Peter Dolman
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SpellingAs an officially sanctioned "grumpy old man" (my children's opinion)I would like to moan about the standard of spelling being presented on this forum. While I accept that I am not perfect it would appear that there is a competition in misspelling as many words as possible.
Is this really necessary?
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pimpdriver
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on
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Geddi
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Interesting one! I made a issue about grammar and it was instantly closed.
I am not perfect either, but a little care and attention goes a long way, spelling and grammar are no exceptions to this.
Spell checker anyone?
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pimpdriver
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If you use Firefox, it has a built in spell checker.
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rosco
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| pimpdriver wrote: | | If you use Firefox, it has a built in spell checker. |
Agreed, I do use it and it does work pretty well.
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Unknown
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It does. But it comes with US spell checker. You have to install the UK one.
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Local lass
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well personally im a crap speller always have been always will be .i really do not think it matters.since when does it state on he forum rules that every word has to spelt perfect.?i think that if you have a problem with people spelling on here and you dont like it you could always leave.
its just being petty and there really is no need for it.isnt it the content of there post rather than how they spell stuff.
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GTB
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I use the Firefox package as well. :thumbl:
You see bad spelling on every forum but the one thing that really narks me is people using "text speak" in posts; for example - hw u doing m8? I think the persons credibility goes straight down when they reply with such rubbish. Bad spelling does sometimes make a post hard to follow and with modern browsers it should really be a thing of the past.
Grammar on the other hand is something all of us are guilty of at one time or another. Even National newspapers get that one wrong from time to time.
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Unknown
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If you say 'plz' because it is shorter than 'please', then I will say 'no' because it is shorter than 'yes'.
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Attrebates
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This is a subject which comes up regularly on fora (forums ?). I do not think it that critical in this method of communication PROVIDING that the meaning of the message is not obscured.
EG if you write "your", "there" or "it's" instead of "you're", "their" or "its" it doesn't really matter as long as the context and meaning of the post is clear. (And I have to admit that some comments are not clear).
It does, sometimes, jar on the eye of the reader, just as much modern music equally jars on my ears. Is that the fault of the performers ? No. It is my problem, so I don't listen to very much of it.
I don't know if spelling and grammar are important in schools these days but I believe, at one point, these important aspects of writing and speaking English were not emphasised as computer spell checkers would eliminate the problem of spelling. Hence it is difficult to expect every one to use and spell words correctly.
One often tends to respond quickly, (passionately) on here and it is so very easy to hit a wrong key and sometimes difficult to spot.
Spell checkers will probably not pick up on the example words I have used.
I would expect newspapers and any formal documentation to be correct (and it often isn't). It does reflect poorly on the management who permit this laxity.
But is more important on here to hear the views of all contributors, and as unless you happen to be an English tutor, I don't think any one of us is in a position to justifiably criticise others.
At least there is no serious bad mouthing or foul language on here.
Hooray !! !! !! !!
If you have a serious problem understanding a post, I'm sure that the contributor will be happy to elucidate.
It's an exchange of ideas, not an O level english exam and we should not take ourselves too seriously even if some of the topics are serious.
Now if you were writing to a newspaper or a formal letter or other document............................................ Different story
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Attrebates
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Re: Spelling | Peter Dolman wrote: | As an officially sanctioned "grumpy old man" (my children's opinion)I would like to moan about the standard of spelling being presented on this forum. While I accept that I am not perfect it would appear that there is a competition in misspelling as many words as possible.
Is this really necessary? |
Welcome to the "Grumpy Old Man" group that you swore you would never join ! ! !
From your post, it would seem that your children have indeed been well educated. 
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GTB
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Peter Dolman
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My children I believe coined the phrase "grumpy old man" many years before it became used eslewhere. Yes they, like their mother, are much better educated than their father and quite rightly I am very proud of them.
Parents should strive to ensure that their offspring have every opportunity to improve their education beyond that reached by themselves.
I am convinced that there are at least 2 regular contributors who deliberately leave entries with mis-spellings. This maybe to shock or more likely to hide their identity.
