Wot not How.
 

In response to an issue raised in another thread.

Does it really matter about spelling/grammar/punctuation?

Tru txt spk is v agrv8ng.

But surely heart felt sentiments outweigh beautifully written empty rhetoric?

Sorry for getting personal, but Chav never uses capitals but always manages to make his point very well, even if I usually disagree with him about lots of things!

I know it's not just one person who thinks this is an important issue, as Less also told me that bad spelling annoys him as well.

l would much rather read a badly written interesting post, than a clever wordy passage with little or no point.

Please feel free to chastise me if you see l've edited this because of spelling! :)

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I find myself agreeing with him a lot :D

I agree about spelling not being too important on a forum. Most of us are often rushing or just bad typists.

Got to rush off now mate building wardrobes :D

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Bad spelling is my all time pet hate. It's like the visual version of nails on blackboard to me.

However it doesn't bother some people and I have to accept that it's just not a major issue with most people.

Txtspeak is annoying though unless you are fluent in retardese.;)

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As a bit of a stickler for spelling, I do sometimes find it difficult to read poorly spelled (spelt?) posts.

I tend to read quite fast, so this serves to slow me down a bit as well.

I generally tend to get the point of most posts, and don't point out incorrect spellings, as I know this is not some peoples' strong point (A-b excepted - see the thread that Garinda referred to!).

In the main, I agree with Garinda about the quality of the posting is sometimes more important than the spelling, but I also feel that correct spelling also counts for a lot. Doug admits that his spelling isn't great, so he tends to write his posts in Word first, which has an automatic spell-checker.

The main thing that I tend to notice is that people have problems differentiating there, their and they're!

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the point is more important than the spelling,even if it annoys the superior!

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

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got to agree with you there (is that right ) cashman im always misspelling my words but most people know what it means, not everyone is a spell wizard.

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i bet that was hard work roy, but i read & understood every word, point taken?

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We all make mistakes from time to time. I know that I seem to make more than my fair share and I am grateful to members for being considerate enough to point these lapses out to me when they occur.

Perhaps I am woefully behind the times in thinking that correct spelling matters. As a child I was always taught that correct spelling gave an indication of the level of respect in which I held the person I was writing to. To mispell a word through ignorance of the correct spelling was one thing, but mispelling a word because you could not be bothered to take the time to correct yourself displayed a level of contempt that was almost as bad as slapping someone in the face.

As to the accusations of "empty rhetoric" and "clever wordy passage with little or no point", that is a matter of opinion and one which garinda is as entitled to hold and express as the rest of us. It is odd though that his criticism does not appear to extend to his own pointless, spiteful and sometimes offensive comments and frequent thread wanderings.

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I also get that wrong, please show me the error of my ways.


PMSL i could actually read that very easily. Maybe I am just a bit odd :)

I am also fed up with garinda and his often pointless posts and thread wondering

:rofl38::rofl38::rofl38:

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OK Neil, I'll try my best to explain the differences:

there - used when referring to the location of something; "the car is over there"

their - used when referring to someone's property; "it is their car"

they're - this is a contraction of they are; "they're going to buy a car"


Without being patronising, I hope this helps!

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It is 'their' that I think I get wrong. I am going to try harder now, thanks for the help.

I am not usually bothered as I have nothing but contempt for most of the people I write to :rolleyes:

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Does that include the people you interact with on here as well?!?!! :p

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I was making reference to A-B's post above :)

I love everyone on here :love:
( I have to say that, garinda is already going to slap me for my comment above)

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I think he has already slapped someone else on here - I am sure someone's Karma has reduced a little this morning!!!

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He's had a go at mine this morning and left the following message...
"For having a go at Dean's spelling (anon)hehe"

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i have dyslexic fingers

my mind knows exactly how to spell but my fingers hit the keys in the wrong order

for instance you may have noticed i spell the like this " teh " quite often

resaecrh sohws taht as lnog as the fsirt and lsat lteters are in the croerct plcae it dnost mttaer waht oredr the midlde letetrs are in

because people only read the first and last letters the will still be able to understand what is been said :D

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That is a very easy and common mistake. I do it all the time. I find my fingers are faster than my brain :) . Word auto corrects 'teh' it is that common.

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After I have been using Word on a new machine for a while, the autocorrect function works on a lot of words that I have a habit of mis-spelling.

As long as you select 'autocorrect' for the right word instead of just selecting 'change', of course!

