A Rant about People Who Rant about Spelling

[corrytonapple]

After getting nailed on here three or so times on a comment here in the Community Cafe, and seeing it happen to others, I must say it is getting old. People posting about spelling issues and then watching the thread and looking for spelling mistakes over and over is just a waste of time on your behalf. If I have a spelling error, just PM me if you see it. I am just saying, but am I over-reacting? I am just wondering.
Thank you for the input. Have a good day.:popcorn:

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

:lolflag:

[Brunellus]

The Internet has been a textual medium: you are what you write. You may be a perfectly good human being, but ultimately, you will be judged upon the quality of your writing.

Personally, a few spelling mistakes here and there don't bother me too much. But 1337 5p33k3rZ and people who type as if they were texting get on my nerves--it takes a great deal of self-discipline for me to take such people seriously.

That said, I take a very dim view of needless grammatical bullying on these forums, particularly in the main support areas. If it becomes abusive, I will have to step in and take corrective action.

[corrytonapple]

I don't even know how to text. Oh yeah, that hurts to read. When I do make a spelling mistake, I correct it, and always have. Before the most recent "Bulling", which was solved, I had never made a spelling mistake since one of my first posts here. But in the Cafe, I don't care. I will correct it, but I prefer people don't get up in arms about it. If I see it, I report it.

:lolflag:
Yes, I can see why you put that!

[Brunellus]

I have also, evidently, lost this particular battle, but I also loathe people who post inline images or animated emoticons. But then, that's me being a bit of a grumpy old Internet codger.

[corrytonapple]

I probably should not say this, but it is mainly trolls. I will agree with you on it all. You are not being grumpy, but doing your job.

[Delvien]

Hey... you capitalized every word in your title, except about.. that's incorrect. Please fix!


:P

[lisati]

There are one or two things that grate on my nerves when I see them in the forums e.g. someone muddling similar-sounding words. It's sometimes a challenge to avoid switching into "grammar police" mode.

The important things is that we are able to communicate effectively - doing so is mentioned in the CoC - without getting distracted by what some might see as petty bickering.

[perspectoff]

There are one or two things that grate on my nerves when I see them in the forums e.g. someone muddling similar-sounding words. It's sometimes a challenge to avoid switching into "grammar police" mode.

The important things is that we are able to communicate effectively - doing so is mentioned in the CoC - without getting distracted by what some might see as petty bickering.

Oh goody. A forum in which to rant.

"Install" is a verb, not a noun. The noun is installation. Institutionalized laziness is the sin, here. Slackers for language degradation unite! (Or not... if it's around 4:20, dude!)

[corrytonapple]

Hey... you capitalized every word in your title, except about.. that's incorrect. Please fix!


:P
I considered the word "about" not to be an important word like the word "of".:p


Oh goody. A forum in which to rant.

"Install" is a verb, not a noun. The noun is installation. Institutionalized laziness is the sin, here. Slackers for language degradation unite! (Or not... if it's around 4:20, dude!)
Don't you get that idea.....
Good point though
:popcorn:

[KiwiNZ]

it's the classic arrogance of " English is my language and so it is the language of every person on the planet" and to that , there is no such thing as writting disabilities.

I agree with corrytonapple but feel for the grammer police.

So to the grammer police ...

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
when you're perfect in every way........

Lighten up read what was intended , turn off the halos and relax

[thatguruguy]

Spelling and grammar matter. I'll give an example.

I've recently noticed a 13-year-old, self-described "computer whizz [sic]" who contributes to this forum. He states that he packages various programs, presumably for Ubuntu. Although he is British, he appears to be barely literate w/r/t the English language. Since computer languages are actual language (that is, they have syntactical structures which much be followed and the expression of words within code have actual agreed-upon meaning), it give me pause to think that a person who can't express himself in his native tongue is (at least attempting) to provide packages for others to use on their computers. It strikes me that his efforts are destined to be buggy at best, and at the worst possibly will lead to significant breakage. I respect that linux is community-driven, but not all members of a community are equal in their talents or abilities. I also recognize that his poor writing skills may be a reflection of a particular form of intellectual laziness on his part; but why should I assume that his laziness would not carry over to his coding efforts?

