[Art]

Something seems amiss here as I've chatted with All the bots listed and do not think my results concur with some of those in the top eleven. Then again...you're correct...I'm not a judge...Luckily for some!

[squarebear]

The finalists have been visited and the following transcripts are available:
http://www.daniellechuchran.com/contest_finals.html
Good luck to all concerned.

[Data]

Why did the judge say Y instead of Why? I don’t get it, why would they?

[Freddy]

I think that is just to test if the bot can understand things like that.  Ya now txt speech an stuf !

[squarebear]

Yes, part of the rules say that the judges may use shorthand text words like "ur" and "brb".

[Art]

Sorry but to me that's NOT proper English and probably more difficult to get a bot to understand such slangish shorthand!! There goes the neighborhood and the mentality to boot!!

[squarebear]

Shorthand/text speak is a bit of a dividing issue. I personally accept it in my bots, as the average age of people who speak to them seems to be around 14. If I were to turn away all the people who said, "awrite m8", I would have 90% less chatlogs to work with.

However, even Mitsuku struggled when she found this in her chatlog:

"ryt funny lol we was lookin out da window wen da spider came crawlin down lol nd we wo starin a ppl walkin by nd 1 stared bk nd we both pulled a funny face at her".

I daren't imagine where to start coding with that one! 

[Art]

Exactly!!
Try to get a passing mark from your college English professors with a sentence like that!

NEXT, try submitting a business report to your boss using that drivel!!

Glad I don't have to stick around for another 40 years!

[Freddy]

Hahaha, yes I hate it too.  They always succeed in sounding like a moron and little else. 

[squarebear]

I suppose though that language is constantly evolving and changing. Take the word "gay" for example. If you said you were gay last century, it would mean you were happy. However today, try telling the bruiser in your local bar that he looks gay and see what happens!

I guess if language didn't evolve, we would still be saying, "verily" and "gadzooks"!

[Data]

It’s not just me then.

I think some are ok, like lol, we never say “laughs out loud” so lol has added something to our language, but to just shorten words, like why to Y, well that’s just lazy isn’t it.

OK you can get away with them in a phone txt message if you are running out of space. Maybe 

[Art]

Squarebear said: "...If I were to turn away all the people who said, "awrite m8", I would have 90% less chatlogs to work with."

Perhaps but at least you'd be able to understand the remaining ones and they would also likely be more worthy (dare I say intelligent) for consideration.

Remember, it's about QUALITY...not Quantity...at least in my book.

YMMV, K?, U gud wi dat?

[DaveMorton]

I guess if language didn't evolve, we would still be saying, "verily" and "gadzooks"!

And what's wrong with that? Granted, "verily" isn't in my "common vocabulary", but I use "Gad ZOOKS!" a lot, at home. Of course, I use "Poit!" a lot, too.

[Duskrider]

Just an opinion, but anyone who goes through 12 years of schooling and can't read or write and can only speak jive talk has got to be sub-human.

[squarebear]

My wife continues to say that, "I vex her", yet none of MItsuku's visitors says the word "vex". Should I add this to my list of words such as, "forsooth" and "She is tolerable; but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me." instead of "do you wanna go out wiv mee"