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this website wont let me spell correctly it keeps putting *** in my words lol :D

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PMSL at 'websiet'

I am wondering if that was an accident or not?

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hpapy psotnig

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I'm ok with there their and they're the one I cannot ever get my head round is where and were, so please can some-one tell me when I use where, and when I use were....
I once brought the matter of spelling up at a Parent's night and was told, as long as people could understand what was being said, the spelling was not important.

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Did you move your children to another school?

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I'm not as good at this as Vorlon, but here goes...

Where is an interrogative adverb, it implies a question; Where is my hat?
It can also be a relative adverb; The place where he was buried

Were is used when speaking of things or events that preceded the current conversation and can be either singular or plural; We were happy then. There were four of them officer.

Does this help?

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Pet hate pixie my dear, would you still consider it a pet hate even when it’s beyond the control of the speller? Dyslexics, disadvantages school kids (those pushed back because they don’t shine as bright) Immigrants, (legal or otherwise) Kids and adults with learning difficulties who’s faces or discomfort we can not see over the net, those who have suffered the effects of ill health i.e. Stroke, Tumour, Embolism but to name a few?

I have repeatedly made excuses for myself, I was, am severely dyslexic. I see words on paper even though I haven’t yet written them, which usually means I miss the buggers anyway. I can’t spell, although I am an avid reader I still have difficulties. I can read and write and I don’t give an s*** really because I earn a bloody good living using my computer to write Tenders, Contracts, Polices and Procedures for the social care industry.

Without a battery of Dictionaries, Thesaurus and Spell Checkers, and Word on my computer I would be ******.

The point I’m making is that because of my back ground I know a lot of people that write on this forum have problems of one sort or another when it come down to educational standards. It is embarrassing and it can be hurtful when people pass comment or take the p***. For those that do relish the prospects of a **** take either in the open or behind your screen just bear this thought in mind

“You are but a heartbeat from an injury, illness or a bang on the head that would render you the same”

I’m not having a go at anyone, least of all pixie or anyone else who contributes to this forum. It don’t matter on here really why some one may spell badly. But it may matter to them and affect their lives tremendously.

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This Karma system is truly annoying - sorry Doug, but that is worthy of some.

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Although I think that correct spelling is very important, I do realise that we are all human and prone to making the occasional mistake/typo. It's the text-speak which bugs me. Text-speak is alright on a mobile phone where you have limited space, but on a discussion forum such as this I would prefer to read English - no matter how many mistakes are in it.:D

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In reply to Neil No because it was the final year of junior school so she was ready for leaving anyway....and Thank-you A-bob I'll try to remember the correct usage of those words.

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I too have no problem knowing how to spell but my fingers often work in slightly the wrong order. The word 'the' I have a mental block with as it always comes out 'teh' I have enven just had to edit this post for every instance.

So spelling doesn't upset me too much though I hate poor English and text speak just winds me up.

Does he find spelling annoying or the typical - hi how u doin m8 r u cumin around 4 T?

Now you cant expect everybody to speell correctly, I guess you both find the example i made annoying as i do too. Now sms messages its understandable, you get so many charactors and you want to jam as many words into a sms as possible to save your money. But i dont see the point in doing it online, Its annoying and some of the words i couldnt of concived myself - only on the internet can you find an abreviation for OK!!!

robert

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I have two opposing points of view here and I shall try to explain them both.

First of all I must admit that like several others it saddens me to see the demise of the English language. The places where I find it most irritating are "official" locations such as shop signs telling me "We supply all you're household needs" or "Ladies Coat's". These are not spelling mistakes but a total lack of understanding of English Grammar. In some cases it is almost understandable when the person having written the sign does not have English as their first language, but you'd think they'd check wouldn't you?

The part of this which worries me most is that the mistakes are being passed on to the next generation often without correction by teachers because it is deemed more important to encourage the children to express themselves than it is to teach them how to do it correctly. I don't just mean the next generation of shopkeepers either. All children see these incorrect signs and assimilate the errors.

I do find that I struggle more to read a post which is grammatically incorrect rather than containing spelling mistakes.

