Poor spelling and lack of grammar?

[Eric5h5]

While true, no one needs to be formal here. I'm more worried about them getting the point across, rather than whether their grammar is correct.

I'm not concerned about formality at all. I am concerned about reasonably correct grammar--the entire idea of grammar in the first place is to get your point across! Misplaced commas, incorrect words and so on can significantly change what you meant to say, or at least make it harder to figure out. ("Eats, Shoots & Leaves", yes? )

--Eric

 

[IJ Reilly]

Writing with poor grammar and spelling, and lacking correct punctuation, capital letters, and other conventions of written communications is the equivalent of mumbling spoken words. Nobody would expect to get much respect for their vocal communications if they slurred or mumbled; neither can they expect anyone to try to decipher their butchered written thoughts.

That said, I know we have many posters here for whom English is not their native language. I give a lot of credit to anyone who can master any part of written English without having been born to it.

To the rest of you, get with the program. At some point in your life you will be expected to write clearly, grammatically and accurately. This is as good a place as any to practice those skills.

 

[PlaceofDis]

To the rest of you, get with the program. At some point in your life you will be expected to write clearly, grammatically and accurately. This is as good a place as any to practice those skills.

well thank you for that condescending attitude there IJ. this is the internet. not a research paper, just because i don't use "proper" grammar, sentence structure and the like there does not mean i can't use it at all. and i'd think thats the same fore the vast majority of people. there is a time and a place for everything. the internet is a place for 'relaxed' rules on grammar because its an informal area.

language and grammar are fluid and always changing i don't get how people cannot see that.

 

[bsheridan]

language and grammar are fluid and always changing i don't get how people cannot see that.

Reminds me of a video I seen recently: @#$%^@# Language

 

[IJ Reilly]

well thank you for that condescending attitude there IJ. this is the internet. not a research paper, just because i don't use "proper" grammar, sentence structure and the like there does not mean i can't use it at all. and i'd think thats the same fore the vast majority of people. there is a time and a place for everything. the internet is a place for 'relaxed' rules on grammar because its an informal area.

language and grammar are fluid and always changing i don't get how people cannot see that.

Any time. Sorry, but I speak the truth. You may very well be able to write properly when you're not doing it here, but clearly many for whatever reason don't have those skills, and I don't know what excuse anyone would have for dropping those skills just because they happen to be posting to an internet board. That's just arbitrary.

The conventions of spelling and grammar exist for a purpose -- and not for anyone to show off what they know, but to make it easier for us to communicate with each other. What is the reason for "relaxed" spelling and grammar in this venue, and what purpose is served? None, and none.

It's not a question of language and grammar "changing," it's a matter of the rules being ignored, in many cases because they are not known or understood. The rules for where apostrophes belong haven't changed just because few seem to be aware of them anymore. When someone can't be bothered to hit the shift key at the beginning of a sentence, they are making the result more difficult for someone else to read. They're offloading effort from themselves onto the reader -- which to my mind, is at least a little rude. Based on the posting here, I see I'm not the only one who thinks so.

I hope the above doesn't read too much like a "research paper" just because the spelling and grammar are correct.

 

[PlaceofDis]

Any time. Sorry, but I speak the truth. You may very well be able to write properly when you're not doing it here, but clearly many for whatever reason don't have those skills, and I don't know what excuse anyone would have for dropping those skills just because they happen to be posting to an internet board. That's just arbitrary.

The conventions of spelling and grammar exist for a purpose -- and not for anyone to show off what they know, but to make it easier for us to communicate with each other. What is the reason for "relaxed" spelling and grammar in this venue, and what purpose is served? None, and none.

It's not a question of language and grammar "changing," it's a matter of the rules being ignored, in many cases because they are not known or understood. The rules for where apostrophes belong haven't changed just because few seem to be aware of them anymore. When someone can't be bothered to hit the shift key at the beginning of a sentence, they are making the result more difficult for someone else to read. They're offloading effort from themselves onto the reader -- which to my mind, is at least a little rude. Based on the posting here, I see I'm not the only one who thinks so.

I hope the above doesn't read too much like a "research paper" just because the spelling and grammar are correct.

i know many people can't write properly and needs to be addressed, but fact is, this is not a classroom. this is an internet forum where the vast majority of the rules can and will be thrown out. and for good cause.

this is an informal environment. there is no need to keep all the conventions of writing intact here, just the basic tenants. as you can see, i do follow some, of the rules, just not all. why does every sentence need to start with a capital letter in the first place, if punctuation is there to mark the end of the previous sentence? obviously you have no difficulty reading my post or understanding what i'm saying, so its not as if the relaxed atmosphere here hinders people from communicating, i think the over six million posts here speak well enough of that.

grammar does change, language does change, its a very fluid movement. it might not be the most readily apparent transformation but it certainly does happen and more than you'd realize. maybe the people here complaining are like everything else on a forum, more vocal because they have something to complain about, how many members are here? how many are not saying they have a problem with it either?

i'mnotsayingthatallrulesshouldbeingornedorthingsmadetotallyunintelligablelikethisbutthereisagoodreasonastowhytherulearemorerelaxedhereandthatsbecausethisisaninformalgroundofpeopletalkingtooneanotherquickandinformallyaspoeplewouldiftheywereoutwithfriendsratherthaninaformalmettingwiththeirbossjustasyouusedifferentwordchoiceswhenyourwithyourfamilypeopleusedifferentchoicesatworkandinformalsettingsitslikethatheremorerelaxed.

see thats unintelligible and hard to read, but has a good point.

