Exclamations, pointedly

Posted by Patty on June 23, 2001

In Reply to: Exclamations, pointedly posted by Bob on June 19, 2001

: : : Just heard this expression/phrase. Thought I'd share. The reference was to a member of the hip-hop generation.

: : : Being someone just a shade younger than the Woodstock generation, I find myself wondering if the kids currently in their 20s are any more immature, impudent, obdurate, or sarcastic than previous generations of young people. Must say I find this question as interesting to contemplate as the phrase -- maybe more so. - Patty

: : I try not to generalize, as members of each generation vary. Still, I think young people now are more pessimistic than young people back then; they have less reason to believe the future will improve on the present. And every time I see a query posted here that looks like this:

: : what does this word mean????!!!! need help please!!!!!!!!!!!

: : I can't avoid thinking "Teenager."

: Right you are. The use of the ! is rampant among the post-literate young, who cannot find words of sufficient power and precision to express themselves. Feeble ideas and shopworn phrases (borrowed from television) are propped up with the artificial crutches of extraneous punctuation, underscoring, all-cap shouting, and similar crimes. The math is simple 1 vigorous verb + 1 carefully-selected noun = ! x 1000
: Period.

The point here being? I mean, is post-literacy related to brattitude? Is there something wrong with being post-literate, or is it just the way things will now be, given TVs & computers? Does it relate at all to highschool shootings?(cringe) Do these post-punk/hip-hop kids grow out of their inarticulate phase, or is it a "for life" condition? - Patty

• Exclamations, pointedly Bob 06/26/01