The opposite side of the coin is when it comes to people like my daughter who are dyslexic. She finds it almost impossible to spell some things correctly without help and she doesn't even make the same mistake in the same word the next time she uses it. Pre-typing posts in "Word" does help but it doesn't always solve the problem as the suggested corrections are not always the word she originally intended. I remember a classic "spell-check correction" in a letter I typed once when I worked in a bank. I'd written to a customer accidentally asking her to call in to review her hovercraft. Mimi will often ask me how the simplest of things should be written because her brain simply refuses to tell her.

I make some classic typos myself and they are typos as opposed to spelling mistakes. I know what I mean to put but my fingers just take on a life of their own and produce an entirely different thing - usually "ahve" for "have" and "starnge" for "strange". (I'd be much better at the live aol quizzes if I could only manage to stop doing that.)

So, yes I would like to see correct usage of the language and correct spellings wherever possible but also appreciate tolerance when the meaning of the sentence isn't lost by one or two little errors.

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I don't mind bad spelling or grammer if people try to type in English We all have the right to be heard and to get our views across! I was'nt over educated at school, it's the txt/gangsta style I hate,you don't pay extra to type the full word! plus I'm from Burnley and not the Hood!!:)

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I agree with Willow that the most annoying spelling mistakes are those on signs and in newspapers and books,proof reading is very well paid and if I had written a book and saw typos/spelling errors in the finished edition I would be fuming!

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I have to agree with you willow regarding the problems that are most likely building up for the coming generations. Texts speak, cultural mergence of phrases and words, computer games! Let alone signs in our shop windows.

My biggest aid to self help willow to my problems was the central library. I learnt how to recognise words by their meaning and character and often see a word I want to spell as a word on a page. It’s very difficult for the young ones today I feel. There is much more understanding amongst adults but to little time given in our schools to those that or just as bright, if not brighter than those at the top end. And as ever I think kids today are less forgiving of their peers who have difficulties.

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Disagree with this...(your not racist are you? hehe)

Please tell me what my first language is?

when i install a program and i see the options
1 english
2 english(united states)

Now i know why there is a united states english LOL. Some millionairs are dyslexic & these cant spell and/or lack of grammer. Intelligence comes in many ways, Like where i can play guitar maybe you cant, or could never. Maybe you are good at something that i am not(like english grammer)

have fun

robert


WillowTheWhisp :

These are not spelling mistakes but a total lack of understanding of English Grammar. In some cases it is almost understandable when the person having written the sign does not have English as their first language, but you'd think they'd check wouldn't you?

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I think schools are getting quicker at picking up the early signs of dyslexia now;it's not just put down to laziness or stupidity as it used to be.I am the same with numbers and have always been rubbish at maths because of it.Sadly there is still a great deal of stigma attached to dyslexia and there shouldn't be;a close friend of mine didn't tell me that this was the reason he wasn't answering text messages until I had known him months!

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No I am not racist. My first language is English. My daughter's school has on record that many of pupils there do not have English as their first language. Does this make the school racist? They have bilingual staff to help otherwise how would the children cope? The native language of this country is English. Our schools teach in English.

I have learned to speak other languages. If I was living in a country where I could speak the language fluently enough to converse but was not necessarily accurate in my spelling or grammar I would verify whether or not I'd got something correct before I made a dirty great shop sign.



BTW I used to be able to play guitar but have problems with my little finger on each hand where the knuckles bend inwards and lock so I have had to give it up.

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It takes me ages to send a text too Doug and I'm not dyslexic. I just have trouble with the flippin keys and the thing jumping to features and stuff I don't want. (I've got a funny phone)

I think kids are much quicker off the mark with modern technology.

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Doug when I say that bad spelling is a pet hate, maybe I should have said pet peeve? I know that there are people like yourself and Willows daughter who are dyslexic and cannot help any spelling errors that you make.

Rob, US English is how the Americans use the English language. They say "color" rather than "colour" and "center" rather than "centre" etc, so I suppose the spellchecker adjusts for that.

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What is it?

I was once criticised by someone online for typing "OK" - she said I was shouting at her by using capitals. I pointed out that "OK" is normally written in capitals and that I wasn't shouting, merely typing it correctly as it would never have occurred to me to use lower case. Just a simple example of how lack of understanding of something simple like that can lead to a misinterpretation of a person's intentions.

I even spend time selecting upper case in text messages for the first letter of a person's name etc because I would feel I was insulting the person if I didn't.