 

[zelmo]

I don't have much problem with an occasional poorly worded post, incorrect spelling, or grammar issues [just read any of my posts for examples ]. I believe that not everything needs to be written as if future earnings potential depends on it. A blog or forum post does not need to hold up to the rigorous scrutiny one might apply to a resume or report for work/school, cases where improper grammar could have a more substantial effect on your place in society.
The number of posts that I read here and can't actually understand is quite small but annoying. The number of posts from people complaining about this issue is, frankly, much larger and more irksome.My own pet peeves are more along the lines of 'their/there/they're' and 'lose/loose,' but even these types of errors aren't intolerable here...among friends.

 

[Aranince]

You can choose not to use proper spelling/grammar/capitalization on the internet...but like others have said...it makes you look a 12 year old and probably reduces your respect. I notice for my self when someone uses near perfect grammar/spelling, I tend to respect them a whole lot more than I would for sum 1 who talks liek this.

 

[OutThere]

I find this forum to be generally ahead of the rest as far as myspace-style posts go...some forums (none of which I frequent) are really unbearable. ThOuGh i'Ve aLwAysS fOUnd THiSz tO bE tHe moSzt aNnOYying THinGg oN tHe inTeRneTs. It hurt me to write that, thankfully you almost never see that here.

 

[Tom B.]

The only thing I can't bear is the epidemic of misusing apostrophes and not leaving spaces after commas.

But to be honest, I do think more of people who make an effort to write correctly, for the reasons IJ Reilly already mentioned.

 

[Sun Baked]

Watch out. Goats really will eat your homework.

Won't stops me from waiting til it comes back out to turn it in.

 

[xUKHCx]

I love this how this thread in general contains lots and lots of errors but that is beside the point.

They're offloading effort from themselves onto the reader -- which to my mind, is at least a little rude. Based on the posting here, I see I'm not the only one who thinks so.

I hope the above doesn't read too much like a "research paper" just because the spelling and grammar are correct.

In general people can read very poorly formed sentences/spelling without much difficulty (see below) so to talk about offloading effort is a bit far

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

.

i know many people can't write properly and needs to be addressed, but fact is, this is not a classroom. this is an internet forum where the vast majority of the rules can and will be thrown out. and for good cause.

this is an informal environment. there is no need to keep all the conventions of writing intact here, just the basic tenants. as you can see, i do follow some, of the rules, just not all. why does every sentence need to start with a capital letter in the first place, if punctuation is there to mark the end of the previous sentence? obviously you have no difficulty reading my post or understanding what i'm saying, so its not as if the relaxed atmosphere here hinders people from communicating, i think the over six million posts here speak well enough of that.

grammar does change, language does change, its a very fluid movement. it might not be the most readily apparent transformation but it certainly does happen and more than you'd realize. maybe the people here complaining are like everything else on a forum, more vocal because they have something to complain about, how many members are here? how many are not saying they have a problem with it either?

i'mnotsayingthatallrulesshouldbeingornedorthingsmadetotallyunintelligablelikethisbutthereisagoodreasonastowhytherulearemorerelaxedhereandthatsbecausethisisaninformalgroundofpeopletalkingtooneanotherquickandinformallyaspoeplewouldiftheywereoutwithfriendsratherthaninaformalmettingwiththeirbossjustasyouusedifferentwordchoiceswhenyourwithyourfamilypeopleusedifferentchoicesatworkandinformalsettingsitslikethatheremorerelaxed.

see thats unintelligible and hard to read, but has a good point.

I wholeheartedly agree especially with the unintelligible part.

I don't have much problem with an occasional poorly worded post, incorrect spelling, or grammar issues [just read any of my posts for examples ]. I believe that not everything needs to be written as if future earnings potential depends on it. A blog or forum post does not need to hold up to the rigorous scrutiny one might apply to a resume or report for work/school, cases where improper grammar could have a more substantial effect on your place in society.
The number of posts that I read here and can't actually understand is quite small but annoying. The number of posts from people complaining about this issue is, frankly, much larger and more irksome.My own pet peeves are more along the lines of 'their/there/they're' and 'lose/loose,' but even these types of errors aren't intolerable here...among friends.

