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Besides those who can say that English isn't their first language am I the only one who has noticed that the level of correct spelling, grammar and punctuation on Dakka has been declining lately? I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best in this area and I do make mistakes as do most people.

But then again I am the kind of person who re-writes an entire sentence because I'm not sure about the spelling of a single word. I mean I browse through topics and even their titles have errors which are personally hard to believe have been made. I don't mean to alienate anyone in this thread I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who has taken notice of this?

Edit: Since some people can't seem to read the actual topic and choose instead to hunt for my spelling errors I've fixed the mistakes in grammar and punctuation. Maybe now this can become an actual discussion.

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:Besides those who can say that English isn't their first language am I the only one who has noticed that the level of correct spelling, grammer and puncuation on Dakka has been declining lately? I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best in this area and I do make mistakes as do most people.

But then again I am the kind of person who re-writes an entire sentence because I'm not sure about the spelling of a single word. I mean I browse through topics and even their titles have errors which are personally hard to believe have been made. I don't mean to alienate anyone in this thread I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who has taken notice of this?

You mean similar to how you mis-spelt grammar and punctuation? FFS, there are more important things to worry about. This has been done many times before, but, if you are going to criticise, make sure yours is spot on first.

I am very lazy regarding grammar and punctuation. I struggle to keep my thoughts cohesive. which in my case means my written word is very like my thoughts, jumbled all over the place, and poorly edited.

Surprisingly, I am quote well educated...yay me.

Edit:

Who cares about poor grammar? It gives us lolz!

Oh the irony!

Grammer and puncuation are the American way of spelling grammer and puncuation.

I haven't especially noticed it.

If you see poorly written or formatted posts, please used the yellow triangle to alert moderators.

We're not going to put suspensions on people for it unless they show themselves to be incorrigible.

This has the makings of a classic thread.

Elmodiddly wrote:

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:Besides those who can say that English isn't their first language am I the only one who has noticed that the level of correct spelling, grammer and puncuation on Dakka has been declining lately? I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best in this area and I do make mistakes as do most people.

But then again I am the kind of person who re-writes an entire sentence because I'm not sure about the spelling of a single word. I mean I browse through topics and even their titles have errors which are personally hard to believe have been made. I don't mean to alienate anyone in this thread I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who has taken notice of this?

You mean similar to how you mis-spelt grammar and punctuation? FFS, there are more important things to worry about. This has been done many times before, but, if you are going to criticise, make sure yours is spot on first.

Maybe you didn't read the part where I said I'm not the best in this area, or maybe you didn't understand what I ment by that. Either way you may think I created this post to criticise people (which I made fairly clear in my OP that this wasen't intended to alienate anyone and by extension criticise) you coulden't be any farther from the truth. I created this post to discuss why it is that these elements of writing are so lacking lately.

Edit: See I made mistakes again, everyone does it which means I'm not going to go off and (criticise anyone when I openly admit my own faults). So before you start making comments like the one quoted above I suggest you go through each of your own posts and make sure their "spot on" in terms of if what you're saying is needed in that situation first

Edit: Did it again, guess I'm criticising again aren't I?

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:....even their titles have errors which are personally hard to believe have been made....

Had to point that out.
I do think that the level of effort the average poster is giving has declined.

That said, I do use the alert when I encounter a Wall-o-text that has no punctuation, sentence structure, or even capitalization.
It is more common from low post count people, some of whom seem to think text-speak is a common language.

I think that coherent, well written posts has been one of the hallmarks of Dakka from the beginning.
It encourages people to think through their posts, not just fire off like they were in a chatroom or texting.
Proofreading before posting can make you aware of sentence structure and flawed ideas that you type as well as fixing typos.

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:I created this post to discuss why it is that these elements of writing are so lacking lately.

I would say it's a combination of people not caring and being lazy (that only applies to people who write/speak English as a first language).

For the most part, I think I see people make an effort to communicate. It's perfectly fine
to tell someone that you don't understand them because they forget to punctuate or use
paragraphing. If they want to be understood, then they will make an effort. If they're obviously
trolling for the grammar police then hit the mod alert.

("Trolling for the grammar police" is my definition of killkrazy's use of the word "incorrigible")

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:Besides those who can say that English isn't their first language am I the only one who has noticed that the level of correct spelling, grammer and puncuation on Dakka has been declining lately? I'll be the first to admit I'm not the best in this area and I do make mistakes as do most people.

But then again I am the kind of person who re-writes an entire sentence because I'm not sure about the spelling of a single word. I mean I browse through topics and even their titles have errors which are personally hard to believe have been made. I don't mean to alienate anyone in this thread I'm just wondering if I'm the only one who has taken notice of this?

1. Most people don't care about what there posts really look like on the Internet.
2. Most people don't proofread their posts.
3. Most people only spend a minimal amount of time actually writing the post.
4. Perhaps you should spend more time on your own spelling / grammar issues and less on others.
5. Why worry about what other people do when you can't do anything about it?

Another one of these threads? I swear I must be stuck in some horrible Groundhog Day type situation. Oh, and also, "Grammar Nazi Karma".

avantgarde wrote:Grammer and puncuation are the American way of spelling grammer and puncuation.

Just like how Bud Lite is the American way of spelling "Real beer"?

Sigh.

I can't believe the OP isn't getting more flak after those two posts, I'm thinking this is some kind of elaborate joke.

What forums are you reading and where are you seeing a "decline"? Who posts to the
higher standard that you are imagining? Maybe the standard is higher because a prolific poster
posts well and hasn't been posting lately. Maybe there's an issue with the particular forums you're
reading.

