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Grammar and spelling
I'm Joe Nobody, from Nowhere. I'm a high school graduate, no college.
I get so tired of carelessness.
I've decided to rant about carelessness in print. If you don't like what I have to say, and you think it's perfectly acceptable to litter posts with misspelled words, horribly improper grammar, lack of punctuation, start your own thread. This is my personal appeal to clean things up.
I get a headache from trying to figure out what someone means, when "there" is used instead of, "they're", or, "their". Maybe it's a minor point to you, but I have to stop and decipher what's been printed. The problem is only getting worse, as it seems that no one cares.
Spellcheck is your friend. Please, use it.
Please, learn the differences between "your" and, "you're", "there", "their" and "they're".
"Two", "to" and, "too": please learn the use of each.
"Etc." is the abbreviation for, "et cetera", which means, "and so forth". It's Latin. I don't know what, "ect" is.
It's, "used to", as in, "I used to have no trouble reading the printed word."
The apostrophe has its uses, but please learn where it's used and where it's not.
It's properly used to denote possession, such as, "Gary's" or, "Pat's". It's not necessary in words that already denote possession, such as, "hers", "ours", "his" or "theirs".
It's unnecessary, and even confusing, when used in words that are plural, but are not possessive, such as, "truck's", or "pike pole's". I don't know who started that.
It's also used in contractions, such as, "it's" which is the contraction of, "it is".
It's, "definitely", not , "definately". Think of the word, "finite", if it helps.
Typographical errors are one thing. Blatant spelling errors that have become far too common have just become a sign that we've become lazy, and that bothers me.
I'll be blunt. When I read a post that is full of common errors, I form an impression that it was written by a dummy, or someone who is just too lazy and careless to take the time to learn the language we use every day. Some posts are so bad that I skip past them. I'd be willing to bet that there are others who have the same reaction.
C'mon folks, let's clean it up, please.
Thank you.
I get so tired of carelessness.
I've decided to rant about carelessness in print. If you don't like what I have to say, and you think it's perfectly acceptable to litter posts with misspelled words, horribly improper grammar, lack of punctuation, start your own thread. This is my personal appeal to clean things up.
I get a headache from trying to figure out what someone means, when "there" is used instead of, "they're", or, "their". Maybe it's a minor point to you, but I have to stop and decipher what's been printed. The problem is only getting worse, as it seems that no one cares.
Spellcheck is your friend. Please, use it.
Please, learn the differences between "your" and, "you're", "there", "their" and "they're".
"Two", "to" and, "too": please learn the use of each.
"Etc." is the abbreviation for, "et cetera", which means, "and so forth". It's Latin. I don't know what, "ect" is.
It's, "used to", as in, "I used to have no trouble reading the printed word."
The apostrophe has its uses, but please learn where it's used and where it's not.
It's properly used to denote possession, such as, "Gary's" or, "Pat's". It's not necessary in words that already denote possession, such as, "hers", "ours", "his" or "theirs".
It's unnecessary, and even confusing, when used in words that are plural, but are not possessive, such as, "truck's", or "pike pole's". I don't know who started that.
It's also used in contractions, such as, "it's" which is the contraction of, "it is".
It's, "definitely", not , "definately". Think of the word, "finite", if it helps.
Typographical errors are one thing. Blatant spelling errors that have become far too common have just become a sign that we've become lazy, and that bothers me.
I'll be blunt. When I read a post that is full of common errors, I form an impression that it was written by a dummy, or someone who is just too lazy and careless to take the time to learn the language we use every day. Some posts are so bad that I skip past them. I'd be willing to bet that there are others who have the same reaction.
C'mon folks, let's clean it up, please.
Thank you.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Firewriter on
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Okay folks; as near and dear to my heart as this topic may be, almost every one of you has an error (or errors) in your post. This is easy to do if one is emotional at the time of writing, is distracted, or makes a simple mistake. Even when trying to be very careful, human frailty exists. Thus, errors occur. Let us not judge so harshly, nor cast those stones with quite so much force. Even though I do a fair amount of writing and proofreading daily (it pays the bills), I am as capable of having typos as the next person; I am just more anal about catching them.
