Internet shorthand is ubiquitous , but in our desire to get words out quickly , meaning can be puddle or lose . Case in period : Accent marks , one of the foremost lingual casualties of the digital age . Now , defenders of the Spanish terminology are trying to bring the neglected markings back .
Spanish speakers often substitute elementary accented words , such as “ qué ” ( what ) or “ más ” ( more ) with stress - free shorthand . While there ’s nothing haywire with a small internet vernacular , trouble arises when folks stop using emphasis entirely . That can lead to some real misinterpretation , as illustrated by this tweet , which cue Spanish speaker system that “ Inglés ” think of English , while “ Ingles ” mean breakwater :
Nos sumamos a la campaña#acentúatede@fundeuporque no es lo mismo … http://t.co/5G4YN2ky0Rpic.twitter.com/6C6lx17LSw
— Prodigioso Volcán ( @losdelvolcan)September 16 , 2015
On Thursday , Spanish language nonprofitFundación del Español Urgentelaunched an internet campaign to advertise the use of accent patsy under the hashtag # acentúate ( accent yourself ) . Over the past few days , tens of chiliad have engage up the banner and tweet in support of accent marks , including actor Antonio Banderas .
Pon tildes a tus hashtags . Técnicamente funcionan igual y denota respeto por quienes nos leen.#acentúatepic.twitter.com / XlVSpuImtP
— Antonio Banderas ( @antoniobanderas)September 16 , 2015
As a aboriginal English speaker , it can be leisurely to forget about accents totally . But in person , I ’m happy to see this hunting expedition take off and will try my best to follow suit of clothes . My Spanish is enough out of practice , a fact which I do n’t demand to be making more obvious by telling people I speak breakwater .
[ Quartz ]
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