As the subject of much woeful head-shaking among English teachers and grammar snobs, text and Twitter lingo have long been blamed for ruining the way we now communicate. (Because we were such bastions of language excellence before, I guess? #scapegoat)

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As a professional writer of web content, I am constantly fielding queries about what is and isn’t appropriate in terms of written communications and language use. Here are my responses to three of the most oft-repeated questions, one of which I didn’t just make up.

Question: R txt msg abbs apropri8 4 wrk? (Are text message abbreviations appropriate for work?)

Answer: It would certainly depend on your individual work environment.  If you work for a narcotics trafficking organization, then yes, they’re perfectly fine.  If you work anywhere else, then no.

Question:  Is there a real difference between: they’re, their and there?  Most of my reading is in Tweet form, where they are used interchangeably.

Answer:  Excellent question.  Yes, there is a significant difference.  They’re, their and there are what are known as homophones.  Homophones are words that are pronounced similarly (or even identically) when spoken, but might have wildly different meanings and uses, and are often (but not always) spelled differently.  While this is a natural occurrence in the evolution of language, it nonetheless is the source of many hilarious misunderstandings involving the term “seaman.”

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