Tuesday, April 17, 2007 eLow PoE!! By Miguel Antonio N. Lizada kuya's table
UNLIKE my father who once wrote an article about "y he dsnt lyk ppol hu txt lyk ths," I really do not mind people using shortcuts when "dey snd txt msgs" to each other; I am sometimes guilty of that, especially when I am in a hurry or when I am panicking.
What irks me however is how the language of text messaging has taken the so-called compromising of the English language to a new level; not only is spelling compromised but pronunciation and capitalization as well. I am talking about this new language which I call the "eLow poE" language.
A few days back, I got a text message from a stranger: "eLow poE! muZta ka na poe? Malapit na tuLog aQ! Ubos na rn unli k. C u 2morow poE. LuV u poE!"
First of all, I am currently not in a relationship nor am I seeing someone. Moreover, what in God's name is an "eLow poE?" How can it be a short cut of "hello po?" Hello?
The letter "h" in hello is not silent; you pronounce it along with all the letters in the word. Also, since when did "po" rhyme with "poe?" -- unless it was intended to sound like the family name of the late FPJ but I think that is too complicated. Siyempre nainis ako. Or should I say Nainis akyu.
To show my irritation, I replied in correct English (spelling, punctuation marks. complete sentences and all): "Hi. Good afternoon. May I know who this is please? I am sorry. I do not have your name in my contacts list." The person replied "ay. sori poE! Wrng snd me!"
My friend also had a similar experience with a secret admirer. She (at least I am assuming the person is a she) sent him a text message one day "hi poH. wud u lyk to be txTm8s? ok lang po saU?" Of course, my friend did not respond so she sent him another message "bk8 k ndi nagareply poH. gal8 ka po ba kaU sa akn?" Oo. Galate na galate ang friend ko sa iyo, kulit mo eh. Of course, the girl did not want to go down without a fight so she sent a text message one last time "ano k b? hu u para saktan me?" Who me para saktan you? Wow. According to my friend, she beats Sam Milby's famous "I never said that I love you" by a 100 miles.
What also irks me is that this "eLow poE" language does not only confine itself to text messaging. To my horror, when I view the profiles of people (some of them strangers as well) who invite me to be their "Friendster." I find the same thing:
Location: dAvao city or bUlacan or boHol
Occupation: estuDyante laNg po mE
Describe yourself: sImPle tao lang poE aq.
Who I want to meet: any1 hu wnts 2 b my pRend
Ergo, I'll say this: Gal8 n gal8 aq sa mga pPol na nagtetXt o nagsUsult ng gn8to. i min eLow! eLow! eLow! oK lng nMan kung mag-abriv8 u. pRo sna wag nyo nman poE i-abuse and make damay da ispeling, cap8aliz8ion, and punctu8ion etc etc etc. I mean dba? hu u 2 make saktan the engliSh laNg? kawawa naman ang tichers niyo. let us al rspCt the eNG lang b4 8's 2 l8 ha? salamat poE!
