Plz dun stop readin ma column b/c of grammatical errs + typos im jus tryin 2 make a pt cuz I <3 a good rofl as much as the next person.

Sometimes I feel like I’m getting lol-ed to death with all the acronyms and textspeak that flood my inboxes.

I never really knew how often textspeak terms like pwn, cuz, n00b, pic, u, lol and whatev surrounded us until I started looking for them — they’re everywhere!

Like most things, there is a time and a place for everything.

Texting, tweeting, poking, blogging, sending smoke signals — whatever it is you do to social network, go right ahead, butcher the English language.

However, these media for expression have become an integral part of our everyday lives and the limiting language we use in the online world has begun to surface in the real one.

I don’t want to drop specifc names, but I’ve read some essays, letters and e-mails that are borderline illegible.

Like immersing yourself in another country and picking up the lingo, we use textspeak so often that its use has almost become instinctual.

I’m not saying you have to send grammatically correct texts to your best friend, but when you start a Blackboard post with “Sup?” and proceed to use worse syntax than Fred Flintstone, you’re going to lose some credibility.

If you want your professor to take you seriously, don’t say you’re “missin class cuz of a meetin w/ a dif prof sry.”

When I bring up the subject of textspeak and the impending demise of the English language, the opposing argument I hear most often is that if you can read something, it is legible. While this may be true, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is right.

Think of it this way: English is like a mathematical formula. Seeing “2+2=5” would make a math major cringe. With English, certain properly spelled words and punctuation must go in specific syntactical spots or your sentence and speech will make about as much sense as a Cheech and Chong movie.

Proper English is not the haughty language of the elite — it’s your language, too! Don’t butcher it.

Good grammar is not only correct, but a good way to get on your professors’ good sides as well. Think of all the papers they have to read.

As a T-shirt I’ve seen around campus reads: “Good grammar gets me hot.”

So next time you decide to text, tweet, blog, poke or send smoke signals, don’t think the spell-check is the catch-all — learn the rules of the language.

And please, don’t lol anyone to death, either.

k thx.