'Because Internet,' A Guide To Our Changing Language, LOL Whether you're extremely online or still confused by how a simple period can be interpreted as passive-aggressive, linguist Gretchen ...

Whether you're extremely online or still confused by how a simple period can be interpreted as passive-aggressive, linguist Gretchen McCulloch has a guide to how our on-screen speech is morphing.

Whether you're extremely online or still confused by how a simple period can be interpreted as passive-aggressive, linguist Gretchen McCulloch has a guide to how our on-screen speech is morphing.

‘Internet language’ creates community — and creates division August 8, 2019 More than 5 years ago The Twitter logo on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Nov. 6, 2013.

Whether you're extremely online or still confused by how a simple period can be interpreted as passive-aggressive, linguist Gretchen McCulloch has a guide to how our on-screen speech is morphing.

Jansen has worked in the Internet industry since 1994 and agrees with Crystal that what we're seeing is more ways to use language to communicate. "Basically it's a freedom of expression," she said.

Internet language is “beautifully mundane” and, unlike speech, it leaves behind a convenient written record. Formal language, she says, is mostly disembodied; informal language isn’t.

Gretchen McCulloch’s book, 'Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language,' analyzes the digital age's linguistic metamorphosis.