[Spice Weasel]

It's not hard to get your spelling sorted out on the blogosphere. Firefox comes with built in spell check. I just see it as laziness if people don't use it.

Haven't got a problem with bad spelling on IM though, as l0|\hg 4$ 1i l1s|\|7 l13k dis.

[markp1989]

It does wind me up when people moan about spelling on the internet.

one complaint I have is when I spell something the English way (eg colour) and Americans moan at me for spelling it wrong.

IMO, as long as its not spelt wrong on purpose,and its I can understand what they want to say, I dont care about the spelling side of it.

On instant messaging programs, I don't care how people spell, IMs are just fragments of a sentence, so its not normally that hard to understand it.

[Spice Weasel]

one complaint I have is when I spell something the English way (eg colour) and Americans moan at me for spelling it wrong.

Indeed. English has changed a lot over the past 1000 years and is still changing so there are lots of different "versions". It annoys me when people do this.

[KiwiNZ]

Spelling and grammar matter. I'll give an example.

I've recently noticed a 13-year-old, self-described "computer whizz [sic]" who contributes to this forum. He states that he packages various programs, presumably for Ubuntu. Although he is British, he appears to be barely literate w/r/t the English language. Since computer languages are actual language (that is, they have syntactical structures which much be followed and the expression of words within code have actual agreed-upon meaning), it give me pause to think that a person who can't express himself in his native tongue is (at least attempting) to provide packages for others to use on their computers. It strikes me that his efforts are destined to be buggy at best, and at the worst possibly will lead to significant breakage. I respect that linux is community-driven, but not all members of a community are equal in their talents or abilities. I also recognize that his poor writing skills may be a reflection of a particular form of intellectual laziness on his part; but why should I assume that his laziness would not carry over to his coding efforts?

Wrong

My son , who can code better than many here has terrible spelling etc, he is at Varsity doing a Masters in Classics and averages in the 90's for examinations. He has a well documented learning disability.

My disability causes me to mis type a lot as typing one handed is very tiring

Be careful before you stand in holy judgement.

[Maheriano]

It has to do with how you read. I base the context of the sentence on the spelling of the words, a lot of people who don't read as much often base the context of the words on the reading of the sentence.....backwards. This is why you don't get caught up when someone uses the wrong homonym, you just breeze right through it because the sentence context never changes for you. When I read a word and someone uses "their" instead of "there" I get confused because the sentence syntax is off and I have to stop and read it again to figure out what happened. It's very distracting and annoying when you have to read a single sentence 3 times for 3 different spelling mistakes, you just give up and read a different thread instead.

[fiyer]

Although I am sometimes annoyed at incorrect usages of your/you're and they're/their/there, unless spelling or grammar issues get in the way of understanding, it doesn't matter in the long run.

I have yet to correct a stranger's spelling over the internet. I'm a credentialed English teacher and I do enough correcting during the work day!

Everyone makes the occasional typo or spelling mistake. As others have pointed out, there is a difference between not being able to read the entire passage due to sms-speak vs true difficulties stemming from being an English-Learner.

People who troll about spelling should try my job for a day. My students would make their heads spin.

[corrytonapple]

it's the classic arrogance of " English is my language and so it is the language of every person on the planet" and to that , there is no such thing as writting disabilities.

I agree with corrytonapple but feel for the grammer police.

So to the grammer police ...

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
when you're perfect in every way........

Lighten up read what was intended , turn off the halos and relax
The English is my only language thing is annoying. It is my language, so when see someone getting bashed, I wonder, "Why would they be so enforcing of their language? If they are so smart to spot the difference, why don't they use those smarts to see it is their way of spelling that word?".

Spelling and grammar matter. I'll give an example.

I've recently noticed a 13-year-old, self-described "computer whizz [sic]" who contributes to this forum. He states that he packages various programs, presumably for Ubuntu. Although he is British, he appears to be barely literate w/r/t the English language. Since computer languages are actual language (that is, they have syntactical structures which much be followed and the expression of words within code have actual agreed-upon meaning), it give me pause to think that a person who can't express himself in his native tongue is (at least attempting) to provide packages for others to use on their computers. It strikes me that his efforts are destined to be buggy at best, and at the worst possibly will lead to significant breakage. I respect that linux is community-driven, but not all members of a community are equal in their talents or abilities. I also recognize that his poor writing skills may be a reflection of a particular form of intellectual laziness on his part; but why should I assume that his laziness would not carry over to his coding efforts?
I know who you are talking about. I would not look down on him because he might have a disability or something. Remember, it is community driven.

