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What's with all the bad writing?

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by Alnilam, Oct 7, 2006.

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  1. Alnilam

    Alnilam The One in the Middle

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    This may seem trivial, but what else do we do here?

    Tattoos?

    Why do so many posters refuse to make the least attempt at following the rules of grammar and printing?

    PriusChat is not really chatting, it is writing and reading. The rules we learned in grammar school English weren't established so we could tell the rich from the poor. They are intended to make your writing clearer and, therefore, more powerful. Writing is more constrained than speaking.

    Writing everything in lower case is simply lazy. Your little finger broken? It makes people who write that way appear uneducated, and don't blame the reader for treating your posts in that manner. Very little that is said here requires the blinding speed resulting from such omissions. It just looks sort of dumb.

    Spell checkers are free. Download ieSpell and it is there for the effort of a right-click. But it, again takes a moment to use and requires the writer to give a darn about the reader.

    Emoticons are not a substitute for a good idea. They should be used sparingly to be effective.

    I get people in college turning in papers written like those found here and they are amazed when they are returned as unreadable. They then try to tell me what they mean but that isn't what a written piece is about.

    We all will make a mistake now and again and this is normal. But to deliberately start off your point in a completely nonstandard fashion invites the reader to ignore all after. I am particularly amazed at folks who write passionately about things they really hold dear and misspell the very words they profess to love so much.

    This is a contribution to dumbing-down America. God know we don't need to do much more of that in this nucular age!

    (This is the only thing I agree with Charles Suitt about. Hope I spelled his name right!)

    Let the voices of reason begin......
     
    #1 Alnilam, Oct 7, 2006
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  2. Oxo

    Oxo New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 7 2006, 03:21 PM) [snapback]329500[/snapback]</div>
    No, it's not trivial but it's not just on PriusChat. It's a feature of our time but if you mention it you're labelled as a pedant, which is a sort of grey mark against you, if not a black one.
    But I'm a pedant too, which is why I won't be getting that spelling checker you mention if it lets 'nucular' go through!
     
    #2 Oxo, Oct 7, 2006
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  3. Alnilam

    Alnilam The One in the Middle

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Oct 7 2006, 01:38 PM) [snapback]329504[/snapback]</div>
    It didn't.

    I'm quoting the wisest of the wise:

    Our President.

    (Oh, I see....you're British! Forget that!)
     
    #3 Alnilam, Oct 7, 2006
  4. IsrAmeriPrius

    IsrAmeriPrius Progressive Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Oct 7 2006, 01:38 PM) [snapback]329504[/snapback]</div>
    ieSpell can be set to check spelling for three different dialects of the English language, Canadian, U.K., and U.S. I can just hear the Aussies and South Africans complaining.

    And yes, it did catch Alnilam's intentional misspelling of the word "nuclear" as I proofed this message.
     
    #4 IsrAmeriPrius, Oct 7, 2006
  5. Beryl Octet

    Beryl Octet New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 7 2006, 04:21 PM) [snapback]329500[/snapback]</div>
    Too much information overload, brain getting ahead of fingers, more emails and chats to answer, hit & run computer age "one more acronym and I'll never LOL again" typing. hope this helps! HAND!
     
    #5 Beryl Octet, Oct 7, 2006
  6. Oxo

    Oxo New Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Alnilam @ Oct 7 2006, 03:41 PM) [snapback]329505[/snapback]</div>
    OK. I thought it might be something like that.

    The guilty ones should look at
    http://www.apostrophe.fsnet.co.uk/
     
    #6 Oxo, Oct 7, 2006
  7. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    oh my goodness. You have no idea how many times I've seen the word "your" being substituted for "you're" and it really bugs me. It's not just grammar, Alnilam, that's being taken for granted but also spelling. Most would be happy to spell "definAtely" because Microsoft Word automatically corrects it and thus most will never learn to spell it properly because they simply will say that the spell checker will correct it for them. The same goes for "nonE-stop", "guarantY", "warantEE" when they mean "warranty", "sepErate" and countless others.
     
    #7 Tideland Prius, Oct 7, 2006
  8. Alnilam

    Alnilam The One in the Middle

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 7 2006, 02:26 PM) [snapback]329520[/snapback]</div>
    I seem to have missed your point.

    But maybe your point is that this is a perfect example of what I was talking about.

    Thanks, Tideland!
     
    #8 Alnilam, Oct 7, 2006
  9. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Oh. My point was it isn't just grammar that's taken a toll but also spelling. The same person who made ALL the mistakes I listed above also happened to do well in English class. In fact, I think he did better than I did. Apparently, English teachers favour creative writing over the mechanics.
     