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[QUOTE=-pixie]Doug when I say that bad spelling is a pet hate, maybe I should have said pet peeve? I know that there are people like yourself and Willows daughter who are dyslexic and cannot help any spelling errors that you make.QUOTE]

You are one of those people I would find it difficult to have a go at pix. I was only quoting your as it was easier for me to do so than pick up on two or three other comments. I didn't mean anything by my comment and I beg your forgiveness. Please accept my apology “otherwise I will send Bitch over to dig in your garden”

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Shame about the grammar; surely this should read:

"...spelling errors that are made.."

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I do think proper spelling does matter. I do appreciate that it is far more difficult for some people - are you left handed by the way, Doug? (Tell you why sometime.) However, what does really irritate me is when it is purely slapdash - people who have no problems in that direction but just can't be bothered to express themselves properly. As for people using textspeak in any other context, I foam at the mouth!

There is also the point that slapdash mis-spelling makes it more difficult for those who have perceptual problems such as dyslexia to understand what is written.

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If the text is from something official or proffesional then it should be gramatically correct, but if its just on a message board or something similar then it doesn't really bother me.

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If I don't know how to spell a word that I want to use, I look it up in my dictionary. It's not hard and even my five year old is starting to do that too. I'll bet some homes don't even have one. More kids should be taught how to use them at school.

Signs that are spelt incorrectly or are grammatically incorrect really annoy me. I've walked into shops in the past and told them where they've gone wrong - mostly I've been given an 'ug' from the assistant and the sign has never changed.

I don't mind incorrect spelling on forums as I see it as conversation and we don't spell whilst we're talking to someone. I don't mind grammar being wrong in this context either although I do find it harder to read.

Finally, I understand that some people are dyslexic and when it is a genuine afflication I realise that it can be a very frustrating handicap but I do think there has been an increase in 'dyslexia' since teaching standards became sloppier and I suspect there is a correlation. Whilst I'm quite sure there are some genuine cases of dyslexia I do think that there are equally a few cases where it's been an easy option for the teacher - say the kid's got dyslexia then they haven't failed as teachers.

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sum sae disslexheha is joost an exquse

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Dyslexia is far more common among left-handed people. It is thought that one of the reasons for this is that the speech control centres, which allow us to formulate and understand speech, are on the left side of the brain - Broca's Area and Wernicke's Area. Right handed people are left brain dominant, left handed people are right brain dominant (there are two hemispheres in the brain, separated by the central sulcus). Thus for right-handed people the speech areas are in the dominant hemisphere of the brain, whereas for left-handed people they are in a sense less accessible. Reading and writing are very closely linked to the speech facility - hence the classic cases of left handed children being made to write with the right hand and stammering/stuttering as a result.

My son is left handed. I did notice when he started to write that he held his hand in what seemed to me an awkward position. However, when I thought about it, I realised that for right handed people, our hand follows the writing so we can see what we have written. For left handed people, what they have just written is covered by their hand writing the next bit!

Hope the explanation helps!

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Dyslexia is a medically recognised condition. The fact that there seems to be more of it about these days is probably due to the fact that it is recognised and the children are helped more often rather than simply being sidelined and regarded as "thick". My daughter was prescribed coloured lenses which actually help her to be able to see the words properly.

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I've got a 'G.C.O.' E Level in dyslexia

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I realise that and I'm sure there are many cases where it is properly recognised and that person can be helped. What I also believe, though, is that there are instances where they have used it as an excuse - possibly borderline cases where simple encouragement or hard work could work better. There is a vast difference between dyslexia and being unable to spell and I think some people hide behind dyslexia when in fact, they simply can't spell.

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That's interesting Pendy, from more than one point of view. My mother had a stammer but I don't know whether it was related to being made to write with her right hand rather than her left. I only ever knew her as right-handed, but perhaps she started out using her left.

I was made to write with my right hand and my handwriting has always been awful but I can do lots of things with both hands which is quite useful.

Both my daughters are left handed. Mimi holds her paper and pen at right angles to herself and writes downwards rather than horizontally. Her younger sister simply writes along the page and covers up what she previously wrote which accounts for the ink stains on her hand and the messiness of anything she writes in pencil. She's also rather clumsy and apparently that is also common in left handed people.

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It's probably due to all the junk food that kids and their parents eat. There is enough evidence now that a processed food, junk diet is one is one of the major contributory factors to beheavioural problems in children. I do not think it is beyond a reasonable hypothesis to link the growth of bad diet to the increase in the relative numbers of children with various conditions, albeit there are various other factors, such as lack of exercise, air quality, use of chemical agents, etc.

