Ever since language first became the norm for human society, it has changed as generations pass, and as words gain new meaning (often from historical context). While past generations would have said, “I’m going to ____,” many of the current teenagers and young adults have shortened that phrase to simply “Imma,” or “I’ma” (depending on the preferred spelling). Many think these changes to the English language are the result of laziness, of not wanting to say (or, more likely, type/text) ‘all those words and letters.’ In truth, the shortening of words probably was caused in part by the use of cellphones, and other electronics. But that’s not the only reason language has changed.

Those who blame this purely on texting are wildly misguided; they are simply new colloquialisms. Language evolves as people do. Once, we spoke as Robin Hood did, or like Shakespearian plays; “Believe’t not lightly – though I go alone / Like to a lonely dragon that his fen.” In fact, Shakespeare has been accredited as the inventor of many words in the English language, such as “eyeball,” or “fashionable,” even “gloomy.” Whether or not he did invent those words, the fact remains that those words once didn’t exist in our language. And, yet, years later, we use them frequently without even thinking. In a similar fashion, the word “selfie” was recently added to the dictionary, causing annoyance and irritation for many, because they believed selfie wasn’t “really a word,” and that “teenagers just made it up,” as they rolled their eyeballs.

The common ‘sayings’ we use have also changed through history, as people mature and gain knowledge of different things. While some used to say (and may still say), “it’s raining cats and dogs,” or likewise, many don’t use that phrase anymore to describe the density of rain. We say what we know others will understand; that’s how language works. Therefore, as one group stops using a word, or phrase, as others do, the others will follow in order for all groups to understand each other.

In George Orwell’s dystopian book “1984,”  he shows how language could evolve and change so much that it disappears entirely, replaced by nonsensical words and phrases. He shows how a newspaper headline becomes “times 3.12.83 reporting bb dayorder doubleplusungood refs unpersons rewrite fullwise upsub antefiling,” or, as one character describes, “it’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. Of course, the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well.”

It is understandable that some may be worried about a 1984 -”Newspeak” similar language being created by the many abbreviations used today. However, the way we speak, write, and understand conversation will grow, and it may eventually become unrecognizable to people from past generations, but we are supposed to evolve, to change with the environment, and mature as times goes on. Spoken language is colloquial, by definition, actually, and therefore, it is completely dependent on the speaker and listener, and their own word choice. As those speakers grow, their grammar, and knowledge of language will change, and that will also allow them to make up their own rules for talking, and writing.