Genealogy Chat

I can understand people making punctuation and spelling mistakes - they may have a genuine problem BUT what really, really annoys me is all this text speak stuff that keeps appearing on here now. Its surely not a great time saver to put plz instead of please? I always think if someone can't even be bothered to type a word in full, then how likely are they to put their own effort into a bit of research?

I use Firefox which has a built in on-line spell checker so I can see it checking as I type it in on here. IE7 has something similar, I gather.

Agree wholeheartedly, another one is r u related to so and so, no dates, places. Suppose I am old fashioned, read what I type, then send. Moaning Maureen

I think we have to learn to be tolerant about the spelling. i believe there are several people on here who are dyslexic. wouldn't want to deter them from asking for help. ann Glos

Have to agree with you on the 'see below' bit Old Crone. I must admit, sometimes I don' even bother to read the 'block' one's as I can't get my head around the question. Looby

My big gripe at the moment is huge blocks of text typed in the header message - I cannot read them. I think it is mainly newbies, who do not realise that GR edits out any layout in the first header message, for reasons best known to themselves. We used to see lots of messages with 'see below' in the header box, with the main message typed as a reply - much easier to understand and read. OC

Not just punctuation and grammar, Heather, spelling as well. Sometimes I have to read a message out loud to understand it. I know not everyone is good with a keyboard, but, as somebody had already mentioned, I wish people would check what they type. Pam

What has happened to good grammar and punctuation? I think it has been thrown out the window. Regards, H

LOL - and my teen daughter came home from shopping one day with a short denim dress that had the word 'JEAN'S' splattered all over it. I laughed and said 'I hope you've asked Jean if you can have that dress!' She didn't get it until I explained ...

I think that should have been 'Eats, Shoots and Leaves' by Lynne Truss. There is also the flip-side edition called 'Eats, Shites and Leaves' - which is a comical take on the first book (i.e. crap English - quite a funny book with lots of examples of how a missing comma can change the whole meaning of something. An example from the book: 'Slow workmen in road' LOL).

Ozi, You should read 'Eats roots and leaves'. You'd love it!

Ozi - worse than no commas has to be no full stops LOL. That drives me nutty trying to make sense of a whole paragraph with no punctuation whatsoever. Takes me twice as long to understand the request for help in those cases. Still, I guess some people aren't too good with the English language and it shouldn't stop them from posting on here, after all. Athena

I wish people would read what they have typed and correct it. Sheila

Kathlyn - yes, I always prefer to type names on here in capitals. It just makes them stand out from a huge chunk of text and captures the eye immediately.

I know what you mean but so many people use this form that it has become almost second nature. The other thing that I've discovered is the ability to read text that isn't spaced such as web site addresses. I guess I'm being dragged into the computer age kicking and screaming.

Not sure how other feel about this but I find it difficult to read a message when capitols have not been used for names/places. I find I have to read the message several time before I get the gist of what is being asked. I think it is the eye has been trained to see a capitol letter and then sends a message to the brain that interprets what is being asked. (If you understand what I am getting at) Kathlyn