I have reached that point in life where everything I learned, everything I was taught, everything I embrace seems old and obsolete. In most cases, I have learned new things to replace the old, adapted old teachings to new realities, finally learned to stop referring to new music by saying “did you hear the new album by….”

But there are a few things that I refuse to let go, spelling, capitalization, and punctation! They are a lost art, a relic of the days of handwritten letters, typeset books, and writing that abhorred abbreviations.

As an aside, why is the word abbreviation so long and isn’t monosyllabic an oxymoron?

The value of the comma, semi-colon, exclamation point, even the artfully drawn question mark, have been co-opted for purposes other than their original intention. Capitalization now implies SHOUTING. How did this happen?

To borrow a point I heard somewhere on the personal importance of punctuation and capitalization, read the following sentence.

I am going to help Uncle Jack, off the horse.

Now, here is the same sentence without the comma or capitalization

i am going to help uncle jack off the horse.

Do you really want people to think you share such activities with your uncle?

Capitalization conveys dignity to words and the people or place being described or named, proper spelling implies the words were crafted with deliberation and care.

Sergeant Horace T. Jones, Jr. received the Medal of Honor for actions against enemy forces in Afghanistan.

The sentence speaks to the dignity and courage of the recipient.

sgt t jones jr receeved the metal of honer for axshuns aginst th enemee in afcanistan.

The sentence demeans the subject and indicates a lack of intelligence on the part of the writer (or more likely the texter, if there is such a word).

They say brevity is the soul of wit, and I fully concur, but imho, wtf, and roflmfao aren’t evidence of wit, they are the declarations of a nitwit.

I suppose I must resign myself to abbreviations in text messages since there is a limitation of characters. But just imagine the creativeness, the imagination, the sheer genius we might cultivate and inspire if spelling, punctation, and capitalization errors were punishable by death! ROFLMAO