OT - rant 1 - spelling

[intlzncster]

Most things on the web (outside of professional publications) should be absolved. Auto correct and tiny keyboards/screens on smart phones make proper spelling, and even grammar, damn near impossible at times.

 

[meyers7]

Most things on the web (outside of professional publications) should be absolved. Auto correct and tiny keyboards/screens on smart phones make proper spelling, and even grammar, damn near impossible at times.

Agreed. Also, proper spelling and grammar can't fix stupid posts.

I say worry more about content, than spelling and grammar. But that's just me.

 

[chrissaran]

Content when written like a second grader is not worth reading.

 

[Kibitzer]

And spelling. Aluminium (AL-you MIN-i-um) is my fav...

How about programme or tonne?

 

[meyers7]

Content when written like a second grader is not worth reading.

Content from the mind of a second grader, written like a college graduate is not worth reading.

Some of you need to get over yourselves.

 

[chrissaran]

Why is it that anybody should accept such poor writing. You should get over yourself. Actually there are second graders who write at a college level, which doesn't say much for you.

 

[rugbymate]

Content from the mind of a second grader, written like a college graduate is not worth reading.

Some of you need to get over yourselves.

r u 2 old school 2 b texting?

 

[DaddyChoc]

Content from the mind of a second grader, written like a college graduate is not worth reading.

Some of you need to get over yourselves.

really

 

[meyers7]

r u 2 old school 2 b texting?

Nope, not that old yet. Love texting. One of the greatest inventions eva.

 

[meyers7]

Why is it that anybody should accept such poor writing.

Why is it anyone should accept stupidity in posts?

Actually there are second graders who write at a college level, which doesn't say much for you.

Actually doesn't say anything about me.

Really people, concentrate on the content, much more important than spelling, grammar, punctuation. (Not that I don't find much of the spelling, grammar, punctuation amusing.)

 

[JimGunther]

If you want to be taken seriously - by most all the people you're trying to reach - why put-off a significant number of your readers by being sloppy with spelling or punctuation?
No poor speller is going to discount your opinion because you spelled correctly: on the other hand.....

 

[UcMiami]

English is the most bastardized of the modern western languages because it developed in a country that was constantly being conquered by waves of germanic tribes followed by 400 years of roman occupation, a 600 year period of norse/danish raiding, followed by the Norman conquest. So while it is rooted in germanic forms, it has an overlay of latin and french roots as well. And it like all languages continues to evolve. It wasn't until quite recent history that the creation of printing presses allowed written language anywhere to become generally accessible, and the creation of dictionaries began the codification of spelling and 'correct' usage. And for much of recorded history, the large majority of written and printed language was not in native tongues but in Latin. It isn't until late middle ages that 'English' literature is being published at all. Add in that the British Empire is the most successful, extensive, and long-standing of the western colonizations and is a constant source of new words and variations on usage and you get quite a mess - a language used to adaptation is more willing to be further adapted.

In modern times a change in literature and culture and recording/broadcast capabilities has hastened the change from an elite educated minority defining language to a greater acceptance and dispersal of 'street' forms of language.

 

[meyers7]

If you want to be taken seriously - by most all the people you're trying to reach - why put-off a significant number of your readers by being sloppy with spelling or punctuation?

Well you shouldn't. However, I find the whiny grammar nazis much more annoying.

 

[meyers7]

Some people get the big picture, some get lost in the minutiae.

 

[chrissaran]

There's no content when it's so poorly written that a second grader could do better. As for the grammar "Nazis", what a pathetic way to refer to people. Nazis killed between six and eight million Jews. All you're doing is mangling the English language. Why is it that people from other countries are better at understanding and writing our language than the people born here? Apathy and laziness.

 

[meyers7]

There's no content when it's so poorly written that a second grader could do better.

For grammar nazis, I imagine that's true. For the rest of us intelligent people, content is much more important than a couple misspelled words. Like I said some miss the big picture. I guess we know which camp your in.

As for the grammar "Nazis", what a pathetic way to refer to people. Nazis killed between six and eight million Jews. All you're doing is mangling the English language.

It's a pretty well known saying. Wasn't like I made it up.

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-a-Grammar-Nazi

 

[CCinCT]

Typos, misspelling and mispronunciation, malapropisms, poor grammar, and the like are sources of some much needed humor and amusement derived from the barrage of bad news and anger we are subjected to every day.

The UCONN women were "singing" autographs

Police chased a white "Camera" down I84

Every day brings a new faux pas on the local news channels and in the newspapers, why get uptight about a few episodes of "roll playing", "corpsemen", "nucular", "tears strolling down her cheeks", "light as a pancake" , or "between a rock and a hardball" ????

Lighten up and enjoy

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

hthttp://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/images/2015/07/06/womens-attendence.pdftp://i.turner.ncaa.com/sites/default/files/images/2015/07/06/womens-attendence.pdf

But to the original point - in the report on NCAA attendance that was linked in another thread - "neutral" is misspelled in its first usage in the chart.

The word neutral appears multiple times in the chart, including the line below the misspelled one. It wasn't a spelling error, it was a "typing" error that no one fixed. In an "official" report of the NCAA.

That, all in all, was my point and a perfect example.

I'm not so sure that "Tr" is the official abbreviation for tournament either, but here the intent is obvious.

 

[chrissaran]

Grammar is part of content. Unfortunately we have a bunch of ignorant, uneducated, lazy, entitled people in this country. It's no wonder we are known as Ugly Americans. In many places in the world children don't get a chance to be educated, especially young girls. Students have died to get an education. Ask the school-aged kids in Afghanistan and Pakistan about getting an education. How many times has the Taliban attacked schools and killed everyone inside because they dared to educate girls. We are so complacent in this country, which is why much of the rest of the world can't stand us.

 

[meyers7]

Grammar is part of content.

Can be, but not necessarily. If the message can be sent and received (and understood), in spite of an grammar issues, then the content instead of the grammar is what matters. If the grammar actually causes a problem, such that the content changes (and the receiver doesn't understand), then yea it matters. But that really doesn't happen very often. Usually we know what they mean, even if there is a misspelled word or a comma in the wrong place.

 

[Hope]

And spelling. Aluminium (AL-you MIN-i-um) is my fav...

I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd what I was rdnaieg. unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid it dseno't mttaer in what oderr the lterets in a word are.

hpoe.

 

[Hope]

Can be, but not necessarily. If the message can be sent and received (and understood), in spite of an grammar issues, then the content instead of the grammar is what matters. If the grammar actually causes a problem, such that the content changes (and the receiver doesn't understand), then yea it matters. But that really doesn't happen very often. Usually we know what they mean, even if there is a misspelled word or a comma in the wrong place.

yes, usllauy we konw waht tehy maen, eevn if trhee is a mpisslleed wrod or a cmmoa in the wnorg pclae.

 

[Zorro]

From time to time, there have been movements to standardize written English in phonetic form, but none of them has gotten anywhere. It does seem ridiculous that trough, though, rough, through, bough, bought, etc. should all have the same ough component and yet be pronounced differently. Why not troff, tho, ruff, thru, bow, bot, etc.?

 

[DaddyChoc]

guess we shouldn't believe a word TonyC says...

 

[Kibitzer]

Actually it does matter what order the letters are in; otherwise, how would you recognize words if you spelled them any way you wanted to? Make fun all you want; you just don't get it. Isdgue ghtomd vndldj wexmebnt lpoiecvnw weiurcnbe!

I share your frustration and laud your belief in the importance of precision when communicating with others through any medium. But I confess that I am incapable of decoding the closing statement (highlighted in bold, by me).