The answer for most of this abysmal grammar boils down to one word; "laziness". Text messaging has become one of the greatest disasters for our society. Today, many teens are not able to spell correctly; nor can they properly use a comma, period, semi-colon, or almost any other form of punctuation. All because of these little things we call, "cell phones".
Thank you for starting this post; it truly brightened my day to see I was not the only one who felt this way!
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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The answer for most of this abysmal grammar boils down to one word; "laziness". Text messaging has become one of the greatest disasters for our society. Today, many teens are not able to spell correctly; nor can they properly use a comma, period, semi-colon, or almost any other form of punctuation. All because of these little things we call, "cell phones".
First, I do agree with the simple typo or misspelled word here and there, that is to be expected on such forums. The second part I definately agree with when it comes down to laziness.
I addressed such a similar discussion in the past about the OP doing "research" on SCBAs. The writing was awful, mistakes made left and right, with the simple non-chalant excuse of "I know there are mistakes, but so what" basically. Yes, laziness at its best. Yet, ironically, I make mention of such spelling and grammar issues and the first reply comes from the OP of this very thread because of a simple typo on my part. Ah the hypocrisy. I digress though, such topic like this are important aspects for people to grasp and actually be accountable for. A NFIRS or EMS report with such misspellings and errors would get torn into for any possible litigation. Such spelling and grammar reflect upon the professionalism of both the writer and the department.....one would think it would be prudent to put some damn effort into things.
Although, history does have a way of repeating itself, prior to the advent of the phone the telegraph was a huge technological breakthrough. Communications consisted of short, text messages. Damn if we really aren't seeing the same thing today in a digital age. At least back then though they still spelled correctly.....and that was using Morse Code.....what is the excuse for today except for plain ass laziness?
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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It's lame to blame text messaging and emails. It is about laziness, to a degree but mostly, it's a lack of education. Even if (and it's a huge 'if') there is actually an education behind some of the horrible spelling and grammar, mostly it's become a badge of pride; 'I'm a poor speller so you can be sure I'm not part of the eastern, liberal elite.' Right, rather you're a member in good standing of the between-the-coasts conservative jugheads.
Frankly, if someone can not bother to proof read their own writing, if they can't be bothered to use (or, for gods (intentional use of the plural) sake download) a FREE spell check then really, what could they possibly have to say that's worth reading?
That's right, if you're sitting there, banging out your thoughts with your elbows, drooling 'chew' all over your keyboard while wearing your "I fight what you fear" tee shirt and can't be bothered to at least use spell check (it does NOTHING for your grammar but at least it's a start) why should anyone bother to read it, much less take what you have to *say* seriously?
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Lack of education maybe, but then again there it can also be laziness. Laziness on the part of the student, failing to care to grasp the concept, or be it on the part of a system looking to just pass people despite the lack of grasp of the material.
I still would agree with the laziness factor, as you mention, there is no reason for one to have issues with features like spell check and such out there, but in the end it is easier and more lazy to just make a stupid disclaimer like "I know my spelling sux" than to put forth an actual concerted effort.
BTW....midwest educational standards here. ;-)
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John,
Re: "....midwest educational standards here."
Don't beat yourself up...you can be better. ;-)
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Yeah, you're right, but to go out east my dialect must thus then suffer....I mean I will say "car" but I believe it is pronounced "ca".
:-)
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Permalink Reply by joemac on
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John Crabbe writes:
"First, I do agree with the simple typo or misspelled word here and there, that is to be expected on such forums. The second part I definately agree with when it comes down to laziness.