It's not hard to get your spelling sorted out on the blogosphere. Firefox comes with built in spell check. I just see it as laziness if people don't use it.

Haven't got a problem with bad spelling on IM though, as l0|\hg 4$ 1i l1s|\|7 l13k dis.
Don't know what you put at the end of that......:p

It does wind me up when people moan about spelling on the internet.

one complaint I have is when I spell something the English way (eg colour) and Americans moan at me for spelling it wrong.

IMO, as long as its not spelt wrong on purpose,and its I can understand what they want to say, I dont care about the spelling side of it.

On instant messaging programs, I don't care how people spell, IMs are just fragments of a sentence, so its not normally that hard to understand it.
A great way to get a picture of an American huh?:D

It has to do with how you read. I base the context of the sentence on the spelling of the words, a lot of people who don't read as much often base the context of the words on the reading of the sentence.....backwards. This is why you don't get caught up when someone uses the wrong homonym, you just breeze right through it because the sentence context never changes for you. When I read a word and someone uses "their" instead of "there" I get confused because the sentence syntax is off and I have to stop and read it again to figure out what happened. It's very distracting and annoying when you have to read a single sentence 3 times for 3 different spelling mistakes, you just give up and read a different thread instead.
I had to help someone that could type almost no English. It was so difficult that he/she was having to repost what they were saying so I could understand.

Although I am sometimes annoyed at incorrect usages of your/you're and they're/their/there, unless spelling or grammar issues get in the way of understanding, it doesn't matter in the long run.

I have yet to correct a stranger's spelling over the internet. I'm a credentialed English teacher and I do enough correcting during the work day!

Everyone makes the occasional typo or spelling mistake. As others have pointed out, there is a difference between not being able to read the entire passage due to sms-speak vs true difficulties stemming from being an English-Learner.

People who troll about spelling should try my job for a day. My students would make their heads spin.
HINT: They are Trolls. They are the ones that get banned and receive infractions. They are just another type of troll. Your job is hard since they are so used to texting each other.

[howefield]

Here's something to lighten the mood... if you thought spelling was important, can you read this ?


I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

[markp1989]

.....
Don't know what you put at the end of that......:p
....


as l0|\hg 4$ 1i l1s|\|7 l13k dis
I think he said "As long as it isnt like this" ?



Here's something to lighten the mood... if you thought spelling was important, can you read this ?

I seen that before, I think its really strange that it can still be readable like that.

[corrytonapple]

Here's something to lighten the mood... if you thought spelling was important, can you read this ?


I think he said "As long as it isnt like this" ?




I seen that before, I think its really strange that it can still be readable like that.
So you guys can write and translate this stuff?:popcorn::D

[markp1989]

So you guys can write and translate this stuff?:popcorn::D

there you go :P

I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.


I couldn't believe that I could actually understand what I was reading. Using the incredible power of the human mind, according to research at Cambridge University, it doesn't matter what order the letters in a word are, the only important thing is that the first and last letter be in the right place. The rest can be a total mess and you can still read it without a problem, This is because the human mind does not read every letter by itself, but the word as a whole. Amazing, huh? Yeah and I always thought spelling was important! see if your friends can read this too.

[corrytonapple]

Yeah and I always thought spelling was important! see if your friends can read this too.
Sure you do.....
My friends won't want to read past the first word fragment.:p
See this:

[howefield]

So you guys can write and translate this stuff?:popcorn::D

I hope not :)

I remembered this little passage and searched it out to pick up on the point KiwiNZ made.


Lighten up read what was intended , turn off the halos and relax

If you can do that, then what's the problem ? At least, as far as an internet forum goes. It's not worth falling out with someone over.

It is also almost always true that those who complain about others spelling/grammer are generally full of mistakes themselves. Almost always. There is an example of that in this thread.

