Does anyone else find the repeated misspelling of words distracting? I am not claiming any superiority in this respect, and I am not referring to Trans-Atlantic variations, but I am constantly surprised at the number of otherwise well-written and articulate posters who misspell the simplest of words. And I do find that it distracts me from the otherwise excellent points they may be making. A hardy perennial is 'payed', used as the past tense of the verb 'to pay'. The only legitimate sense of the word 'payed' is in the 'paying out' of ropes within the nautical context. The past tense of the verb to pay is 'paid'. OK, rant over - there are many more, but sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
I am not that picky, I try to read as is I know myself as I get older I often think one thing and type another, it's crazy
LOL, good point! Perhaps this otherwise useless thread could become a repository for pet grammatical and spelling peeves. Could be fun!
The only thing that really drives me crazy, is when posters post a thread title & either misspell, dyslexic, leave out or somehow mangle, words. My guess is, is that everybody mangles posts at one time or another, either because they're in a hurry or when they're tired(me, with late night posting), but when it comes to a thread title, you really need to pay attention, 'cause otherwise the thread(thread starter?) looks stupid.
I was not referring to those for whom English is not their native language - for whom I have great respect - nor was I referring to typographical errors. Anyone who is familiar with a QWERTY keyboard recognises those, and I make many such when I am in a hurry. (BTW, how does one laugh statistically? Or was that a clever play on words? ) To what I was referring was obvious native English users, who make very basic spelling errors repeatedly (as distinct from occasional typographical errors). Similarly with grammatical solecisms such as "He did good ..." when "He did well ..." is meant, or "He swum the Channel ..." when the past tense of the verb 'to swim' is intended.
Im sury to reed yu git distrated bie mispellings. mebbe yu shound't reed the posts hear but fynd nother hubby..... dont wanna up set yu.
I know the standard is to type i before e but for some unkown reason I seem to always type e before i when it comes to the word beleive. Please overlook that simple faux pas. I do beleive they should change the spelling of that word.
While some might laugh sadistically at their poor spelling skills, others will perceive the poster as lacking in education and thus credibility. I assume most computers will highlight the spelling errors these days. I suppose whether one should fix them or not would hinge on a combination of: A: Are you interested in actually being right? or just in feeling right? See the thread "Why do people hate the truth" I assume that those who choose to misspell are also those who answered "Because truth is what you want something to be. not what it is." And B: Do you speak to broaden the discussion? To achieve understanding and consensus? Or do you speak to bring yourself pleasure?
It was a reference to " My Immortal" the worst fanfic ever written and also the most misspelled English text one can find online . Too bad nobody got it
School spelling champion, but it doesn't bother me. I see the errors, but if they're bad enough it's part of the fun to translate them into legibility. It's an international forum. If you want to exchange views, you have to communicate in any form of language. It's all politics and plenty of people with very worthwhile views don't present well, here and in real life. It's one of the first things to know, the people who don't present well can have the better contribution if you can get a line of communication into them. Native English speakers hail from countries all over the world anyway, there are hundreds of different language varieties. Plenty of uneducated people think Indians are uneducated if they use the word "it" instead of he, she or it, but that is correct usage in some other English language varieties. Such differences were deliberately incorporated to distinguish English English from the other varieties.
I wonder how we are to look at 'Ebonics' as another version of American English. Do we just accept this ghetto language as a part of the progression of the English language?
This thread made me think about this email I received..it is a bit fun.. If you can raed this, you have a sgtrane mnid, too. Can you raed this? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in what oerdr the ltteres in a word are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is that the frsit and last ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can still raed it whotuit a pboerlm. This is bcuseaethe huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the word as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
putting in the incorrect word-they're, their, there...the brain does weird things you may intend to put the right word in but the brain doesn't follow, you realize it's an error only when you reread it...another I (and others) mess up is "are" and "our" which aren't even similar...then there is fast typing and relying on auto correct, I'm often not very attentive(lazy) to spelling and just punch in something that comes close to the word I want, then I zip through any suggested corrections and click on the correction, sometimes I don't even do that well and get a totally incorrect word... in the end it doesn't matter to me, I get what a person is trying to say and accept it, poor spelling or grammar doesn't mean they're stupid...
As UK people consider the newer US version of English. Language changes constantly on a daily basis and every region has dialects and divergence. Try equating Cuban Spanish with Madrid. Or Broad Scots with UK English. Broad Scots is now so far from it, it is a UK listed language and we are considered bi-lingual. I understand it's difficult for the blinkered morally bankrupt to consider any way but their chosen way and if one wishes to exclude all but ones own colour or affiliation in all things, then intolerance is the norm and of course linguistics is included in that. For posters whose native language is English English, US English contains many misspelt words. Perhaps in your world, anyone who spells the UK way should be excluded from the forum.
I know in different regions of the U.S. we have different lingo so to speak and a lot of slang has worked it's way into our everyday verbiage . I figure as long as I get the point I cannot complain,
omg, r u 4rl? lolz. 2EZ. Can we all agree that those darn kids and their textspeak are more annoying than any spelling error?
Sorry people, but too many of you seem to be labouring under the misapprehension that I am critcising someone, or some group of people. I am not, I thought I had made my meaning clear. I just find it interesting, and perhaps a fault in my own philosophy, that the misspelling of very common words distract me. They do not upset me, or have any serious affect, but it is my view that we have a responsibility to our readers when we 'publish' in any form, to write in such a manner that it is easy to read. I consider it a mark of respect for the membership of this board, that I make sufficient effort to render my posts as linguistically correct as I am able. Matters of colloquialism, regional usage, and even American spelling, are not in the slightest distracting (once one realises that the letter 'u' does not exist in the American alphabet ). But the misspelling of common words such as 'paid' is distracting because it is inexplicable. Let's be frank, we can all use Leetspeak, and/or txt-speak, but it would not be worth the effort for our readers of varying ages to translate complex posts dealing with subtle concepts. Like I cUd typ dis n txt-lingo bt w@ w%d B d point? And I would probably come across as a moron to older readers. The English language is, like every other, a living thing and is developing constantly, but at any given time (and leaving aside a very few trans-Atlantic spelling variations,) its correct written form is pretty much recognisable by people possessed of even a basic form of literacy. Now I realise that some people are going to become defensive at this point, but you can let down the drawbridge, and store your chain mail. I am merely trying to explain my reaction to inexplicable spelling errors and grammatical solecisms. If others are fine with those standards, then no more need be said.
