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Cheese Elemental wrote:There's only one thing I despise more than furries, and that's poor english. I go on a forum or imageboard and I see messy spelling, lack of grammar, and 1337sp34k!!!!one!!eleven! everywhere. I don't know why, but it's just one of those things that riles me up. Maybe I'm just anal about spelling and grammar because I've had literature hammered into my brain since I could read (and I started reading at 3).

Does anyone else get angry over the godawful standard of literacy on the internet?

I bet you read over your post several times before posting it to make sure that you didn't look like a hypocritical ass-wipe.

Not really because I rarely notice common errors.

Like commas, capital letters, couple of mispellings = no problem.

ur gr8 m8.. Extremely long run on sentences, no paragraphs = I don't read the post.

Though if it really bothered me on the Nazi level I'd just use the ignore button even more!

It annoys the living hell out of me, which is why whenever I have to quote someone to make a reply the first thing I do is correct any spelling or grammar issues.

Soup and a roll wrote:

Gitzbitah wrote:The one exception is when someone is being holier than thou and lording their knowledge of the English language over someone else.

I think you meant to say 'Whom-one else".

Touche!

Cheese Elemental wrote:There's only one thing I despise more than furries, and that's poor english. I go on a forum or imageboard and I see messy spelling, lack of grammar, and 1337sp34k!!!!one!!eleven! everywhere. I don't know why, but it's just one of those things that riles me up. Maybe I'm just anal about spelling and grammar because I've had literature hammered into my brain since I could read (and I started reading at 3).

Does anyone else get angry over the godawful standard of literacy on the internet?

Firstly I appologise for my pedantry but if you'll bear with me there is a good reason for it!

My bold. English should be spelt with a capital E, although this is a bone of contention so I'll give you that one. An apostrophe is not required before the use of the word "and". In the third piece of text which has been highlighted an apostrophe should be placed after the word "but". In the forth and final piece of text the word "and" is not necessary.

It may well be that you included these small errors as an ironic way of demonstrating your point, however I feel that it demonstrates how easy it is to make mistakes. Even when you are consciously trying not to make them.

I am split on how I feel about the issue. On one hand it annoys me greatly when people are too lazy to type properly, and when it is in a book or magazine I get really mad as I have paid for a premium product so I should be able to expect it to have been competently proof read. On the other hand we are all human and we all make mistakes. Some are better educated than others and there will be individuals who suffer with Dyslexia which can make spelling correctly almost impossible.

My main issue is when people try to defend poor spelling and/or a lack of grammar by saying that it isn't important and that as long as you can roughly understand what is being communicated then there is no problem. This is wrong. For anything to be used or taught effectively it must have structure.

editied for poor spelling and lack of grammar ironicaly enough

Well, i don't like it at all when people make really really stupid grammar mistakes. I can get over typos or such mistakes usually, if i can understand what he/she/it is saying, but if those mistakes are making communication impossible, then it's bad.

I don't fancy being a correct English speaker, as i'm not even English and it's not my native language, but it really really annoys me when i see i can write better in English than a native. To me learning to write and speak in another language so that i can communicate over these boards or anywhere else is somewhat a sign of respect to the other users, showing that if we non-native speakers can rise to a good level of grammar and spelling, than you natives should do the same.

No offense if anyone takes this hard. I've rather yet to see that often here on Dakka the mistakes i'm referring to (but they do occur from time to time)

And the same goes for my language. It's frustrating to see almost half of the speakers not able to make a correct 20-25 words sentence, even though you were born and raised learning it

Not really unless its walls of text with no breaks/spaces, or full on txt or net speak. I'll be the first to admit I occasionaly use stuff like tbh, and atm if I'm rushing but I do try not to.

I also don't find it too bothersome as I know I have issues myself, not sure what it is if I'm honest, not looked into it.
All I know is I have difficultly remembering some spellings, and often when typing quickly will find I've used the wrong words. I'll look up after typing and I'd have used one instead of won, or really odd ones like which when I meant to put what, or a word twice.

I'm hoping its not 'me brains self destructing,' anyways I do tend to correct this where I can though, which is why you'll often note multiple edits of my posts.

I generally don't mind the odd misspelling here and there, or a lapse of grammar occasionally. It's only really a problem if the text becomes difficult to understand.
Having said that, overuse of stuff like WTF, LOL, ROFL is a bit annoying after a while.

I hate spelling and grammatical errors with a passion. I am less likely to pay attention to someone who cannot properly express themselves through the media they are using.

