kinda sorta

In the world of Twitter and text messaging, where people shorten words to use as few slots as possible, many words look quite different from what they really are. Thank you becomes Thanks which (for some reason) becomes "Thankx" even though thankx has the same number of letters as the actual word thanks. 

Where people are trying to learn a new language, these modifications don't really help one to write or read correctly or to distinguish between standard English and slang. And this could make a big difference when you're writing an academic paper, apply to a school, or trying to get a good job.

Another example is "kinda". The actual words are "kind of".  Seen on the blog: He looks kinda sleepy.  --> He looks kind of sleepy.  I'm kinda hurt. --> I'm kind of hurt.

Another example of the same sort is "sorta".  The actual words are "sort of".  I was sorta checking you out --> I was sort of checking you out.  That sorta sounds weird. --> That sort of sounds weird.  (Better would be "That sounds sort of weird.")

Then it doubles up: Note the preponderance of Kinda sorta in Twitter!

So just a word of warning to those using Twitter to learn English: Read books, read books, read books. That's where you're going to learn whether you're picking up slang or whether you're learning good solid English.

You may want to send us comments on any other words that you're not sure of whether they're correct or whether they're shortened for slang or Twitter or text messaging.