Correct grammer, spelling, punctuation etc indicates that the contributor has reached a level of education which (in my humble opinion) give more credibililty to there comments.
Perception is sometimes more important than what is said!
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Geddi
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I am certain that half of the really bad spelling errors are because people are too rushed to stop and check. When it is mentioned, people stop and check, for a while, until they're all fired up again over the next issue.
Perfection is not neccessary, the illusion will suffice thanks all the same.
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martin butler
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be careful there are people out there who have dyslexia.
Don`t put them off joining in forum`s , ok some highly educated people have trouble spelling so what , as long as the message get`s to the point , do not mock the inflicted no one is perfect.
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Attrebates
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| Peter Dolman wrote: | ExtractI am convinced that there are at least 2 regular contributors who deliberately leave entries with mis-spellings. This maybe to shock or more likely to hide their identity.
Correct grammer, spelling, punctuation etc indicates that the contributor has reached a level of education which (in my humble opinion) give more credibililty to there comments.
Perception is sometimes more important than what is said! |
A sentiment I have used on this forum before.
C'mon, do tell who are the faux posters, in your view ?
It's GRAMMAR and THEIR, BTW. (But as you say we all make typo errors, me included)
I'm not convinced that education inevitably raises the validity of what people think and say. We have an example very recently of supposedly well educated people (a councillor no less) who made a crass public statement about watertight contracts. How credible was that ?
Correct grammar and punctuation may enable an idea to be better expressed or communicated but it doesn't mean that the idea itself is of any lesser value than a supposedly educated person's idea, particularly on this type of forum.
To hold too closely to the notion that only those whose English is at, say, O level standard (not high) should be listened to, would deny and discourage those who do not hold the qualification from expressing their views. Would you say the same about their mathematical skills or sporting prowess, if it could be expressed on here ?
Certainly in this medium, my view (or yours) has no more validity than any one elses. Your perception of their view may be coloured by the way it expressed but that is for you and you alone to decide.
I like to hear all views and formulate my own view from personal knowledge, or experience but not based upon the language skills of the presenter.
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GTB
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To be honest, if you are bad at spelling it doesn't necessarily mean your unintelligent. You only have to look at the state of Doctors handwriting to see that.
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Peter Dolman
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As someone who failed to achieve an O'level in English (maths eng drawing & principles of accounts) I do not claim any special exemption from at least attempting to use, as far as possible, "correct" english.
As you would expect I will defend everyone rights to have their say wether I agree with them or not. If comments are easy on the eye and are easy to read they are more likely to have a greater impact.
Doctors are not bad spellers, their presecriptions just tend to be unreadable by everyone except other doctors and pharmacists!
As for text messaging don't go there, possible thread, as mobile phones have to be the invention resulting in the most damage to the human race!
I don't do text!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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GTB
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| Peter Dolman wrote: | .
Doctors are not bad spellers, their presecriptions just tend to be unreadable by everyone except other doctors and pharmacists!
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They are certainly famous for bad handwriting!
| Peter Dolman wrote: |
As for text messaging don't go there, possible thread, as mobile phones have to be the invention resulting in the most damage to the human race!
I don't do text!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
I would love to post some links here from other forums as examples of really bad text speak but wouldn't want to bring the tone down that much.
The mobile phone thread would be an interesting debate with lots of contrasting views from the pro's and anti's. :thumbl:
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Calne18
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some people deliberatley spell short hand to save time...where as other genuinely struggle with spelling things but i know i will re-check my posts even more than i used to now.!
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Block67
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-as long as a forum remains fun for everyone, why pick holes in spelling or grammar. As long as their point comes across, does it really matter.
Unlike my two stepsons who are both dyslexic, I am not and have an O level in english, but even I make mistakes!
Just bear in mind those that are dyslexic, use the forum and haven't said that they are to the rest of you.
As for text talk, that should be kept to the mobile phones!
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kathy27
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I hate text talk it takes me so long to read a two minute text, i end up phoning the person to ask what they said!
Maybe thats why they do it, to save their credit 
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Chris P Bacon
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We all get it wrong from time to time
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GTB
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Bit like the American politician spelling the word "potato" and putting an "e" on the end. 
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