Wat rhymes with cat. (A grammar rant)

[shkaboinka]

When I posted that on FaceBook, I was not surprised at how many people interpreted it as a question. "Wat" definitely rhymes with "cat", and it makes me twitch whenever I see it! Even "wut" is hard on the eyes, but at least it comes out correctly!

...But seriously, is it REALLY that much of a shorthand, or is that [H] so hard to find? Maybe if they put the [H] key in a more accessible location, like right in the middle of the keyboard ...

Am I alone in this?

[comicIDIOT]

The statement starts with a word that generally initiate a question. Even though there's no question mark, we still interpret it as one. If you wanted answers like "hat," you could write "Did you know 'wat' rhymes with 'cat?' What else rhymes with cat?"

Or, if you wanted yes or no answers, you could leave off that last question.
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-Alex

[benryves]

I think you'll find wat rhymes with what/Watt.

[KermMartian]

I dislike "wat", "u", "r", "i", "2", "some1", and any number of similar products of our modern, lazy, unfocused society. Come on, at least have the self-respect to not come across as a total imbecile. Just because it's the internet, I still expect you to represent yourself as you would want to be perceived in person.
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[Ashbad]

[qazz42]

This has some censored words, so it shouldn't be a problem. Let this be an example of why you should take spelling on the internet seriously.








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[Aes_Sedia5]

Geez. Tha 's perty ba'.
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[shkaboinka]

(Hopefully nobody here thought the title of this post was actually a question, or that I type that way at all).

Thanks for the contributions. I knew people here would understand

[benryves]

[shkaboinka]

Ok, here's the confusion: People MEAN "what" when they type "wat"; however, it coincidentally is a word with another meaning (thanks, Ben) which rhymes with "watt" (and, perhaps in some accents, also rhymes with "what").

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wat

Common usage of "wat" in casually text-conversation is naive to this definition, however; and were it not a word to begin with, the default pronunciation (I think) would be (rhymes with cat), because that is how one is supposed to read gibberish. For example, "plaid" would sound like "played" were it not already defined as a word decidedly pronounced "plad".

[DShiznit]

[shkaboinka]

...thanks, DShiz

[KermMartian]

Ashbad, I'm glad that you now share my dislike of "0x5"; I've even found myself using it a few times on IRC and hated myself for falling into such a lazy, meaningless response. Shkaboinka, I blame text messaging primarily for the breakdown in grammar, as well as social networking sites and indeed the internet in general. I think there's just a general social attitude towards formality and presentation in general that's slowly falling down, from care towards dress and hygiene to manners and respect to grammar. :/
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[shkaboinka]

... Lojban anyone?

(It really is an amazing tool for helping one to think about language in ways you might not otherwise ... I now recognize idiomatic expressions right out, and they sound funny to me now! For example, "going to" and "used to". It's my opinion that such idiomatic phrases are there to fill a gap left in the language, since [for example] English has no future tense).

[TheStorm]

I usually read "wat" as a flat what and say it in my head similarly to how us Americans pronounce watt. I might be the only one who does this but I've seen wat used much more in the flat what sense than as an actual replacement for what.
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[Qwerty.55]

As far as "wat" goes, I will admit that I have accidentally used it before or in jest. Sometimes keys just don't click properly, so you ave to give people some level of slack. The missing "h" in the previous sentence is a perfect of a key I pressed that didn't translate to a character. Same goes for common phrases such as "IRL." If a particular grouping of words is almost exclusively used in a context, then shortening it is perfectly valid in my opinion so long as everyone understands the notation. It's basically the same idea behind acronyms. Particular phrase is unwieldy to vocalize, so a shorter, intelligible phrase is used in its stead.

of course, i cant not talkz bouts my h8trd 0f serial txtspk. If you're found guilty of it, Guido the Grammar slug will stick a hot soldering iron in your eye.
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[Ashbad]

[shkaboinka]

[seana11]

[shkaboinka]