Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile World

304 Pages·2008·1.33 MB·English

by  Naomi S. Baron

Always On
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Always On
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Language in an
Online and
Mobile World
NAOMI S. BARON
1
2008
1
OxfordUniversityPress,Inc.,publishesworksthatfurther
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Copyright(cid:1)2008byNaomiS.Baron
PublishedbyOxfordUniversityPress,Inc.
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OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,orotherwise,
withoutthepriorpermissionofOxfordUniversityPress.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Baron,NaomiS.
Alwayson:languageinanonlineandmobileworld/NaomiS.Baron.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-19-531305-5
1. Languageandlanguages. 2. Instantmessaging.
3. Internet. I. Baron,NaomiS. II. Title.
P107.B372008
401.4—dc22
2007038058
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
onacid-freepaper
To the American University Library
(the heart of the university)
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(cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) Contents
Preface ix
1 Email to Your Brain (cid:1) Language in an Online
and Mobile World 3
2 Language Online (cid:1) The Basics 11
3 Controlling the Volume (cid:1) Everyone a Language Czar 31
4 Are Instant Messages Speech? (cid:1) The World of IM 45
5 My Best Day (cid:1) Managing ‘‘Buddies’’ and ‘‘Friends’’ 71
6 Having Your Say (cid:1) Blogs and Beyond 99
7 Going Mobile (cid:1) Cell Phones in Context 127
8 ‘‘Whatever’’ (cid:1) Is the Internet Destroying Language? 161
9 Gresham’s Ghost (cid:1) Challenges to Written Culture 183
10 The People We Become (cid:1) The Cost of Being Always On 213
Notes 237
References 253
Index 275
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(cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) Preface
When Samuel Johnson first set about writing his landmark Dictionary of the
EnglishLanguage,hesomewhatnaı¨velybelievedhistasktobesettingdown,
forgenerationstocome,thecompositionoftheEnglishlexicon.Morethana
decade later, when the long-awaited volumes appeared, Johnson acknowl-
edgedhisinitialfolly.InthefamousPrefaceof1755,heexplainedthatword
meaningsevolveovertimeandthatthepronunciationsofthesewordsdoas
well.Alexicographer,hewrote,should
be derided,who beingable toproduce noexample ofanation that has
preserved their words andphrases from mutability, shall imaginethat his
dictionarycanembalm language.
When it came to recording pronunciation, once and for all, Johnson was
equallyadamantaboutthefutilityofthetask:
soundsare toovolatileandsubtile [sic]forlegal restraints;to enchain
syllables, and tolash thewind, areequally theundertakingsofpride.
In writing this book, I have felt comparable frustration in attempting to
characterize a phenomenonin flux.Thistime the challenge isnotwords but
technologiesandthesystemswebuilduponthemforcommunicatingwithone
another. Those technologies include personal computers and mobile phones,
andthesystemshavesuchnamesasemail,instantmessaging(IM),Facebook,
and blogs. Anarticle onIMpublished in1998nowreads likequaint history.
Statisticscollectedsixmonthsagoarelikelyoutofdate.
That said, like Johnson, I am interested in language over the long haul.
Terminology(like‘‘socialnetworkingsites’’)mayevolve,butthecharacterof
thelanguage (orlanguageplatforms) hasgreatershelflife.New formsarise,
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