    #9 Tideland Prius, Oct 7, 2006
  10. egb6550

    egb6550 New Member

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    i prefer lower case letters, upper case letters think they are better than the other letters, more important and educated.. and words spilt right have no odor at all.. but when the ideas come if they have the wisdom and power to change minds and bring peace, let them be we need them desperately. To find them here in the land of Prius would be ... :unsure: I use spell check at work and I'm constantly surprised by my inability to spell certain words. Could be you are a superior being visting the earth to bring us concise and pleasing written language.. good luck with that
     
    #10 egb6550, Oct 7, 2006
  11. Alnilam

    Alnilam The One in the Middle

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Oct 7 2006, 02:42 PM) [snapback]329530[/snapback]</div>
    I think I mentioned spelling in my original post.

    Look, creative writing is what we pay for in the bookstore. But if a book were full of words spelled as you did above, you'd probably not buy it no matter how good the plot. It's not an either/or. We can have both with a little effort.

    Spelling isn't easy. Why is "knight" spelled the way it is? I know, but it doesn't help a 10 year old just starting off. Spelling is extremely conservative because people over the ages have made fun of those who spell poorly. So, even though the pronunciation of the word has changed, as with "knight," nobody will dare to spell it the way it sounds for fear of ridicule. I didn't just make this up. It is a principle of linguistics.

    So, if one doesn't spell well, for whatever reason, then using a spell-checker is a great idea. I've learned to spell a lot of words I didn't used to know by using one. What I'm talking about here are the people who don't do either. And mostly it's laziness disguised as "freedom."
     
    #11 Alnilam, Oct 7, 2006
  12. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    Ahh I see. I must've missed it.

    True but with creative writing in English, you would be using a word processor that automatically corrects for you anyway. This means that people don't bother to learn to spell correctly knowing that the spell checker would catch their mistake. I pride myself in being able to spell correctly (mostly because English is my first language and it isn't for a lot of my friends who learned their home language first).

    What annoys me most is the heavier emphasis on creative writing. I think we need more in-class essays to filter out those that can't spell everyday words such as those I've listed above.
     
    #12 Tideland Prius, Oct 7, 2006
  13. Stev0

    Stev0 Honorary Hong Kong Cavalier

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    Actually, the writing on this board is much better than most places I see. At least everyone here knows the word "you" has three letters. Also, I don't see nearly as much apostrophe abuse as I see elsewhere, and most people seem to have a good grasp on "your" vs. "you're".

    So every small error upsets you, it's because YOUR A LOOSER!
     
    #13 Stev0, Oct 7, 2006
  14. bee13

    bee13 Member

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    An English professor once announced that, 'a language that isn't changing is, in fact, dead.' I gave that much though in the days that followed and concluded that she must be correct. Language evolves as it is being used.

    Now, with that said, I am going to assert that the English language (I'm speaking of he North American version, but I suspect that the same is true for English around the world) is being dissolved into an alien-like goop by a very powerful agent. That agent, in my humble opinion, is electronic texting and Internet email, chat rooms, and the like.

    Like changing earth climates, English is morphing into something much, much faster than normal. Both changes have a human-caused element and both are accelerating.

    Agree / disagree?
     
    #14 bee13, Oct 7, 2006
  15. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    brake, the unit that is installed on your car to bring it to a stop
    break, what should happen to your neck when you step on the brake and it doesn't bring your car to a stop. Most every thing else I can tollerate...most times. But that just winkles my skin.
     
    #15 Frank Hudon, Oct 7, 2006
  16. IsrAmeriPrius

    IsrAmeriPrius Progressive Member

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    Here are some helpful hints courtesy of my child's tuition payments:

     
    #16 IsrAmeriPrius, Oct 7, 2006
  17. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    warning: i don't use caps.... so feel free to disregard anything i have to say as i'm clearly an uneducated bonehead (with plans to get inked, no less!)

    i do plenty of formal writing at work where i actually care. i can spell just fine. i know where the shift keys are. i happen to not use caps here. so what? i'm here for recreation. yeesh.
     
    #17 galaxee, Oct 7, 2006
  18. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 7 2006, 03:50 PM) [snapback]329567[/snapback]</div>
    awww come on get that pinkie working.
     
    #18 Frank Hudon, Oct 7, 2006
  19. bee13

    bee13 Member

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    You've identified several commonly misused words and phrases, and then illustrated your points with clear examples, IsrAmeriPrius. You are leveraging your child's tuition dollars! Thank you.
     
    #19 bee13, Oct 7, 2006
  20. galaxee

    galaxee mostly benevolent

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    i can agree with stuff like in IAP's post- but i still think caps vs non caps is petty.

    <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon @ Oct 7 2006, 06:53 PM) [snapback]329569[/snapback]</div>
    hey now, this is the second thread i've seen you pick out a quote from my post... you must have it out for me tonight. what'd i do? what'd i do? :lol:
     
    #20 galaxee, Oct 7, 2006
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