If you are too lazy to write/type your message out in a clear and concise way, why should I worry about what you have to say? If THE AUTHOR is too lazy to care, why should I?

It only really bothers me if someone is being an ass and posting a condescending come-back in response to a previous post where they are tooting their own horn and then they post such unintelligible slop that you can barely tell what the hell they're on about. However, I do use LOLspeak on occasion, but that's mostly just to be silly or sarcastic, which is usually pretty obvious.

squilverine wrote:

Cheese Elemental wrote:There's only one thing I despise more than furries, and that's poor english. I go on a forum or imageboard and I see messy spelling, lack of grammar, and 1337sp34k!!!!one!!eleven! everywhere. I don't know why, but it's just one of those things that riles me up. Maybe I'm just anal about spelling and grammar because I've had literature hammered into my brain since I could read (and I started reading at 3).

Does anyone else get angry over the godawful standard of literacy on the internet?

Firstly I appologise for my pedantry but if you'll bear with me there is a good reason for it!

My bold. English should be spelt with a capital E, although this is a bone of contention so I'll give you that one. An apostrophe is not required before the use of the word "and". In the third piece of text which has been highlighted an apostrophe should be placed after the word "but". In the forth and final piece of text the word "and" is not necessary.

editied for poor spelling and lack of grammar ironicaly enough

I can't tell if you're being ironic here, but I'll point out your errors anyway. I'm not sure if the UK dictionary is different (it may well be) but over here it's spelled "spelled" and pronounced as such. Second bold, same thing - might be different over there, but here it's called a comma. Third one, unless we're using different English rules, there's no reason for an apostrophe (or comma as you may have meant). Fourth mistake should be self-explanatory.

Sorry, just trying to be cheeky now. Anyways, on-topic.

I don't mind if it's an odd spelling mistake here and there. I know that some people have difficulty between different words with the same sound, (there/their/they're) and I can forgive it. It's when people post blocks of text that have little to no punctuation, capitalization, or any effort at all in terms of spelling that begin to make me twitch. Usually I'll just skip over it and read the more intelligent posts. I do have to say that I feel really annoyed when I find errors in written text (books, papers, etc.) since, as was pointed out on the previous page, I'm paying money for this, or at the very least, somebody is making money for it.

Anyways, just my two cents.

How did I know this thread would (de?)evolve into nitpicking each others posts?

SlaveToDorkness wrote:How did I know this thread would (de?)evolve into nitpicking each others posts?

Your a psyker. Purge commencing.

Slarg232 wrote:

SlaveToDorkness wrote:How did I know this thread would (de?)evolve into nitpicking each others posts?

You're a psyker. Purge commencing.

Fixed. Because it's all about the 'meta'.

Bad spelling and grammar is ok, but be reasonable people.
I am 14 years old and can legibly type to a reasonable standard.
Unless you are dyslexic or English is not your first then there is no reason why you are incapable of using WORDS.
@ the OP- I personally despise furries more. Just my opinion.
Greetsz,
Mr. Self Destruct

My spelling is sometimes be a tad dicey. Which ought to be a good thing on a gaming forum.

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing
opens new tab and checks for correct spelling of wonderful.

Soo easy

Poor spelling and grammar are not too bad if still legible.
Not as bad as useless thread titles.
for example, "Help needed"

be more bloomin' specific please!!

Meh, it does not bother me that much, though I much prefer it to internet speak.

What I cannot stand is stupidity in general.

That implies that stupidity in particular is fine

Nah, Nat raelly, dis is the interwebs in dis place. I'm just kidding, it doesn't really annoy me, though.

I can't stand people who don't take the time to type in proper English. To me the format doesn't matter, be it text message, email or even a simple Facebook message. I suppose I take it for granted that I'm fairly educated and not everyone is at the same level, but to me it screams that you don't care about the message you're conveying if you don't take the time to do it properly.

That being said I understand people who didn't grow up speaking English or with disorders that hinder their language ability, but for those of us that grew up speaking English there is no excuse. Using "13375p34k" just makes you sound like a perfect example for why euthanasia should be legalized.

Using little three letter acronyms just makes you sound stupid and, more often than not, doesn't add anything useful to a conversation.

The Dreadnote wrote:Poor english doesn't usually bother me unless it reaches garret-level density.

Say what you will, but I have seen improvement in garret's communication over his
time on Dakka. It seems he even edits posts for clarity. I respect that.

I can't respect off the handle troll posts.

