73 Hilarious Screenshots That Prove Not Everyone Paid Attention In English Class

Many of you have probably noticed the slight shift in written English. A good handful of people nowadays would use an apostrophe-s (‘s) to denote plurality, seemingly unaware that it is conventionally used to denote possession. 

Social media could be one of the biggest influencers for this shift, something English teacher Suchitra Sharma also noticed.

Sharma spoke to Bored Panda about her own struggles as someone who speaks English as a second language. She also noted that short-form videos online have made everyone multilingual in their own way, even native English speakers. 

“With all the reels and media content we consume, our minds live in a forever multilingual, multiregister state now,” she said. “Even for 50-year-olds like me, '6-7,’ ‘low key,' and other phrases used by Gen Z and Gen Alpha have become a part of our natural vocabulary.

Slang terms and even written language trends have also influenced these shifts. As Sharma points out, language is elastic, and we see it in today’s AI world, where written text is way too polished. 

“When I see people still making those phonetic spelling and grammatical errors, I enjoy their voice. They are not getting dumber or illiterate. Their minds are now absorbing multiple lingos, and they are shifting registers and gears. Since texting or posting online has become ‘like being at home,’ some people are choosing to write how they speak,” she said.

The digital space is pretty much a free-for-all. You don’t need to adhere to proper writing rules, and no one will police you for not doing so. Preply’s Language Trends and Digital Media Expert Madeline Enos sees this as another major influence on how people communicate through text today.

“Digital and social media platforms often reward being able to respond to fast-moving trends and cultural conversations as quickly as possible,” Enos said. “This can mean users care less about perfect spelling, punctuation, and grammar because speed can seem more important than correcting mistakes.

“As a result, people may be more likely to guess the spelling of words they’ve only heard before when writing a quick response, rather than taking the time to check everything is precisely correct.”

Many of the texts here are words people wrote as they sounded, seemingly oblivious to proper spelling. According to Enos, it isn’t necessarily a sign of declining literacy standards, but rather a sign of language evolution. 

“Spelling a word phonetically when you’ve only heard it, rather than read it, is a long-standing phenomenon that has helped shape the way language evolves over time,” she explained. “One example is ‘rebracketing.’ This happens when speakers mishear or reinterpret the boundary between words. Over time, these reinterpretations can even change how words are used.”

The examples on this list are largely humorous, even ridiculous for some. However, Sharma says it wouldn’t be accurate to conclude that people are becoming dumber or less literate. 

“For educators who want to address this issue, the gold standards of reading comprehension and writing are still the same. I would perhaps add that educators should be teaching about shifting registers when the situation demands it and treat social writing online as informal communication,” she said.

Although informal communication exists, Enos says it is still important to learn and build strong literacy and grammar skills. 

“For educators and tutors, it can be more useful to strengthen core literacy and grammar skills than to focus too heavily on individual online mistakes. Building those communication foundations can help people express themselves more clearly and confidently, both online and offline.”