It is not a specific post it is the entire site in general. A recent example includes spelling more as moar.

Now if anyone thinks that I am trying to place myself above everyone else in terms of how they compare to myself when it comes to spelling I assure you I am doing no such thing, I have no reason to especially given my own gramatical level. If someone wants a thread with absolutly perfect spelling then make your own because this isn't it. To those of you who understand why I have made this topic, are able to look past the fact that as the creator of a thread discussing this particular topic I'm not anywhere near close to perfect in this issue I thank you.

Now others may not agree with me but I have seen more and more examples of this lately which has prompted the creation of this thread. Again it is not ment to isolate a single member or thread it is ment to discuss the overall situation.

Warboss Imbad Ironskull wrote:It is not a specific post it is the entire site in general. A recent xample includes spelling more as moar.

Now if anyone thinks that I am trying to place myself above everyone else in terms of how they compare to myself when it comes to spelling I assure you I am doing no such thing, I have no reason to especially given my own gramatical level. If someone wants a thread with absolutly perfect spelling then make your own because this isn't it. To those of you who understand why I have made this topic, are able to look past the fact that as the creator of a thread discussing this particular topic I'm not anywhere near close to perfect in this issue I thank you.

Now others may not agree with me but I have seen more and more examples of this lately which has prompted the creation of this thread. Again it is not ment to isolate a single member or thread it is ment to discuss the overall situation.

Not to nitpick, but shortening "example" to "xample" is an example of people taking shortcuts
with their spelling. It happens, it's deliberate, and it is easily understood. I don't think such things
are examples of spelling leading to lack of understanding.

The use of the word "moar" is a 'net gag based (I think) on lolcat text. When you're posting on
the Internet, you can reasonably expect people to type words such as "moar" and "lol." I can
imagine the confusion if you don't get the gag, but that's fine. It took me a long time to realize what
the heck a MEQ was.

The situation is this: you are on the Internet. People want to communicate. Poor spelling and grammar
block communication. There are few structures in place to prevent obviously troublesome posts
(pop-up warnings about lack of capitalization and punctuation, for example) , but if someone isn't
trying very hard to communicate with you, then maybe you can stop trying so hard to understand
them. Ignore the post or tell them they're confusing you.

Yea, I wanted to say something, but I waited a second or two and he editted his post before yours to put that 'e' back into 'example'.

A well reasoned post..... NOOOOOOOOOO!!! I was hoping for moar lols.!

........I guess this was a mistake to create this post because so far everyone seems to think I'm either criticising others, complaining about a post or thread I was unable to understand (neither of which I am doing) or they're busy looking for my own mistakes to actually offer anything to the discussion. Any MOD feel free to close at your disclosure.

@malfred: The "xample" wasen't on purpose as far as text speak goes I do have trouble with that considering most of the time when I'm on the internet it is via my cell.

It's just that it is something that comes up rather often, Warboss, and to say things are "in decline" is very relative depending on section / user / thread / etc. I don't know if you can say that generally, although perhaps legoburner could give some statistics one way or the other!

Also not to poke fun at all, but you haven't been here very long so it's probably hard to compare. Again it could just be the particular users in certain sections or threads that are not using correct grammar, but people tend to catch on over time that we expect reasonably constructed posts around here

While I may not have been a member for very long I have lurked on this site for a couple of years.

There's a big difference between spelling grammar as grammer and -

I iz maken dese spacemrinz supa l337.

or better yet -

I IZ MAKEN DESE SPACEMARINZ SUPAL337Z!!!!!!

lol, normal spelling errors and relatively poor grammar don't bother me too much. All caps gibberish does and txt leet talk do.

But overall, have to say, it doesn't seemed to have changed all that much that I can see...

Maybe you didn't read the part where I said I'm not the best in this area, or maybe you didn't understand what I ment by that. Either way you may think I created this post to criticise people (which I made fairly clear in my OP that this wasen't intended to alienate anyone and by extension criticise) you coulden't be any farther from the truth. I created this post to discuss why it is that these elements of writing are so lacking lately.

Perhaps look inward and figure out why you yourself make these mistakes and then you will have your answer without needing to start a thread that history has shown never ends well...

(this thread has been done about a million times)

Great post, Major Tom... and for the record, I'm made the spelling "grammer" instead of "grammar" mistake a number of times before, as have many people. There's a huge difference between this kind of incidental mis-spelling and blatant use of all (or none) caps, etc...

But it's true this comes up rather often, which probably explains some of the (unwarranted, imho) hostility in the replies...

Anyway, it's interesting that Japanese is written without any spaces, while Hebrew traditionally is written without any vowels.

Kilkrazy wrote:Anyway, it's interesting that Japanese is written without any spaces, while Hebrew traditionally is written without any vowels.

And English is written without any thought.

ZING

My ideas are usually confusing and cohesive, so a rewrite or two is usually needed to ensure that my ideas are clear. Clarity is key, and grammar helps with this.

Can't say I've noticed, but I am not wonderful when it comes to either. After a long day sitting in class its hard for me to bring myself to notice stuff like that, its just when its difficult to understand what is meant that I take issue with it. Its really hard to care about mistakes that are still spelled close to what it should be but is more phonetically correct like how grammar is pronounced grammer.

Geez, first sign of the dead-topic apocalypse. The "post music that matches armies" or "what music do you listen to while you paint" topics can't be far behind.

How about a, "Which army has the worst grammar" thread for a touch of variety?

Orks &/or Nids.

Okay maybe we don't need that thread.