Unless they're funny. (oooh, fragment, whatcha gonna do, huh? HUH?)

To be honest I do get upset at those "13375p34k" people, but I don't mind some abbreviations. For example "feth" replaces most swear words on dakka, but WTF doesn't lose any impact because people know what you mean.

When it comes to improper spelling I don't get mad too often. I second guess myself when it comes to spelling sometimes and other times my keyboard doesn't want to work properly. Also, there are a lot of people from different countries which have different sayings and spellings for certain words. Let's remember that the dictionary is still relatively new to world history.

However, if a furry spells something incorrectly I immediately believe they did so on purpose for the sole reason to annoy me.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

malfred wrote:

The Dreadnote wrote:Poor english doesn't usually bother me unless it reaches garret-level density.

Say what you will, but I have seen improvement in garret's communication over his
time on Dakka. It seems he even edits posts for clarity. I respect that.

I can't respect off the handle troll posts.

Unless they're funny. (oooh, fragment, whatcha gonna do, huh? HUH?)

Can't really do anything. You're a mod and therefor above Grammar Nazi law and jurisdiction.

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1891#comic

malfred wrote:http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1891#comic

I have the misfortune of knowing people like that.

I've found that it's the 'native speakers' who tend to do the worst things to the English language. I think it's because we think we 'know' the language and so feel inclined to take liberties. That's one reason why it's so necessary to learn more than one language, so you have exposure to different grammars and thus ways of thinking.

Mind you, the fine line between grammar and style is often crossed and confused when code-switching occurs amongst the various styles and language-games of English. It's all even more confusing because there's no established protocol for writing in web forums. Most people seem uninterested or incapable of using a style of written correspondence and instead attempt to write as if transliterating their own inner monologue. Dialog ain't prose, unfortunately.

There's an ongoing argument between me and just about every linguist I've met about whether we should allow the natural development of languages such that dictionaries only tell us how words are used, or whether it should be corseted with what are essentially the pig-headed prejudices of stylists. My position is that language will evolve anyways so we should actively prune and manage its development and fragmentation by enforcing regimes of style; language should be domesticated. I'm also in favour of book-burning where Strunk and White are concerned.

So that's why I would say that 'tard-speak like 'lol' or 'rofl' isn't bad grammar, but bad style. Do you really want to live in a world populated by cliches? Because that's what meme-humour is. But I digress...

Dyslexia, well, it doesn't mean you can't spell or read, it just means you have to work harder at it; sucks to be you, but at least you have motivation to work on it. Better to walk with a cane than to sit at home and atrophy, so to speak. At least you don't have problems vocalizing; bad spelling and grammar has nothing on not being able to make oneself heard and understood. If you can't write, you can speak. If you can't speak, people assume you have nothing to say.

Continuing on the theme of the inter-relatedness of spoken and written word, consider the last time you were taught to declaim anything, or the last time you had to write a short essay. These are related skills, and though I can't put my finger on it, I think that their decline is likewise related because society no longer puts value on their exercise.

On a slightly related note: Personally I'm finding that I'm developing odd habits like repeating words, omitting words, or randomly using other words in the place of what I meant to write. It seems to grow worse as I grow older. Anyone else having this issue?

Something that helps, with any writing but particularly with forums, is writing what you want to say and then going away for five minutes or so. The longer the better, actually. When you get back you read through your post and most of your typos should jump out at you right away. It might also motivate you to think about what you've written and to edit accordingly... I shudder to think what sort of errors have crept into this post, but to be honest it's the lack of structure I find lacking that bothers me.

Anything that is incomprehensible when read aloud bothers me to no end. Minor infractions like sentence fragments, not so much.

I spent more than enough time on imageboards. Grammar means jack gak now. Plus, the cellphone text speech is the new wave of English. It may take some time but eventually, some of the spellings will be accepted.

c34r34lk1ll3r wrote:I spent more than enough time on imageboards. Grammar means jack gak now. Plus, the cellphone text speech is the new wave of English. It may take some time but eventually, some of the spellings will be accepted.

c34r34lk1ll3r wrote:I spent more than enough time on imageboards. Grammar means jack gak now. Plus, the cellphone text speech is the new wave of English. It may take some time but eventually, some of the spellings will be accepted.

The irony of this post is that grammar is still an important component of language, and that it's not the case of grammar being abandoned as grammar changing. I don't look forward to the grammar rules governing 'tard-speech, particularly the one about meaningful texts being limited to 140 characters...