[todeen]

Originally Posted by Steve D

Too many words are simply shortened, abbreviated, or turned into an acronym. Basic spelling and grammar have been discarded.

Steve

I don't disagree with much of your analysis. I think not teaching cursive is a major problem, not just for signature use, but also because I believe it increases writing technique quality. But as for shortening words, this is an idea that is well over 100 years old. There used to be classes you could take to learn shorthand, abbreviations, acronyms, etc. My grandma (now in her 90s) somehow learned that, and when she sends me letters, I must not only decipher her cursive handwriting but I must also figure out what her shorthand means. Her shorthand goes way beyond the still widely used signs such as: w/, w/o, b/c.