Members Amylynn920 Posted February 11, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 It amazes me to no end to see obvious grammatical and spelling typos in forum posts, blogs and everywhere and anywhere on the net. It makes me wonder what exactly the person did learn in school. An apostrophe where it doesn't belong, words such as tomorrow spelled as "tamarrow" just makes you look like an adult with a 4th grade education. Does no one use spell check? Does no one use proper grammar? Are we breeding a bunch of idiots? Is it laziness or just stupidity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mailahn97 Posted February 11, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Sometimes it is just a simple oversight. I can't say that anyone on here has been 100% on with their spelling or grammar usage. We are human and make mistakes from time to time. Also as far as spell check I have seen instances where it does not pick up on something. It also shows how busy sometimes lives can be that we miss little things.Things happen. Such is life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DADT Posted February 11, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I too wish that people proof read their posts. You can't appreciate what is being said if you can't decipher the words. I think our generation spent more time actually writing using pen and paper. And we spent more time reading books. So recognizing & using correct grammar and syntax comes more naturally to us.Your last sentence was a bit harsh though. First, because of the content of our threads, its easy for people to get excited, anxious, and even depressed about what they are expressing. I have read threads where you could tell that the initial writer was in a rage or distraught. It can be hard to summon good proofing, grammar, and syntax skills under these conditions.Second, it may be true that some of our members may not have had a stellar education. But they need to express themselves just like the rest of us. So try to forgive the grammatical & punctuation missteps. Often people are coming to the forum and looking to people like you for advice on far bigger issues that how they write.By the way, you've written some great stuff in the past. Seems you used to post more often. You should get back in the habit.If I made any typos keep it to yourself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amylynn920 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Actually the rant was not directed at anyone here, it was regarding a blog and an off topic forum. One poster had four posts all spelling the word tomorrow as tamarrow. This is a business owner. College educated. And I stand by my last sentence. I do believe it is a combination of stupidity and laziness. My son is 7. His teacher does not correct spelling errors. We have been around and around on it. I asked her "How can kids learn correct spelling if you're allowing them incorrect spelling and not teaching them the correct way?" She said that to her it's important that they understand phonetics first. I understand that concept. But my son is being taught that quilt is spelled qwilt. And that was an actual example. Why not teach them the correct way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amylynn920 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Eye is edjikated, and now that sum peeple hav lerning distabilitees that dont let them evin now that they our speling rong. But yes, the lttle red linz under the word shood let them no that its rong.Lol Iha, yes the red lines should be a clue. And this is not saying those with disabilities have problems, I'm saying college educated, business people. It just makes me insane. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members synirr Posted February 11, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Honestly I have to agree. Nothing against anyone, but I know that a lot of people online are capable of better writing than what they are presenting on forums and in chat rooms, and it's beyond me why anyone would want to appear less educated than they are. Admittedly my posts here aren't on par with what I'd present to a potential employer, for example, but I do at least make an effort. I used to do very poorly on spelling quizzes when I was a kid and it actually took me a lot of effort to learn to spell as well as I do, and most of that was simply picked up by looking words up in the dictionary instead of relying on spell check to fix my mistakes for me. There are exceptions to this, such as people with learning disabilities or those typing in a language that is not their mother tongue, but overall I think anyone with a 4th grade education should have passable spelling and grammar. The fact that many don't doesn't mean that they are dumb or anything like that, but I think it does speak volumes about the school system in this country in particular. I haven't been out of public education all that long, and it's embarrassing to admit how very little I learned. So to answer your question Aiden, I think it's laziness and ignorance. People are ignorant to the fact that, yes, they should be able to do better, and too lazy (or busy) to correct the problem themselves in their adult lives. The part I don't understand is why people are ok with this. Taking a hint from other comparable countries, we should be fluent in a second language by high school, not struggling with our first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyger Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I hate it when there are words that are spelled wrong. Mostly though, the irritation is directed towards myself. I can't change how some people have been typing/spelling for YEARS (for whatever reason, including learning disabilities), I can, however, try and better myself, and how I come across to people online & on paper. I've even gone so far as to go back to OLD posts & fixed a word or 2! LOL Although, I will say that I have been blessed, having a family full of teachers (Mom is a retired English teacher.....thank you for your condolences! LOL) to help educate me, and growing up in an area/time that assures that the kids are understanding/comprehending what they're being taught, and not rushed thru, just to make statistics/No Child Left Behind Act look like it's really working. The area I live in is a poor area. Many people have either quit or had to stop going to school due to no money, or needing jobs, and yes there are those that just stopped caring. There's a local message board that I belong to, that have many such members, that spell at a 3rd grade level. But, I understand that many people