What do experts say about SMS issue?
Daryl K brought up an interesting issue when he said that since SMS stands for Short Message Service, it was not proper to say, “I’ll SMS my mother.” He suggested instead, “I’ll send my mother an SMS.” (July 16)
It is very interesting how new terms are absorbed into a language. New terms, especially those related to Science and Technology, keep coming up, given the fact that this is a fast-changing field. That is where the problem starts.
Using language involves creativity. And I would say that most of the English language users in Malaysia are “over-creative”, thus producing:
1. I’ll SMS you later.
2. I am SMSing my girlfriend.
3. He SMSed me last night.
4. I think he likes me, he has been SMSing me ever since.
5. SMS now and you may win fabulous prizes.
In my opinion, it is acceptable to use ‘SMS’ as a verb. This is not blind or foolish acceptance. It stems from our knowledge that a word can change its class (e.g. from noun to verb). Language is, after all, dynamic.
Even so, we definitely need the language experts to help clarify this matter. – Mahid bin Masseluang, Labuan
RSS
