by Lee VanAmee

Created on: January 20, 2010   Last Updated: January 21, 2010

If you have trouble either reading someone's letter or email to you, or understanding what point they are trying to convey in your conversation, it can seem as though you and the other person are speaking a different language. Because you are!

Anyone over the age of 30 will remember all of the rules and regulations on proper English writing and speech. Somewhere after that it seems that the lines have been blurred and people have their own version of how a word is used in a sentence or misspelled or spoken. Of course this is one of those generation issues that you feel you must correct, but if you keep correcting someone again and again mid-sentence, you get that blank icy stare back, because this person is speaking or conveying some version of the "New English." The new version omits a lot of the rules and regulations that are the backbone of communicating the English language.  Here are some examples: 

Using the word "to", instead of "two", or "too", is just one example. Because the person does not know the difference of the meaning of the word and they all sound the same so most of the time they were never even corrected on this one. This happens a lot on words that sound alike when spoken; I've noticed them in emails mostly. 

Misunderstandings because of missing information; some emails are missing half of the sentences, half of the communication altogether; and then the writer will state at the end, "Well you all know what I mean". Well, I may not know what "you" were trying to convey, I will interpret my own meaning and that may not have anything to do with what you were really saying. 

Words that are totally made up, and re used only by the speaker or writer. I am not talking about universal slang that is usually picked up because the main stream population uses it. I am talking about when someone can't pronounce or spell a word correctly so they have adapted by trying to "sell" their version of it. 

It is not just an age issue, as it is a total communication issue. Some of this has to do with people who really have mastered the English language, but are just in a rush and don't have the time or patience to make it right. I have done this a million times in emails, until someone misunderstands me, then I am reminded, I am responsible for the real message I am sending. I don't like it when people correct me on things that just aren't that important for the task at hand, and I think that is the mindset behind the English getting harder to understand. People feel rushed, and just because they know what they meant by something they assume you should to.

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