haven't had what I have, or the opportunities that I have had. But, I am way beyond perfect, and will continue to make mistakes, as we all will. I'm also infamous for mixing letters up when I type. Fingers go faster than the minds sometimes. LMAOThat said, Aiden DID come across rather harshly in her first post, and it was unclear WHERE she was ranting about, however she DID clarify that she meant another board/blogging area, and not this one. This IS a Rant & Rave forum, so let's try to keep in the spirit of things, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtngal Posted February 11, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Wut? I theenk the red lions our prittee. On another note. The English language is very difficult to master. More and more, English is not the first language of our friends and neighbors here. I was partly educated abroad and am often spelling words according to British English rather than American English. I haunts me to leave a preposition at the end of a sentence. What are you looking at?cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members makasha1 Posted February 11, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Aidenbad spilling irrigates the hill out of mee two.And by the way, My grammar was very proper when she was alive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amylynn920 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Aidenbad spilling irrigates the hill out of mee two.And by the way, My grammar was very proper when she was alive.Lol boomer that's cute. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amylynn920 Posted February 11, 2009 Author Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I don't feel my post was harsh, it's a rant. And as stated was not directed at anyone here. The person who was on the other forum consistently spells badly, uses poor grammar, and to me there is no excuse for it. She is a business owner, and if her correspondence is that bad, then I can't imagine what image that projects of her. If someone doesn't know better, they can try and learn. And unless they have a valid learning disability, the other two options to me are laziness, and ignorance. That and I do blame our school system, as I said my son's teacher does not correct misspelled words. She let's them ride. What does that teach kids that are learning? When I was in school we had spelling lessons and tests for a reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members pappyld04 Posted February 11, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Personally, I could blame my new keyboard that often takes 3-4 tries to post some letters, or my fingers which think they are faster than my brain, or the fact that all 10 digits have been smashed at some point and have a tendency to strike more than one key, but in the end it's more about not running a check before posting. You'll see quite a few of mine with typos that I will correct as I come across them. I've seen a lot of the posts that you speak of that I attribute to the poster being more fluent in their own language but still giving English a try because they will be ignored in their native tongue. I would be hesitant to do business with someone who boasts of an education above my own who obviously didn't put forth the effort to check for such things. It could be a good indicator of their business practices as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarieMarie Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 An apostrophe where it doesn't belong, words such as tomorrow spelled as "tamarrow" just makes you look like an adult with a 4th grade education.I must admit that excessive spelling and grammatical errors make my teeth grind a bit too. However, I tend to cut people on the Internet slack because I really know nothing about them. I've been working as a writing tutor at my local community college for the past couple of years, and it has been an eye-opening experience to work with struggling ENG 111 students who have remedial writing skills that once qualified them for an honors English class at the local public high school. I always try to remind myself, though, that a lot of people who aren't linguistically impressive can still have great minds and could blow me out of the water when it comes to math or carpentry or computers or fixing cars. And none of us is perfect; I know that I make grammar/punctuation errors all the time when I'm not paying attention. Plus, criticism of others' grammar can also have a funny way of biting you in the ass. Resisting....urge.....to....point out....errors....in your.....sentence.....above...... Seriously, though, what does get my underpants in a wad are grammar/punctuation errors that pop up in advertisements and on billboards. There's no excuse for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amylynn920 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I must admit that excessive spelling and grammatical errors make my teeth grind a bit too. However, I tend to cut people on the Internet slack because I really know nothing about them. I've been working as a writing tutor at my local community college for the past couple of years, and it has been an eye-opening experience to work with struggling ENG 111 students who have remedial writing skills that once qualified them for an honors English class at the local public high school. I always try to remind myself, though, that a lot of people who aren't linguistically impressive can still have great minds and could blow me out of the water when it comes to math or carpentry or computers or fixing cars. And none of us is perfect; I know that I make grammar/punctuation errors all the time when I'm not paying attention. Plus, criticism of others' grammar can also have a funny way of biting you in the ass. Resisting....urge.....to....point out....errors....in your.....sentence.....above...... Seriously, though, what does get my underpants in a wad are grammar/punctuation errors that pop up in advertisements and on billboards. There's no excuse for that. Marie, touche, I never claimed perfection. Is it the word makes showing plural that I did incorrectly? Because that's my first guess, plus I want to learn. Now come on you can tell me I have my big girl panties on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikayla1 Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Well, I am sorry to be getting to this post late, but I was out of town for my husband's grandmother's funeral.Anyway, as a college professor who teaches writing and literature, I can say that it does bug me when people spell things wrong. It is just the nature of my being, I