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Posted on Mon, Mar. 22, 2004
Short on communication skills? Blame Prince

BY RICK SHEFCHIK

Knight Ridder Newspapers


(KRT) - The artist formerly and currently known as Prince was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recently,
thanks to his dazzling skills as a singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player and showman.

Had I a vote, however, in all good conscience, I could not have voted to enshrine him, for I hold Prince personally responsible
for one of the most reprehensible developments of our time:

Instant messaging.

No, he didn't invent it, but he might as well have. Without Prince, the youth of America would lack the language with which
to send their short, meaningless messages back and forth to each other via cell phone and computer.

You know the kind of messages I mean: "What R U doing?" "I want U 2 call me," etc.

Until Prince came along, this kind of abbreviated communication was limited to high school yearbooks: "U R 2 good 2 B 4gotten" was
always a favorite, but nobody ever thought about using that style of writing at any time other than the last day of school.

Except for Prince. From the moment he began writing songs, his lyrics were a hybrid form of the yearbook message - even his song titles,
such as "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore?"

At first, I figured it would just be a phase and, as he matured, he'd begin using the English language the way most professional songwriters do.
But he has persisted to this very day.

From "I Hate U": "2 fall in love was a table reserved 4 fools, Say U're sorry if U wanna but it's all in vain ... ."

Look, I don't care if Prince persists in writing his lyrics that way. But I can't help but feel the biggest influence he's had on contemporary
culture is the spread of this pidgin-shorthand to impressionable youth, who need to learn marketable communication skills.

Not long ago, we heard about a 13-year-old girl in England who wrote a school essay entirely in text messaging code:

"My smmr hols wr CWOT. B4, we used 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & thr 3 : kids FTF. ILNY, it's a gr8 plc."

This paragraph, which reads like a real estate want ad, actually means: "My summer holidays were a complete waste of time.
Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend and their three screaming kids face to face. I love New York. It's a great place."

And to think this happened in the land of Shakespeare. If the bard were alive today, he'd probably write, "2 B or not 2 B ... ."

In fact, it could very well be the next Shakespeare who has mistakenly been leaving IMs on my wife's cell phone, messages that read, "Where U at?"

Had Prince not popularized IM shorthand, the "Where U at?" person would have to wait for someone to answer the phone and put the
message in the form of a grammatically proper question, such as, "Hi, this is Will. I just called because I was wondering where you are right now?"

And, saying it out loud, he'd realize how pointless the whole exercise was and never waste his time with a call like that again.

Then, he could devote the time saved to becoming the next Shakespeare or Prince.

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(Rick Shefchik writes for the Saint Paul Pioneer Press. Write to him at the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, 345 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101.
Send e-mail to him at: rshefchik@pioneerpress.com.)

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© 2004, Saint Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.).

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