One of the issues I harp on with my young family members is language. Not filthy language (thankfully not a problem, at least not in front of me), but careless conversational language. The use of the word "like" and the phrase "or whatever" as filler in every sentence drives me absolutely nuts!
If I asked one of them to write about what they were attempting to tell me verbally, I doubt all those "likes" and "or whatevers" would end up on the page. When a person writes, they have to take more time to think. The connection from our brain to our hands is a lot farther than from our brain to our mouth.
But I was thrown from my communication skills high horse in that regard this week. I submitted my first blog comment in response to a post I read on Can You Hear Me Now. I did it in a hurry, with a sarcastic tone that did not come through (it is difficult to effectively sarcasticize in writing). And I left an impression that was significantly different from the one I intended. The reader reacted strongly, as I would if I were in his shoes and read what he read. Our exchange starts with his original post here.
And by the way, don't bother trying to use the word "sarcasticize" next time we play Scrabble or Upwords. I made it up.
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