Writing Pet Peeves #4: 'Prolly'

"Prolly". Let's just take a moment to look at it. It's a stupid word, isn't it? Especially when you consider that the perfectly good word it's so often used to replace - "probably" - is in no need of replacing.

There is nothing wrong with the word "probably". It is not old fashioned, obsolete or silly. It has not reached the end of its useful life. The English language and the word "probably" have a long and rewarding relationship still ahead of them. Or they probably do, anyway.

You see, if the people who habitually use "prolly" to mean "probably" get their way, in a few years time I'll have to re-write the sentence above to say "They prolly will."  This will annoy me because I HATE 'PROLLY'. Hate it. It actually makes me cringe every time I see it written down.

I suspect the people who use "prolly" think they're being "cute" when they use it. Maybe it's the way they speak, who knows. Do the majority of people pronounce the word as "prolly" now? Probably. I mean, "prolly".  Shame.

Do you write "prolly" instead of "probably"? And if so: why?

Comments

[Marce]

I have only seen the word 'prolly' written in an e-mail once by an old friend. Thankfully, she only did it one time. It did make me stop and think, "What in the world? Prolly!?" Yes, it is quite annoying. :)

[Amanda Nicole]

Oh, I know! I fear that people will start to say "prolly" instead of the correct word because they think that's what it is! Gaaaah!

[Amber]

I'm so glad to know it's not just me!

[T C]

Hallelujah! I wish there were some way to inform the idiots out there that "prolly" is NOT a word! I honestly believe there are many people out there that think that's how it really is spelled because they are too ignorant to speak it properly in the first place. Same goes for 'Da' instead of "the".
I see prolly alot on craigslist. I wanna scream at them!!! I refuse to let this generation of lazy speaking, mainly(city folk) people drag me into it! Boy am I ticked at the world or what? sorry.

[Joe Rainbolt]

I was reading a forum frequented by mostly smart people when quite suddenly and in the most jarring way possible, I read the word "prolly." It made the sound of a record being scratched in my head. Now, I have seen the word written many times before, but this time I felt compelled to action. I desperately wanted to correct this illiterate destroyer of the English language. But first, I wanted to check my own foundation so I googled the phrase "I hate prolly." Much to my surprise and amusement, I found your blog near the top of the list. It's nice to know that I am not alone. Thanks.