評論
打印
You can't do that while you're texting, and so ways are developing of doing it within this medium.
你沒有辦法在短信里這么做，所以在這個交流媒介里產生了各種轉換話題的方法。
All spoken languages have what a linguist calls a new information marker -- or two, or three.
任何口語都有語言學家稱作的一個或者兩到三個的新信息標記詞（話題轉換詞）。
Texting has developed one from this slash.
短信用這個slash（斜線）作為一個新信息產生的標記。
So we have a whole battery of new constructions
于是我們有了這些充滿活力的新語言結構，
that are developing, and yet it's easy to think, well, something is still wrong.
然而人們還是很容易的認為，還是有問題。
There's a lack of structure of some sort.
它（短信）缺乏某種結構。
It's not as sophisticated as the language of The Wall Street Journal.
它不像華爾街日報上使用的語言那么有深度。
Well, the fact of the matter is, look at this person in 1956,
實際上，看看這個人在1956年寫的，
and this is when texting doesn't exist, "I Love Lucy" is still on the air.
那時短信還沒有出現，“我愛露西”（美國50年代當紅肥皂劇）還在熱播。
"Many do not know the alphabet or multiplication table, cannot write grammatically..."
“很多人都不會拼寫字母或者背乘法口訣表，也不會按照語法寫作...”
We've heard that sort of thing before, not just in 1956. 1917, Connecticut schoolteacher.
我們以前就聽到這種抱怨，并不僅僅在1956年。1917年，康涅狄格州的教師也這樣。
1917. This is the time when we all assume that everything somehow in terms of writing was perfect
1917年，這是我們都認為的寫文章沒的說的時代，
because the people on "Downton Abbey" are articulate, or something like that.
因為“唐頓莊園”（當時英國的熱播劇）里的人物各個都伶牙俐齒的。
So, "From every college in the country goes up the cry, 'Our freshmen can't spell, can't punctuate.'"
然而，“整個國家里的每一所學院都應感到羞愧，我們的新生不會拼寫，也不會點標點。”
And so on. You can go even further back than this. It's the President of Harvard. It's 1871.
諸如此類的言論。我們還可以再往前看。這是1871年的哈佛大學校長。
There's no electricity. People have three names.
那個時代還沒有電力。人們還都有三個名字。
"Bad spelling, incorrectness as well as inelegance of expression in writing."
”糟糕的拼寫，不正確以及毫不優美的書面表達。“
And he's talking about people who are otherwise well prepared for college studies.
他可是在說那些為了上大學作了充分準備的人。
You can go even further back.
我們再往前看。
1841, some long-lost superintendent of schools is upset
1841年，一個久違的督學官非常失望，
because of what he has for a long time "noted with regret the almost entire neglect of the original" blah blah blah blah blah.
因為他早已經注意到人們“對文字本源的完全忽視”等等等等。