You can choose not to use proper spelling/grammar/capitalization on the internet...but like others have said...it makes you look a 12 year old and probably reduces your respect. I notice for my self when someone uses near perfect grammar/spelling, I tend to respect them a whole lot more than I would for sum 1 who talks liek this.

Odd that you happen to guess my exact spelling age as deemed by a psychologist who also deemed the fact that I have dyslexia. Also you should be very aware that there are lots of other reasons why someone may not use the "correct" spelling, grammar, capitalisation such as learning difficulties, non-native speakers, localisation. There is more to the internet than looking down at people when they aren't adhering to your rules.

I agree with what PoD said above and as long as the communication of the point is there then that is all that matters.

From a moderator point of view I remove comments that give a negative spin on the fact that someone can not spell properly or derail the thread.

 

[kabunaru]

I use British English so I am fine.

 

[arjen92]

I'm a foreigner, so don't expect me to write perfect english. I don't expect you to write perfect dutch.

 

[Eric5h5]

That said, I know we have many posters here for whom English is not their native language. I give a lot of credit to anyone who can master any part of written English without having been born to it.

Well, except the majority of these people are far better at writing English than native speakers. I see this over and over again: "I apologize for my English," followed by near-perfect grammar.

--Eric

 

[bigandy]

How are you doing with that?

Not very well.

This is as good a place as any to practice those skills.

I agree.

Just because we're on the internet means we don't have to talk properly? What?

So when you're accessing your company intranet across the internet, you throw grammar and spelling out the window? Do you write emails to your boss in l33t sp34k?



Thought not.






.

 

[kabunaru]

I'm a foreigner, so don't expect me to write perfect english. I don't expect you to write perfect dutch.

I am also a foreigner and I do not expect any one to write "perfect" English.

Although, there is some part of me that wants the name changed from MacRumors to MacRumours though.

Other than that, I do not really care that much if a person uses British English, Australian English, American English, etc..

 

[MrSmith]

...this is an internet forum where the vast majority of the rules can and will be thrown out...

Buy why? What makes submitting the written word in an online forum any different from the way you, say, write a letter to a friend?

...and for good cause...

You're saying it's actually better to use a poor written form?

You can go out unwashed and dressed in rags in the knowledge you won't be meeting anyone you know. I would prefer not to, though.

 

[iJohnHenry]

I think PlaceofDis' writing style is an affectation of who he is.

It's subjective, but if you think someone is using spelling and grammar as a means to indicate attitude, you are free to ignore them.

 

[Aranince]

Odd that you happen to guess my exact spelling age as deemed by a psychologist who also deemed the fact that I have dyslexia. Also you should be very aware that there are lots of other reasons why someone may not use the "correct" spelling, grammar, capitalisation such as learning difficulties, non-native speakers, localisation. There is more to the internet than looking down at people when they aren't adhering to your rules.

Most web browsers have spell checking, that should completely eliminate any spelling excuses. What bugs me is when a post completely disregards any form of grammar, structure or spelling rules. Its not that hard to put punctuation and capitalize letters.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Just because we're on the internet means we don't have to talk properly? What?

What?

Was that a question?

Old joke alert: A man asks his Jewish friend, "Why do you Jews always answer a question with a question?" His friend replies, "So why shouldn't we?"

Other than that, I do not really care that much if a person uses British English, Australian English, American English, etc..

Ah, but what if they abuse it instead of using it?

 

[kabunaru]

Ah, but what if they abuse it instead of using it?

Languages evolve over time and English in 500 years will not look like it is today. If the current trend continues, in 50-100 years perhaps people will spell like this:

was ----waz
is---iz
besides----besidez
purple---purpol
lightning--litening
light---lite
night----nite
preposition----prepozition
position----pozition
opposition----oppozition
treasure----treazure
treason---- treazon
knight---knite
fight---fite
tight---tite
flight---flite
lightly---litely
lighten---liten
lighthouse---litehouse
tongue---tung
advertise-----advertize
advise-----advize
apprise----apprize
arise-----arize
chastise----chastize
circumsise----circumsize
incise----incize
excise----excize
comprise---comprize
compromise-----compromize
demise----demize
despise---despize
devise-----devize
disguise----disguize
exercise-----exercize
franchise----franchize
improvise---improvize
merchandise-----merchandize
revise----revize
supervise----supervize
surmise-----surmize
surprise----surprize
televise----televize
enterprise----enterprize

 

[skunk]

Languages evolve over time and English in 500 years will not look like it is today. If the current trend continues, in 50-100 years perhaps people will spell like this:

What is this obsession you have with endless lists of misspelt words? English spellings contain a wealth of history, and the only result of your butchering is to cut words off from their roots. It is an exercise in cultural vandalism.

 

[kabunaru]

What is this obsession you have with endless lists of misspelt words?

I like to make lists with ideas.

 

[rdowns]

I like to make lists with stoopid ideas.

Fixed that for you.