Totes Tubular Rant

I'm sick. Well, maybe not entirely sick, but my head is stuffy, nose is drippy and it's just not a pretty sight folks.

With this said, in case this post steps on any toes, perhaps you will excuse my rant as some delusion related to my being ill. "Aww, poor thing. She's clearly out of her mind. I think I'll excuse her. Maybe just this once."

So here's my beef:
What in the world is up with so many people abbreviating words that were never meant to be abbreviated?!

For example the "new" words: Presh and Totes

Have the words "precious" and "totally" suddenly become too long to say? Are we getting too lazy to stick it out for an extra syllable or two?

When I first came across these "new" words (mostly via social network), I was rather confused. A person had commented on one of my friend's photos with the letters: "P-r-e-s-h". When I read this I felt sorry for the person who obviously intended to write "Press". I was furthermore curious if they knew their lisp was carrying over through their computer keys. How embarrassing.

Another instance was hearing someone who probably meant to respond to their friend in the affirmative, but ended up saying "Totes!" instead. I can only assume that this person got sidetracked and suddenly remembered that she needed to bring her library bag or reusable grocery bags with her. Oh well, a common mistake. Not.

So why do I care so much?

Well, maybe it's because I want to defend the English language. It may not be the most beautiful one out there, but if it's yours, speak it proud. (Urr, you know what I mean.)

Or maybe it's because it reminds me of a childhood memory. When I was in middle school, the word "cool" was very popular. I'm sure it had been popular at some other point in time, but it was one of the current "in" words. As any youth might do, I tested it's usage at home before throwing it out in a conversation with my friends. My Dad heard me say "cool" a number of times in succession and teasingly asked if I needed a sweater. "Har-de-har-har, Dad." It put him in mind of words popular in his day. Words like "gnarly", "rad", and "tubular". Hearing him utter such "un-cool" words accompanied with a certain throw-back of his head as each one exited his mouth made me think twice about how "cool" it might or might now be to use popular words.

So, with this I rest my case: I may not be using any current words, but perhaps I need to realize that I am getting older (good heavens, can it be?), should let the kiddies have their fun with words, and keep calm...unless a grown woman says "presh" in place of the adjective "precious". At that point I just might lose it.