[markp1989]

Sure you do.....
My friends won't want to read past the first word fragment.:p
See this:

I had to see that when I was translating it, the red lines annoyed me more than the spelling mistakes did :p

[corrytonapple]

Good Times when it comes to quoting. I am glad to see other users agree with me.

[thatguruguy]

Wrong

My son , who can code better than many here has terrible spelling etc, he is at Varsity doing a Masters in Classics and averages in the 90's for examinations. He has a well documented learning disability.

My disability causes me to mis type a lot as typing one handed is very tiring

Be careful before you stand in holy judgement.

I stand in no judgment. I recognize the fact that there are exceptions to rules. However, rules exist because they are generally true. The fact that some people are born without limbs does not invalidate the statement that human beings are bipeds. The fact that there are some people who can't converse in their native language, but are still able to write code, does not invalidate the statement that a general inability or refusal to abide by the syntactical or other structural rules of one's native language should create concern about that person's ability or willingness to abide by syntactical or other structural rules of other languages, including but not limited to programming languages.

[thatguruguy]

Here's something to lighten the mood... if you thought spelling was important, can you read this ?

I can read and make sense of it, but my computer can't.

[fiyer]

howefield, I've seen that one before. It is impressive that we can actually sort that out in our heads. I think that's the only reason I have any idea what my students are trying to write sometimes ;)

corrytonapple, My students have the added disadvantage of being semi-bilingual. They never learned their home language properly, so they don't have the requisite skills to transfer over into the new language.

Kids who are fully fluent in their 1st language can then transfer all the same literacy skills over and they usually outscore the English-only kids after just a few years of English instruction. Those students are usually ready for AP English, so I don't get to teach them as often. :(

[corrytonapple]

I like this guy. I spelled Picasa wrong, and he kindly told me that it was misspelled. See how that can and should be done? Now I have to make my Menu say Picasa and not Picsa.

[KiwiNZ]

I stand in no judgment. I recognize the fact that there are exceptions to rules. However, rules exist because they are generally true. The fact that some people are born without limbs does not invalidate the statement that human beings are bipeds. The fact that there are some people who can't converse in their native language, but are still able to write code, does not invalidate the statement that a general inability or refusal to abide by the syntactical or other structural rules of one's native language should create concern about that person's ability or willingness to abide by syntactical or other structural rules of other languages, including but not limited to programming languages.

I feel sorry for you , it must be hard to walk around all day so bloody perfect. I bet you are one of the types that put my son down as an idiot because he made spelling mistakes or his hand writting was so bad. It made his life at school a hell with all the O so perfect bully's.

Well guess what he is not and next year he starts his Doctorate and jokes are on them.

I hate intolerance to disability as musch as I hate arrogance and this place sometimes.

[howefield]

I bet you are one of the types that put my son down as an idiot because he made spelling mistakes or his hand writting was so bad.

The type that grow up to be keyboard warriors maybe. Fortunately, keyboard warriors are easily ignored.

[corrytonapple]

Calm down now, we are all sharing our opinions. I have learned a good way to manage bullies. Karate. :))

[fiyer]

I feel sorry for you , it must be hard to walk around all day so bloody perfect. I bet you are one of the types that put my son down as an idiot because he made spelling mistakes or his hand writting was so bad. It made his life at school a hell with all the O so perfect bully's.

Well guess what he is not and next year he starts his Doctorate and jokes are on them.

I hate intolerance to disability as musch as I hate arrogance and this place sometimes.

I think you misunderstood what thatguruguy was attempting to explain.

I did not read that quote as putting anyone down; in fact, it seems to be saying that he understood that there are legitimate exceptions, but in general, people who cannot communicate clearly, lose their credibility. (Ex. when my local newspaper incorrectly spells the name of the person being interviewed... if they can't get that right, what else did they get wrong?)

[v1ad]

its impossible to know everything and be perfect at everything, just because you have a dr. degree in English does not give you the right to criticize others English errors,
i can criticize your whole life based on my own experience of life, but i am smart enough to realize that we all have a different view on life.