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I've realised that my spelling has got worse since I've used a computer to type all my correspondence. I rely on spell check quite often. It's actually been quite good for me to come on this forum as I've had to concentrate more on each word as I've been typing.

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Oooh - the taste of my own medicine is bitter!:p

I never said grammar was my strong point Mr Pedantic!:D

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[QUOTE=-pixie][/I never said grammer was my strong point Mr Pedantic!QUOTE]

No, but you were complaining about the standard of spelling. Grammar.

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And how do you spell grammar?

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Can someone throw me a spade please - I need to dig my hole a little deeper!

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[QUOTE=yerself]And I was complainING.:p

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You got him, Pixie......he edited it just as I was about to point out the error.

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Im sorry if any offence may have been taken, I was just joking... I think the most spoken lang in the world is japanese ?? Thats true about the shop sign!! lol

I used guitar as an example, hehe i couldnt think of anything at that given time that i was good at...I feel i am good at it... Sorry you had to give up, I wish that never to happen to me.

There was a guy who lost a finger(or was it 2) that played killer jazz guitar!

best

robert

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What is equally annoying, if not more so, is the indiscriminate use of the apostrophe. Why do people feel that every word ending in s should have an apostrophe?

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Well Pendy, I can confirm that I did and still do have difficulty in formulating and pronouncing some words as one of my childhood tormentors once said “spell it miss, the dumb ******* can’t even say it”

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Itry to spell correctly and if unsure will look in the dictionary, I dont mind reading posts that are misspelt, text type irritates only because I dont use it and it takes me longer to read, I dont even use it in my texts and like Pendy always go to the trouble to use capital letters. Live and let live is my motto, I would never correct anybodies spelling or grammar and wouldn't be happy if it was pointed out to me either, and I really loathe having mispronunciations pointed out.

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well i agree with all that grego,teachers used to point misspelt words out,didn't like it much then but at least that was their job!

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A great little tool, add to your bookmarks http://www.spellcheck.net/ :)

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I don't mind when teachers point out spelling mistakes, or any mistakes for that matter, I agree it is their job to do so, not keen when its anyone else though.

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I am bad at spelling and do not post as much as i would like, it is hard for me to write what i want to say because i can not spell some words so i just do not bother. I have been on the Accy Web for about six months now and i have read most post. I hate it when someone has made a post then on the next post it is critisized about spelling mistakes. When i was at junior school it seemed like i had to learn everything twice, writing was i think called I.T.A. that changed, pounds shilling and pence changed and so did feet and inches all in a short time. So when someone brings up bad spelling i myself do not post for about a week, i was told that Accy Web was a friendly site and i should become a member, and that i did.

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Spelling does matter. I think that maybe A-B and I had English teachers of the same era,as my English teacher used to say something similar. Grammar matters too,and although I learnt the rules of grammar when I was at school, there are quite a lot of them that I have forgotten.
Having said that, I think the substance of the post is important and if the poster gets the point across well, then that is all that matters.
I would not dream of taking anyone to task about either their spelling or their grammar.
It might just put someone off posting what is a very relevant point.

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I think bobthedj's comment hit the whole thing on the head;it would be awful to think that someone had not posted because they are unsure of their spelling.Let's just accept everyone for what they are on here and not be too critical about the spelling and grammar;it's definitely the "wot" not the "how" that matters!

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I think that's right in this instance. If someone was chatting to you in the pub you wouldn't correct their grammar would you? So in this sort of situation I don't think it's relevant to correct anyone either.

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I would echo that sentiment Bob.......don't let anyone put you off posting.

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One common misuse of the English language, which usually appears in 'Yank-speak', (Americanised English) is the dropping of the hyphen in words like co-ordinate and co-operation. Whenever I read the word 'cooperation', I see a mental picture of someone being ordained into the art of barrel making. To drop the hyphen in a published work is pure laziness on the part of the publisher.

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I agree that the content of a post is far more important than the spelling. That's as far as AccyWeb and message boards in general are concerned.

I do find it difficult sometimes when the grammar is very bad because it can lead to the meaning coming across totally different to what was intended and that in turn can lead to arguments between people who don't actually realise that in fact the have the same point of view but simply can't understand what the other is saying. This tends not to happen in face to face conversation because we can interrupt each other and ask for clarification.

