you can test the trustworthiness of mainstream media or see what the folks who know a thing or two about history and care enough to partake in preservation have to say on the matter of Ur.
I fear, though, that all of this rich history will soon be forgotten by the unfortunate occurrence of ur.
"UR" is a word in the new form of language that has evolved with the growth of social media. Ur grew out of the need to lessen and degrade our language even further into this pit of symbols formerly known as words. It is what happens when two letters that should not be conjuncted are juncted in order to make an even shorter contraction. As Urban Dictionary tells us, the occurrence of ur can be just as confusing as the existence of your. Really, the existence of your should not be confusing, unless of course, you failed to pay the least bit attention in the K-12 years.
UR can mean "you are." For instance, if I wanted to say, "You are amazing for making it this far in this post," I might be tempted to write simply, "UR GR8." And if this were twitter and I still had 134 characters to play with in my UR GR8 Twitterese, I might want to follow that with !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for emphasis.
(Go ahead and count 'em. I dare you.)
Ur also can mean "your." For instance, if I wanted to say, "Your OCD has become apparent by the fact that you are still counting those exclamation points," I might write simply, "Ur a spaz!" But of course, that would be an incorrect use of Ur, so instead, I should probably have written, "Ur OCD is spaz!"
Further, Ur might be a stand in for "yer," which we all know is the hick way of saying "your" or "you're." And before you get offended, dear delicate soul, please note that I also consider myself a hick and can wear that badge proudly. Although, I must admit that it would sound more British and sophisticated if you would refer to me as an unsophisticated, boorish, and provincial person.
Or not.
So there you have it--the English language, which is one of the most difficult to learn thanks, in part, to our obsession with homonyms, has been further complicated by the existence of shorter, more confusing, contractions.
Thx, social media. Thx a lot.
(Show of hands--who got through that without clicking a hyperlink? I knew it!)
Here is what I do know: I am me, you are you and the folks looking in on our conversation from some undisclosed location (but let's face it, it is most likely their living rooms, where they are spending their time lurking in on us and not socializing with their families) are just plain creepy.
But once again, as is my MO, I have severely digressed.
(And that's modus operandi, not Missouri.)
Anywho, what is clear from our trample through Social Mediasville is that we have developed this obsession with contractions. In many cases, this obsession has triggered the compulsion to make up our own contractions.
(And yes, I do have Conjunction Junction in my head, as you probably do now that I mentioned it.)
Take UR, for instance.
Those who paid the least bit attention during the K-12 years of school might remember something about some city named Ur that has some sort of historical significance. A quick Google search confirms that Ur sits in the heart of Mesopotamia in what is now southern Iraq. While I'd love to elaborate on this Sumerian hotbed of activity during the time of the Great Flood, I'll leave you to your own devices to read about it on Wikipedia. Don't trust Wiki? Read about it on About.com, where you will also note that there is a Memphis, Egypt in addition to Memphis, TN. I doubt the ribs and blues are as good in the former as they are in the latter, but c'est la vie.
And if you click about further from the Wiki site, you can test the trustworthiness of mainstream media or see what the folks who know a thing or two about history and care enough to partake in preservation have to say on the matter of Ur.
I fear, though, that all of this rich history will soon be forgotten by the unfortunate occurrence of ur.
"UR" is a word in the new form of language that has evolved with the growth of social media. Ur grew out of the need to lessen and degrade our language even further into this pit of symbols formerly known as words. It is what happens when two letters that should not be conjuncted are juncted in order to make an even shorter contraction. As Urban Dictionary tells us, the occurrence of ur can be just as confusing as the existence of your. Really, the existence of your should not be confusing, unless of course, you failed to pay the least bit attention in the K-12 years.
UR can mean "you are." For instance, if I wanted to say, "You are amazing for making it this far in this post," I might be tempted to write simply, "UR GR8." And if this were twitter and I still had 134 characters to play with in my UR GR8 Twitterese, I might want to follow that with !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! for emphasis.
(Go ahead and count 'em. I dare you.)
Ur also can mean "your." For instance, if I wanted to say, "Your OCD has become apparent by the fact that you are still counting those exclamation points," I might write simply, "Ur a spaz!" But of course, that would be an incorrect use of Ur, so instead, I should probably have written, "Ur OCD is spaz!"
Further, Ur might be a stand in for "yer," which we all know is the hick way of saying "your" or "you're." And before you get offended, dear delicate soul, please note that I also consider myself a hick and can wear that badge proudly. Although, I must admit that it would sound more British and sophisticated if you would refer to me as an unsophisticated, boorish, and provincial person.
Or not.
So there you have it--the English language, which is one of the most difficult to learn thanks, in part, to our obsession with homonyms, has been further complicated by the existence of shorter, more confusing, contractions.
Thx, social media. Thx a lot.
(Show of hands--who got through that without clicking a hyperlink? I knew it!)