Iz this spelt rite?

[Farmwithjunk]

On another website, having nothing to do with tractors. (NASCAR) there is a civil war brewing over spelling. We all have access to "spell check", but most of us never use it. I've seen young college age "kids" who can't spell a lick (probably because of a dependence (sp?) on spell check. They don't have to worry about "learning to spell" anymore. The issue on the other site is from someone making the statement that "bad spelling is a sure sign of a poorly educated, and somewhat UNinteligent person". To put it bluntly, they say bad spelling means we're stupid.

I've heard the comment several times over the years that a "joking" sort of post can get away with bad spelling, but anything that is to be taken seriously needs to be correct in spelling and punctuation.

Is this site "serious enough" that we need to proof-read every word of our comments? How much attention to spelling do you pay? Do you judge remarks on content or grammar?

 

[jinman]

Do you judge remarks on content or grammer?

Sorry...I can't take anyone seriously who misspells "grammar."
Correct your error and resubmit.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Sorry...I can't take anyone seriously who misspells "grammar."
Correct your error and resubmit.

Busted......At least I spelt spelt rite, huh?

 

[BB_TX]

I don't judge anyone's opinion or comments based on their spelling and/or grammar. I have known some very intelligent people who did not speak proper English. However, I have to admit that I do get distracted by mispelled words or obvious bad grammar. I guess I tend to analyze it to try to detemine if it is a simple typo or not knowing what is proper. I grew up in a small town lower middle class family where proper grammar was not stressed. However, in school it very much was. Now being an engineer having to work in a "professional" environment, I find myself shifting from a "professional" speach pattern while working with customers to a more small town Texan slang speach pattern with family and friends. Sort of bilingual I guess.

 

[Bird]

bad spelling is a sure sign of a poorly educated, and somewhat UNinteligent person

anything that is to be taken seriously needs to be correct in spelling and punctuation

Both are probably correct to some extent. In school, one of the easiest courses for me was English (a result of good teachers), and in college, I had a professor who tried to convince me to be an English major, but I never liked English classes and especially disliked English literature.

In the police academy, we learned that anything we wrote could quite possibly be seen and read in court, quoted by the news media, etc., so errors could be embarrassing to say the least.

In later years, I had a lot of experience at "proofreading" everything from arrest reports to manuals. So I caught, and pointed out, lots of errors that had to be corrected. I also learned to have someone else proofread what I wrote. It's a lot easier to catch someone else's errors than to catch your own.

As with many people, I don't talk the way I write. And I make plenty of errors in both; some from lack of knowledge, some from carelessness.

Is this site "serious enough" that we need to proof-read every word of our comments? How much attention to spelling do you pay? Do you judge remarks on content or grammar?

If everything is exactly correct, it might be easier reading, but I'll overlook your errors if you'll overlook mine.

 

[MikePA]

While I am not sure this would apply to a site like Nascar.com, it does apply to sites like TBN where others need to be able to do searches, then spelling matters. For example, the 'various spellings' of hydraulic people use. If key words are not spelled correctly, people could be missing out on a lot of wisdom.

Misuse of words (see below) I've always assumed are people being in a hurry.

Your - You're
Their - They're - There

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Bird and MikePA,

Both of you raise valid points. Another issue has been with "slang expressions", or "nicknames" people give items. I guess it takes more inteligence to READ some comments than it does to write them. Good thing I don't type what I "talk". Both the wife and I have quite the "southern drawl". (We almost always add another syllable (sp) to any common word)

Looks like I may just hunt down my Websters dictionary before someone takes me for the rube I am.

 

[texbaylea]

I am a much better speller than a typist. I frequently have to make corrections as I type. I use but don't depend on a spell checker, however I have noticed my spelling accuracy has deteriated(sp?) since the wide availability of spell checkers.

Vernon

 

[gsganzer]

I've seen a major decline in the spelling abilities of people. I think it has to do with the lack of "reading". How many kids do you know that read books, such as novels? Most of them watch television. I think my spelling proficiency is directly related to the fact that I've always enjoyed reading. I think this hypothesis is confirmed by the fact that If I'm questioning the spelling of something, I have to write it down to see how it "looks".

 

[Bird]

lack of "reading"

Aaah, yes. Since we didn't have a TV until I was 14 years old, and Dad did not allow kids to turn on the radio, I did a lot of reading. I used to love visiting the library.

When I was gainfully employed, I kept a dictionary handy. Now I just use dictionary.com frequently.