UnNews:Nw Zld stdts rplcd w mob phns

This article is part of UnNews, your source for up-to-the-picosecond misinformation.

18 November 2006

T Nw Zlnd Qlfctns mob NZQA hs ann tht a shrt ver of Eng cld txt wll b ok in t ext end of yr xms. Txt is whr wds r shtnd fr mob phn use e.g. txt is txt lol is lol brb is brb etc.

Txt is ok if t mrkr cn c tht t xm "clrly shws t req undrstdg" tho t NZQA stl advs not. Bascule Hack dep chf exec NZQA sd: "Stdts shd mk answrs clr as poss. Mrkrs doing NCEA (Nat Cert Ed Achvmt) xms r trnd pros expcd in t wrtg styles & lang uses in mkg ." Mr Hack is confdt t mrkr wll gt txt ok.

Tchrs & stdts r divd sayn itll be esr & sayn it cd dmg t Eng lang.

Yr 11 stdt KT Myspce sd "Thts gr8! Ull be abl 2 gt ur ideas out qkr. Its so mch fstr u can get through t xm fstr." But hr m8 Harriet Ponsington Literate-Bastard Smythe disagrd. "I think it's an unspeakably beastly idea, my dear girl. When you start progressing in the world, people shall indeed judge you on the quality of your written language, and spelling things incorrectly seems sloppy and lazy and gives an unsuitable impression of your personal qualities and indeed of your self respect. You would not after all attend the school dance in your tracky dacks. Even your nice ones." But t grls agrd tht txt dmgs ppls splng.

Prncpl Denis Trendy-Midlifecrisis sd: "While I wd nt encrg stdts 2 use txt abbrvs in xms, Im exctd by t lang devs. Its anthr dev in tht wndfl thng we call t Eng lang. Socty has 2 adapt 2 chg & I thk ult txt msgg cd hlp rslv t strngst pt of Eng, its splng, tho I thk it wll b sm tm b4 txt splg is fmly adptd."

"& @ l3@st," he +d, "th3yr3 n0t wr1t1ng th3ir 3x@m5 1n l33t. X3pt c0mp 5c1. Gurl fubhyq or hfvat rot13 sbe gung."

Srcs

• Irvn Wlsh "& U Tht Trnsptg Ws Hrd 2 Rd" Fnda Nws Ntwk, XI 11, 2006