proofread for a living so it sort of carries over.With that being said, I have made typos or grammatical errors in my haste to post. I have also been tired or irritated or just have made mistakes - no one is perfect.While it may irritate me that people spell things wrong, or use incorrect grammar, I can't let that deter me from enjoying the posts here 'cause everyone has made a mistake at one point or another. I can also say that not everyone is lucky enough to get education. While I agree that it may seem like these people should know how to spell if they are older than a 12 year old, I can attest that the school system doesn't always care. I have some 40 something students in my courses that CAN NOT use correct grammar or spell. I teach a 3rd level (Junior) college level course - and there are so many students who can't spell. I think that those posters who come here and read this post are going to be turned off or away by the feeling that their posts are being critiqued. That is unfair. However, I also think that it is OK to be annoyed by BAD...I mean BAD spelling. Just keep it to yourself because NO ONE, NO ONE is perfect here - not even an English professor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Review Team sass Posted February 12, 2009 Review Team Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I worked at a newspaper for 13 years, one that had a Hitler-like publisher for several years. Unless you wanted to be in his office a lot, you learned not only how to spell and such, but you also learned Associated Press style. I have been out of the business for five years now but I still find myself typing out f-i-v-e instead of 5, because you never use numerals under 10, except for age, in AP-style. Silly, I know, but when I see a numeral I want to fix it. And that is just one example. I say that to point out that we all have our pet peeves, and in a community like this forum, we are all going to have to over-look certain things like that for the betterment of the group. If Mik was grading us as students, or if I were editing a newspaper, it would be different. But this is what it is - a forum where everyone should feel comfortable to share their questions and opinions without feeling degraded for not running spell-check. And, as is has been said, none of us are perfect. I am sure my former publisher could rip this post apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ladylove Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 when fingers fly over the key board a mistake is bound to be made. This shouldn't even be an issue. If it bothers you just ignore the post, or the mistakes. Your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mystofpric Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Wow, way late to the thread. Any way:I can't actually complain about anyone's spelling or grammar usage. Go back through some of my posts and count the number of times you see "teh" instead of the. EVERYONE has called me on this (even a few friends here) and well it's become a habit. When I'm writing (ala pen and paper) I don't make this mistake, just on the computer. Further when I'm writing with pen and paper my grammar is WAY better (spelling still blows though). now i know that when I try and use the spell check on here i get told that I need to download the program. Sorry but my computer is ancient and it'd probably crash me. So maybe some people are like me and unwilling to download it.I will be honest the one thing that burns my biscuits is incomplete thoughts. I really do want to know what you are saying, so tell me! BTW I caught myself typing "teh" at least twice while writing this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarieMarie Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Marie, touche, I never claimed perfection. Is it the word makes showing plural that I did incorrectly? Because that's my first guess, plus I want to learn. Now come on you can tell me I have my big girl panties on. Don't sweat it, girl, I'm just messing with you. Yeah, "makes" should be "make," and the overall structure is a bit wonky.....but all of that is totally acceptable for a message board. I really wasn't trying to make an example of you; it's just a bad habit of mine to inject humor wherever I can. Besides, grammar discussions get my nerd gears going in a big way.Oh, and remember when I said, "Plus, criticism of others' grammar can also have a funny way of biting you in the ass"? Well, I couldn't have written a better textbook example of a redundancy error if I'd tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarieMarie Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 I worked at a newspaper for 13 years, one that had a Hitler-like publisher for several years. Unless you wanted to be in his office a lot, you learned not only how to spell and such, but you also learned Associated Press style. I have been out of the business for five years now but I still find myself typing out f-i-v-e instead of 5, because you never use numerals under 10, except for age, in AP-style.Boy, if I only had to worry about one style manual on a daily basis, I would crap my drawers with glee. It's a damn good thing that I love books, or my mind would have fled a long time ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mtngal Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Holy shit! You are all just a bunch of nerds! Doesn't anyone have sex around here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ladylove Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Holy shit! You are all just a bunch of nerds! Doesn't anyone have sex around here?Great minds think alike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Review Team sass Posted February 12, 2009 Review Team Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Holy shit! You are all just a bunch of nerds! Doesn't anyone have sex around here?LOL! Not nearly enough!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Amylynn920 Posted February 12, 2009 Author Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Holy shit! You are all just a bunch of nerds! Doesn't anyone have sex around here?Oh boy do we have sex around here, and the stuff coming out of my mouth is not grammatically correct Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mikayla1 Posted February 12, 2009 Members Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Oh boy do we have sex around here, and the stuff coming out of my mouth is not grammatically correct Funnily enough, even my smut talk is usually grammatically correct! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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