General Chat

On here - or in the outside world (if there is one). I am generally an old stick in the mud, but bad spelling doesn,t bother me as much as it does some others. appy daze.

Me a bit of a spelling freak but I would never pick anyone up in an unjoking way if they made a mistake!! xx

I'm going to nick Gwynnes post from yesterday on Ems thread because I think she got it spot on. -------- have a few friends who tell me when I have spelt something wrongly and I don't mind because I have no excuse for spelling incorrectly and I'm happy for them to do so. There are also a couple of people (the same ones) who I tell if they have made a typo because I know they are as picky as me. But I wouldn't dream of correcting someone who I wasn't on such terms with. I do think we all have an obligation to make our posts as understandable as possible, if only to avoid confusion and people getting uptight when there is no need. However, it is bad manners to pick people up on poor spelling and grammar. ---- Paul

I often make typo errors I also sometimes in my haste to post, forgo good punctuation. Elaine x

if it never bothered my ancestors, why should it bother me? love Barbara..xx

My apologies to Gwynne/ Em and Paul if I have stepped on corns. must have missed the thread in question. Happy days

To add to the previous post though... we oftencomplain about the 'youth of today', being inarticulate, using slang/text speak etc... surely we should be practicing what we preach ?

Sometimes, although, even I am not perfect........... spelling mistakes jar me, as an out of tune musician /singer would jar the ears...........trouble is....these days I sometimes have problems recalling which IS the correct one.. bad punctuation is worse I think like wot when werds are strung together wivvout a brake and scarecely a paws for breff like mayking the the point verry difficult to be apparent. Bob

No, but good manners do. You can spell however you would like - but please be nice. Jen xx

I would pull my boss, children and hubby up on it but that's all. I do quite often make typo errors and in terms of memory problems I once sent out a letter from work with the immortal line ............................. '.......we enclose our client!' PMSL In my defense he was only a little chap! Julie xxx

I agree with 'not knowing peoples circumstances for their typing errors'. What really peeves me off is abbreviation of words ie as in mobile phone messages and emails. My sister in law the other day, emailed me with a long message all appreviated - I just gave up and emailed her back saying 'sorry don't understand please repeat in spoken english'. She came back saying it was the 'thing' Grrrrr. The same goes for spoken words - this I thought was funny. I was on the bus a few months back, and there were a few teenagers talking out loud. One in particular liked the sound of his own voice, and whilst listening to him thought he was of Jamaican origin when his phone rings. It was obviously his mother on the phone because he reverted to his normal London drawl and when I looked round smiling to myself found he was of white roots - whats that all about. Lin

*waves to Paul* It does matter to me, Harry. My father was an English teacher and it matters to him as well. I taught O level English to adults for ten years so I think it also was important for them. Poor spelling and punctuation does grate on me, like nails dragged down a blackboard - but that's my problem. In an informal setting, such as GR, it matters less than in the outside world. Formal English is still important in many areas - for example for job applications. Employers should differentiate between those who can't spell because they have specific learning difficulties and those who can't be bothered, which could be indicative of a sloppy attitude in general. It is no secret among GR friends that I loath text speak and refuse to use it. It is a standing joke among the young people with whom I work that I do not respond to texts in text speak and they have a lot of fun constructing texts using as many long words as they can. Whether we like it or not there are circumstances in the real world where we are judged on the standard of our written English. On GR and other forums I do sometimes have trouble understanding messages but that isn't usually due to poor spelling so much as a lack of punctuation. Punctuation was invented to make our language easy to understand so the lack of it causes difficulties. However, as I said yesterday, it is bad manners to point out errors to other people, unless you know they would appreciate them being pointed out. I've said here before that I love our language. It's the language of Shakespeare, Coleridge, Hardy, Sassoon and Lennon and McCartney. I think it is *the* most lyrical and colourful of languages. It is fluid and subject to change as time passes but I believe the essence of it should be preserved. Gwynne

Gwynne, please,please come and teach my children. xx Jen.

I think we should all just try our best. The whole point of writing anything (or typing!) is to get information across. My personal gripe is when people don't use capital letters for the start of proper nouns. So, if I'm helping someone with their tree, looking for ''john thomas farmer'' on the census, I am irritated when I discover he was actually, ''John Thomas, a farmer''!! Merry

Ditto Gwynne - your message was typed with passion :) Lin

A round of applause for Gwynne I think. However, one small point.. whats Vidal Sassoon got to do with anything ? lol

Paul you ignoranus :)

I would agree with Gwynne. Context is important. My boss recently made a formal complaint against another member of staff and, after interviews, phone calls etc. HR issued 'statements' from those involved. Well, an 8-year old could have produced something more professional - these statements were full of mis-spellings, atrocious grammar and virtually no punctuation! NOT very professional from the HR department of a large organisation! Do they not have a spell-checker?!!

*slaps Paul* I meant Siegfried as well you know I love him. Here's one reason why - Suicide in the Trenches I knew a simple soldier boy Who grinned at life in empty joy, Slept soundly through the lonesome dark, And whistled early with the lark. In winter trenches, cowed and glum, With crumps and lice and lack of rum, He put a bullet through his brain. No one spoke of him again. You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye Who cheer when soldier lads march by, Sneak home and pray you'll never know The hell where youth and laughter go.

Gwynne, I was just setting it up for you, I knew you'd post something :) Paul x