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OMG = ABANDONEE?

Some of my friends were at first amused, some even irritated, several years ago when I started using Internet acronyms like LOL, BTW, BRB and TTYL. Not to mention ROFLMAO, DIIK, and LMGTFY.

This sort of thing has seeped its way into popular culture in the form of TV ads ("Mom! I was texting with my BFF Judy!") and cartoons (my favorite is from the New Yorker, of course: "The IMs of Romeo and Juliet").

But, for those of you who decry this debasement of the language (which hardly needed further debasement), you should know that this not the first nor, one suspects, the last time technology has changed the popular idiom. In this article, the New York Times describes how the telegraph (that's a mechanical Twitter to you youngsters) required the same economy of characters as Twitter, and resulted in similar codes. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

August 04, 2009 |

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Comments

Wayne Walston

Mark, I really like the message of this particular Blog. It recalls for me the wonderful book by Robert Ciuldini on Influence: The Power of Persuasion, and the five tips he presents therein for spurring others to action. You deliver the same artful message in so many fewer words.

Posted by: Wayne Walston | August 19, 2009 at 09:58 AM

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Some Of Mark's Favorite Films

  • Romeo and Juliet
    Never was there a tale of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo. Still the best version on film, and Zefferelli's masterpiece.
  • Stardust Memories
    One of my favorite Woody Allen films, although not his most popular. Perhaps I love it because it is an homage to Fellini's Eight And A Half. As Woody says....."An homage? No, we just ripped it off."
  • Camille
    The incomparable Greta Garbo at the height of her beauty and powers in a timeless romantic tragedy. The book is La Dame Aux Camillias, the opera is La Traviata. Both also wonderful.
  • Amadeus
    Salieri works hard, kisses the right behinds, is chaste, and plays by the rules. So why has God given musical genius to Mozart, "that giggling, obscene child"? Sometimes life is unfair.
  • A Room With A View
    My favorite Merchant & Ivory film. Daniel Day Lewis's portrait of Cecil Vyse is beyond funny. And Helena Bonham Carter's Lucy is wonderful. Also great: Denholm Elliott, Julian Sands, Simon Callow. And, star of the film: Florence, Italy.
  • Shakespeare In Love
    I worship the Bard. I love this interpretation of his life. "Romeo and Ethel, The Pirate's Daughter." And I love Gwyneth Paltrow's reaction to the first time they make love: "Finally, there is something better than a play!"
  • Eight And A Half
    The story of a film director suffering a creative block, a nervous breakdown, and a mid-life crisis — all at once. The narrative structure is a hallucination. pastiche of memory, fantasy, reality, and My favorite film.
  • The Philadelphia Story
    One of my teachers once remarked that you cannot view this film without feeling that civilization has gone downhill.

These Are a Few of My Favorite Blogs