In the article "Slash: Not Just a Punctuation Mark Anymore" Anne Curzan talks about her students using the slash punctuation mark and the word "slash" itself when communicating face to face and over text or writing.
Although I do not use the punctuation or the word I am neither for nor against the use of it. It is simply irrelevant in my everyday communication. I'm sure there are pros and cons of its use, for example, it is shorter and easier to use when typing rather than spelling out the full word "slash", but by using it, it can easily be confused for another intension. I choose not to use "slash" or "/" because I find them more difficult than using the words "and" or "or" but it is personal preference. If you would like to use them, more power to you.
I agree with Anne Curzan in that the use of the "slash" can "[create] a lot of new nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs" which evolves the future of the English vocabulary. I'm neutral on the idea of the use of the "slash" in communication. Although Curzans' article was very interesting and informative, it does not effect me because I do not use them.
I agree with you because I am also not for or against what Curzan is saying. I also do not use the word slash when talking about and or or. I get confused if I do that, then just using "/". Slash has many different meanings so I do not use it for and/or in a sentence. Also it is to long to write out instead of using /. I also do not use slang to speak with some one else or to write things down because I know people will not understand what I am saying unless I explain to them what each slang word means.Language is important for everyone because people do not understand what you are talking about unless you explain what you are saying to them. If language did not exist who knows what people would say and how would people communicate with each other if they did not speak on language that everyone knew.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the two of you, in the sense that I am neither for or against the idea of using the term "slash". However, I do occasionally find myself saying the word when communicating with others as if it were perfectly normal. One thing I do not do though, is write out the full word when typing and/or texting. I feel as though that is making the process unnecessarily longer when they have already created a perfectly good punctuation mark for the word. Another problem with using the word is that it is a slang word with a lot of different meanings, and not every person who you will talk to knows the same slang terms as you. This in turn would make the conversation a whole lot longer and more complex, because now you also have to sit there and explain to them the meaning behind your words. When you could have made things very simple by just using “and” or “or”, then that person would have known exactly what you meant. In a world where communication is everything, it is very important that you differentiate what and how you say things to people. Although I am saying all of this stuff, I highly encourage that the word keeps being used because how else will we expand the English vocabulary unless people continue to come up with new words and meanings for them. Life would be very boring if all we had was the few words that our ancestors came up with and never made our own impression on literature.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the use of the word slash or /. I also find no use in it at all. If i am texting or just typing on a computer I would usually just say and or or. I find that its a very lazy way to write. I believe that you should take your time while writing and avoid slang because when you write you are sharing opinions and you cant be taken seriously while writing with slashes instead of real words. If you use slash, I feel that you don't have much respect for punctuations and grammar. If you use slash or / it should only be in very informal ways of comunication
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