One classic example of a grammatical error leading to an incorrect meaning is an ad on TV at present for Homebase hanging baskets. It states "Only two for £15.99 while stocks last" They are actually saying that you ONLY get two of them for your £15.99 while the present stocks last. (When they get new stock do they mean you may get more than two for that price?) What they are actually trying to say is that they only cost £15.99 for two while stocks last and that if/when they get new stock they will cost more than £15.99 for two. The latter is encouragement to purchase a bargain whereas he ad in fact is discouraging because it implies a rip-off.

In such cases grammar does matter. And I totally agree with Sparky about the ubiquitous apostrophe.

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So the general consensus appears to be that it doesn't really matter if you don't spell correctly . Which seems to me to point out the failings in the education system more eloquently than anything else.

If you acccept the proposal that intention is more important than than the means of expression and pursue it to its logical conclusion...you actually end up with a fairly accurate representation of the state of, not only the borough but, of the country too. The rules that our forbears accepted and applied to their daily lives, which enabled them to build a succesful town, no longer have any currency. How far off are we then from the point at which one and one only make two when the reckoner can be bothered or it is considered politically correct to make it so?( I acknowlege that this state has already been reached by some members of HBC. )

In saying this I recognise that some people do have genuine difficulty with words and they have my entire sympathy. We generally make allowances for that. But I think that if we extend such allowance to general laziness and sloppiness in speech then we are ultimately colluding in the degradation of our cultural heritage.

Surely the purpose of speech and written language is to communicate your meaning as precisely as possible, not give a vague approximation of what you intend to say.

How would it be, for example, if you employed a builder to build you a new home and he decided that he couldn't be bothered to put in the precise number of windows of the shape and size specified in the plans, and instead decided to include only one. Would you conclude that he was exercising his right to self-expression and since his intention was clear you shouldn't criticise him and meekly accept what was offered?

Or if you were on the market and asked for half a dozen apples and were sold a picture of them instead. The intention was clear, but the means falls far short of your your expectation, do you criticise or do you walk into Wilkinson's to buy a frame for the picture?

Or yet again, if the wages clerk decided that accurately calculating wages was boring and decided instead to employ an entirely random system of calculation, and on some occaisions couldn't be arsed to do it at all! Would you meekly accept what was, or was not, offered?

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The Importance of Correct Punctuation

-unknown



Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we're apart. I can be forever happy--will you let me be yours?
Gloria




Dear John:
I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people, who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we're apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?
Yours,
Gloria

Re: Wot not How.
 

That illustrates point very well.

On a slightly different tack, does bad spelling affect the importance of what a person has to say? No, I don't think it does. But it does reduce considerably its effectiveness.

Consider Graham's post #43 in the Fairground thread. A great deal of what he has to say is very important, but is lost because his post is so difficult to read. This is compounded when you realise that Graham is a Councillor. (This is not a personal dig Graham, I only use the example to make a point.)

Accuracy in speech and writing is as vital as accuracy in mathematics and science and medicine and politics and shipbuilding and going to the moon and bringing up children and anything else you care to mention.

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I want so much to agree with you Acrylic-bob because I value good spelling and punctuation. I teach my kids to spell correctly and I'll be horrified if they use sloppy spelling and grammar as they grow older. But, in the context of a forum like this I don't think we should discourage anyone from posting simply because they can't spell or put their commas in the right place. We wouldn't tell someone to shut up in a conversation because they'd used 'was' and 'were' in the wrong context, would we?

Perhaps we should do something constructive and encourage all the bad spellers and users of incorrect grammar to learn how to do it correctly. What about setting up a mentoring system where someone who admits they have a problem teams up with someone who professes to be an expert and then via PM they work together to put it right?

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I do not usually point out other peoples errors because I make plenty myself. This thread is about mistakes so I thought I would make an exception to my rule.

We all make mistakes. I don't think we should persecute people for them ( unless they are very funny :) )

One quick point that some of us might not know, google.co.uk is good for spelling words. Just type the wrongly spelt word and click search. If it thinks it is wrong it will suggest the correct spelling. You can also get a definition of a word. Just type 'define' and then the word and click search. Try it, I have to use it all the time.

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I correct my children, of course. What I meant was that I wouldn't correct anyone in a social situation whilst we were having a conversation.

