The Evolution of Words From Quill to Computer

As a writer, poet and documentary filmmaker, I can relate to Dan Neil’s bafflement about today’s world of words (“All That Sass,” 800 Words, Jan. 15). We have come a long way from Puritanism and Shakespeare to “whatcha talking ‘bout” and “my bad” to “myspacing” and the digital scrambling of e-words.

Neil could have added that we also tend to “complexify” words. For example, “elevated arterial levels” means “high blood pressure,” and “hitting a tree” is put mildly as “coming to an arboreal stop.”

Colleen Yorke

Altadena

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I was reading Neil’s column on infosnacking and realized that I do that all the time. Information in small bits. Like eating five times a day. Food for the mind.

Michael Caplan

Albuquerque