Why do people on the Internet write so 'poorly'? (A clue: they don't!)
solongasitswords.wordpress.comBut again, it goes beyond necessity. Tumblrspeak is a badge of belonging, of being in a place where EXTREME ENTHUSIASM isn’t frowned upon, and screaming about a TV show is a great way to make friends. And it’s absolutely brilliant. So much of tumblrspeak uses non-standard grammar, spelling and punctuation, but it’s not out of laziness. It’s a conscious decision: as this simple post puts it, not using punctuation is a way of using punctuation. Tumblr users are likely to be perfectly familiar with standard grammatical rules of English, but they’ve said ‘fuck it’ and put emotions first, twisting and moulding their own language variety that is by the medium, for the medium.
I wrote a thing! On language, the Internet, and tumblrspeak, for the language blog that Kate and I run. I’d be particularly interested to hear tumblr users’ thoughts!
A word that means exactly what it looks like it means: to throw someone in the Bastille. (And by extension to imprison them.)
Language is so much fun.
And now for an extremely gratuitous example of the use of this word in a sentence:
— Mais, mon cher monsieur d’Artagnan, prenez bien garde; si vous fuyez, on va dire deux choses.
— Lesquelles, cher ami?
— D’abord, que vous avez eu peur.
— Oh! qui donc dira cela?
— Le roi tout le premier.
— Eh bien! mais… il dira la vérité. J’ai peur.
— La seconde, c’est que vous vous sentiez coupable.
— Coupable de quoi?
— Mais des crimes que l’on voudra bien vous imputer.
— C’est encore vrai… Et alors tu me conseilles d’aller me faire embastiller?
— M. le comte de La Fère vous le conseillerait comme moi.
— Je le sais pardieu bien! dit d’Artagnan rêveur; tu as raison, je ne me sauverai pas. Mais si l’on me jette à la Bastille?
— Nous vous en tirerons, dit Raoul d’un air tranquille et calme.
Other hilarious fact: people who tutoye Raoul: d’Artagnan. People who do not: Raoul’s father. Which makes sense, because Athos, but is also kind of hilarious. Shoddy translation below the cut:
