U can has Laughs 4 UR Grammar

Admit it. You've been there. I can has cheezburger or a Caterday site. You've looked at the cute little animals with clever little captions because well, they make you laugh. (And if you haven't looked, you should, laughing is good for you.)

The problem becomes apparent when you think about the fact most people know grammar intrinsically, not factually. Things sound right to the ear. But if enough people use words/phrases incorrectly, they start sounding 'right' and are eventually adopted as slang, and after enough time, slang is adopted as an evolution of the English language. That's what a living language does--it evolves.

Since the advent of instant messenger, English teachers around the states have reported a rapid degradation of proper grammar. I occasionally have to remind myself that smiley faces ^_^ and *emotes* have no place in professional correspondences. That doesn't mean I don't receive them from other 'professionals' at work sometimes.

Caterday pictures take 'net lingo to a new level. The images are cute and funny, but if you read the forums, they are practically in another language--lolcats. In large chunks, this stuff is worse than l33t, or at least on par. But hey, for the most part, it's easy to ignore. Until you find yourself repeating it.

It starts out innocent enough. A joke among those in the know. When my husband is teasing me, I often look at him and say "But...I loves you!" (I couldn't find this particular LoLcat, but take my word for it, it's cute.)Or to tease him, I'll point to something and say "I can has that?". All good fun. Until someone outside 'the know' hears you. In the office the other day, the printer ran out of paper and one of the computer guys and I were verbally messing around. About the time I announced "You can no has paper" the chair of the department walked into the room. Oh yeah, he didn't get it.

So, tread carefully as you laugh. Grammar no iz good trade 4 lols.