[corrytonapple]

its impossible to know everything and be perfect at everything, just because you have a dr. degree in English does not give you the right to criticize others English errors,
i can criticize your whole life based on my own experience of life, but i am smart enough to realize that we all have a different view on life.
Perfect

[KiwiNZ]

I think you misunderstood what thatguruguy was attempting to explain.

I did not read that quote as putting anyone down; in fact, it seems to be saying that he understood that there are legitimate exceptions, but in general, people who cannot communicate clearly, lose their credibility. (Ex. when my local newspaper incorrectly spells the name of the person being interviewed... if they can't get that right, what else did they get wrong?)

Wrong

What you are saying is discrimination on account of disability. So if someone talks with a stammer they have no credibility.Based on that thinking Steven Hawkings has no credibility.

[fiyer]

its impossible to know everything and be perfect at everything, just because you have a dr. degree in English does not give you the right to criticize others English errors,
i can criticize your whole life based on my own experience of life, but i am smart enough to realize that we all have a different view on life.

Right on. Everyone has different strengths. As long as discourse can occur, the errors don't really matter; and the fun thing about English being so fluid is that some of yesterday's "errors" are tomorrow's standardized usages!

[fiyer]

Wrong

What you are saying is discrimination on account of disability. So if someone talks with a stammer they have no credibility.Based on that thinking Steven Hawkings has no credibility.

I don't see how that logically follows. I don't see how a stammer would undermine the content of what someone is saying and cause that person to lose credibility.

Steven Hawkings does have a co-writer (at least for the most current book, maybe for all) for the reason of general clarity. Someone goes through to make sure that his ideas flow in a logically organized way which lay-readers can understand.

I do not know your history with the other user, so maybe you have reason to be angry at what he said. I was simply pointing out that his words seemed to be taken out of context. I agree with him in that: in general, people who want to be taken seriously need to communicate clearly. Keep in mind I am saying "clearly." Clearly is not the same as "perfectly."

[thatguruguy]

I feel sorry for you , it must be hard to walk around all day so bloody perfect. I bet you are one of the types that put my son down as an idiot because he made spelling mistakes or his hand writting was so bad. It made his life at school a hell with all the O so perfect bully's.

Well guess what he is not and next year he starts his Doctorate and jokes are on them.

I hate intolerance to disability as musch as I hate arrogance and this place sometimes.

The only person who has referred to your son as an idiot in this thread is you. I made no such claim. In fact, I went out of my way to note that exceptions exist to every rule.

I'm left-handed, and have awful hand-writing. I took years of speech therapy as a child to address a speech impediment which was significant enough that one of my early grade school teachers opined that I might need to be put in special education classes (my mother still has the report card, well over 30 years later).

Now, I'm an attorney, and write and speak for a living. If I received a memo from a law clerk which was poorly written, I'd fire him. Not out of any lack of empathy, but because communication skills matter.

I get that you're angry. But to the extent that you're angry at me, your anger is displaced.

[Brunellus]

The only person who has referred to your son as an idiot in this thread is you. I made no such claim. In fact, I went out of my way to note that exceptions exist to every rule.

I'm left-handed, and have awful hand-writing. I took years of speech therapy as a child to address a speech impediment which was significant enough that one of my early grade school teachers opined that I might need to be put in special education classes (my mother still has the report card, well over 30 years later).

Now, I'm an attorney, and write and speak for a living. If I received a memo from a law clerk which was poorly written, I'd fire him. Not out of any lack of empathy, but because communication skills matter.

I get that you're angry. But to the extent that you're angry at me, your anger is displaced.
Spelling and grammar matter. As to me, I take care to use proper spelling and grammar at all times. I am, however, willing to forgive minor mistakes in others, so long as the meaning is clear.

Nevertheless, counselor, I submit that the standard to be observed here is not strict, but substantial compliance. It may irk you, as it may occasionally irk me, but there is no reason to attack other people for trivial mistakes. Even the law admits the possibility of scriveners' errors: See, e.g., Fed. R. Civ. P. R. 60(a) (Relief from judgment available at discretion of Court for clerical errors on the face of the judgment).


The whole point of this thread was to complain about people who are needlessly abusive regarding other posters' spelling or grammar. It has begun to degenerate into needless abuse. Accordingly, this thread is now CLOSED.