I addressed such a similar discussion in the past about the OP doing "research" on SCBAs. The writing was awful, mistakes made left and right, with the simple non-chalant excuse of "I know there are mistakes, but so what" basically. Yes, laziness at its best. Yet, ironically, I make mention of such spelling and grammar issues and the first reply comes from the OP of this very thread because of a simple typo on my part. Ah the hypocrisy. I digress though..."
As the OP of this very thread, I have to ask if you are referring to me.
By the way, you mis-spelled, "definitely". You posted one of the most common mis-spellings encountered today, even after I offered a simple method of remembering how to spell it, all the way back in my original post.
Also, fora is the plural form of forum.
It's not cell phones or texting, both of which have come about since this poor spelling and grammar have appeared.
Most of it is due to (not "do to") the fact that very few seem to care. Those of us who know better fail to point it out when we see it, so it proliferates. "Different than", "then", instead of, "than", "a" in place of, "an"... all common mistakes. They're not typos. They're mistakes: grammatical mistakes that reappear over and over again, partly because no one takes the time to point them out, and when someone actually does, they're jumped on and called, "Grammar Nazi", or "Grammar Police". "You know what I mean, so what's the difference?" Usually, it's actually followed by a period. Duh.
I hear it in speech, and believe me, I don't get out much. I'm not exposed to it like most people are. I don't watch TV, but when I go through the kitchen and my wife has it on, I hear some of what goes on. I can't do anything about that, but I do participate on here. I can at least make an attempt at making a difference, being a positive source of change. If I do nothing, I'm part of the problem, not part of the solution.
If I hear or see, "could of went", one more time, I think I'll scream loud enough to be heard in Montana.
I know, it should be, "loudly". You knew what I meant...
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I agree about the use of the spell checking application. Yet, one must remember, it is only as good as the person using it. One of my most common typos is the word, "filed" being typed in place of, "field". The word is spelled correctly; however, it is the wrong word. Nor does the grammar portion of the application catch this error.
Poor educational standards are a large problem; on this I will agree. Yet, I have two children (adults) who went through a very good educational system and were top English students. Now? Their grammar horrifies me! I cannot blame our system for this; I lay that at the door marked, "Lazy Texters". :)
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Here in Tennessee (in case one cannot tell, FW is not a native of this lovely State), the two which irritate me the most are:
"might could"
"carry her/him to the grocery store"
And please, do not get me started on pronunciation, there are far too many to post. My two favorites are still:
"light bub" (bulb)
"srimp" (shrimp)
Maybe if we were to tell people to try to remember, "define" for correctly spelling, "definitely", it might be more effective?
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Permalink Reply by Steve Salyer on
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Thank you!
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Maybe if we were to tell people to try to remember, "define" for correctly spelling, "definitely", it might be more effective?
Well, people don't seem to have trouble with the, "define" portion of the word. It's commonly mis-spelled, "definately". I think someone, at some point, decided that since "fortunately" is spelled "...ately", it must be the same for, "definitely". It started a trend. Until people start utilizing spell-check, it just keeps on going, unless someone has the nerve to point it out. That's all I'm trying to do. There's no condescension here, just a humble request to work on cleaning up the text on this forum.
I'd love to see some results, and maybe, just maybe, it could spread to other places.
Text messaging is a whole different game, where speed is more of a priority. I don't understand why texting is so popular. Why not just call and actually talk? Maybe it's because some cell phone plans charge for talking and text messages are free? I have no idea, since I don't text message anyone and everyone on my contact list has received the request from me not to text me.
All these modern gadgets and people can't communicate...
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Yes, I was referring to you and that is exactly what I mean. You want to get in a tizzy here about spelling and grammar, so much so that you must start your own thread about it, yet on the thread to which I was referring, where was the focus of your spelling and grammar issues? It sure wasn't on the OP who clearly had issues and then non-chalantly passed it off as nothing. A person supposedly doing research for a paper, where one should assume spelling and grammar do count for something, and a college person to boot. Nope instead I recall where the focus was, just like here, it is easy to forget the message when you are more concerned about grading the post.
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