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One of my past jobs was an assistant co-ordinator for a homeless shelter in Accrington that lasted for many years. Would it have been better to have a perfect speller with no experiance or would it be better to have someone that already has hands on experiance that can not spell the odd word?
I am now a singer and do karaoke, when someone gets up to give us a song it does not matter to me if they can sing or not, at least they have had a go, i do not discourage anyone by saying that they are a bad singer. To me that i am not a good speller does not mean it is the end of world, i have always worked hard and my four kids whant for nothing

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if we make allowances for people with genuine difficulty with words,a-b how do we determine on the net who has and who hasn't?(puzzeled)

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You can't, which is why we should just accept that people on here do their best, but there are some situations where people really should make the extra effort, maybe to the extent of asking someone else to proofread what has been written.

I'm referring to situations such as the shop signs I mentioned earlier but it can also apply to people who create websites. I find I am totally put off a site if it is full of spelling mistakes. I know it takes time and effort to create a website. If the person knows they cannot spell would it be too much to expect them to take just a little longer to get someone else to give it the once over before publication?

It's all a question of clarity and there's no two ways about it. If something isn't grammatical or accurate it is open to misinterpretation.

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A pet peeve of mine is when people misuse 'is' and 'are' after the letter 's' when the letter 's' isn't a plural. It's a common mistake in business when the company name ends in 's'.

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I am not sure if this has been mentioned as I have only quickly scanned some of the posts, but if someone applies for a job interview and there are spelling mistakes, that application will go in the bin, no questions asked.

For all I know the applicant could be the best thing to ever happen to the company, but if the letter has any spelling mistakes, then tough luck.

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Are you talking about your company there vorlon?

I'm sure many others must be the same. If they have to start whittling down the applicants those who cannot express themselves adequately on paper are probably the first to be eliminated.

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Just two quick thoughts for you all. First, language is a constantly evolving organism. Therefore, the standards of fifty years ago are not the same as those of today. This is not due to the "deterioration" of the mother tongue, but the natural process of language evolution. Second, as a Brit living across the pond, I have learned that "Yank-speak" is often what is correctly described as American English. Funnily enough, dictionaries such as Webster's, etc., have the open-mindedness to include both British and American standard English. So, before you go jumping to conclusions about what is correct or incorrect, (as in hyphenating certain words or not), pull out an American dictionary and check.
I hope this adds some more food for thought on "two countries, divided by a common language".

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i to am sligtly dyslexic and have many problems with words,it makes me feel alot better to know that the majority of you dont mind about spelling
but on QUICK REPLY there is no spell check so i have to use the COLLINS CONCISE ENGLISH DICTIONARY to help me on my way
i do my best and the book also helps me in the future for remembering some words

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paul if your quick at spotting a spelling mistake, you can click on the edit button & rectify it ,(i do it all the time ) ha ha ha.

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I think I am talking for quite a few companies out there.

And subsequent posts from dyslexic people pretty much proves that they could overcome this sort of thing by using things like dictionaries or spell checks, and probably even getting someone to check it for them.

Poor spelling on a job application/letter suggests that they don't care.

I am guilty of the odd typo here and there, and have been known to miss the odd letter, but I would fully expect to be treated in the same way.

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Not sure about language being an organism Bazf but yes it is constantly changeing. You only have to look at the first ever English dictionary to see how the meanings of words have changed over the years. We have aquired new words too for things which didn't previously exist. We import words from other languages and export some of our own. Those of us who have lived long enough will even be aware of words which have come and gone in our own lifetime.

We have adopted a lot of US alternatives. Nobody listens to a "wireless" any more but lots of us have radios. Have any of us got a "trannie"?

When it comes to theose hyphenated words I find it difficult to recognise "cooperative" as being "co-operative" because the hyphen tells me that the "o"s are not both in the same syllable. A lot of Americanisms simplify the language such as "color" rather than "colour" but those words mimic the pronunciation whereas "cooperative" doesn't.

To get back to the point - there's nothing wrong with languages evolving but when it leads to the meaning being ambiguous then we need to think twice about whether what we are saying is actually what we mean. Earlier today I had to re-read a very informative post several times before I fully understood what was being said.

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At Christmas time when we were hiring temps, some of the first things we looked at were spelling and presentation. If a CV looked tatty, words misspelled etc, then that reflected badly on the applicant and they didn't usually get an interview.
Then again CV's seem to have changed in the past few years. Quite a number of applicants now include "Life Ambitions" and "Hopes and Dreams" sections which I find quite strange.