General Chat

Yes, it really does, if we have lax spelling and non existent grammar then we are loosing our own developed heritage. Maybe our forebears couldn't spell or write their names, but we can. Cherryxx

Absolutely spot on Gwynne - it is bad spelling and grammar caused through laziness or carelessness that are a problem. Caused by inability or disability they are not a problem at all. I also hate it when children try to impress their friends by speaking lazily because they think it sounds cool. Mine speak well at home and I expect it. But sometimes when I overhear my son with his friends I think he's forgotten that the alphabet contains t and h! Apparently they are not fashionable any more. Angela

It does matter but I think it is important to differentiate between typing errors and a couldn't care less attitude. As I get older, I find I make more and more typos - mainly because my fingers cant keep up with my head and I end up typing the next letter before I have finished the previous one. For those who can't be bothered, then ok but that is probably your attitude on other things as well, so good luck to you, you need it. And yes, there are those who have not had the same education as others, no problem, as long as you do your best. It is usually easy to spot which group most fall into.

We all make spelling mistakes & typos. I used to be very good at spelling but as I get older I find I am making more & more mistakes, so I keep a dictionary by me. I wouldn't dream of correcting people on here but I'm afraid when I find so many spelling mistakes & grammatical errors on a post that I find it difficult to understand, I just switch off & don't bother. My biggest bugbear is proper nouns without capitals. Is it so very hard to put a capital letter at the beginning of someone's name. Vivienne xx

Hi everyone well if you think spelling matters then try to read this i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it. Betty

As others have said before on this thread, spelling matters, but if an error is made, it is impolite to point it out. Spelling errors in official documents really annoy me - what happened to spell checkers. Even then you have to know the meaning of the word as there are often various ways of spelling the same sounding word. What irritates me is slovenly pronunciation - I'm not talking about accents or dialects - I think they are wonderful and should be preserved as part of the rich tapestry of the English language. No, it's when we drop 'h's or omit syllables ('aven't. 'specially. Sat'day) If we can't speak proply, how can we spell correctly! (Getting off soapbox now - sorry for the rant!) Probably killed thread by now anyway, so no one will read this! Christine

Like some have said I to get upset with myself if I spell a word wrong or the grammar is incorrect. But like so many that's my personal choice for myself. I would never condemn someone for poor spelling or grammar though. On these boards and MSN it's so full of acronyms and short forms that are acceptable now why should one get upset. In todays society things have to be done so quickly that any help to speed things up is good. Also, having a learnings disabled niece and working with learning disabled, brain injured, etc. you learn to appreciate whatever they can accomplish. Besides how would anyone of us know from these boards that the person may have a disablity unless we are told. So point is don't be to quick to jump on someone for a spelling mistake unless you know their story. IMHO Debs

Only when I'm paying for it!!!! In my job I have commissioned several pieces of work which involved the companies concerned writing reports on their progress. I have no objection at all to challenging statements in reports if I think they need justifying or clarifying. But it really winds me up when I find myself pointing out and correcting bad spelling and bad grammar in what are supposed to be professional products. One I read this week - which was due to be published in due course - was so full of spelling errors and basic sentence construction mistakes I sent it back and refused to look at it until it was finished properly! PS outside of work I figure its each to his own - as long as I can understand what someone's saying I don't see a problem. If I don't understand I'll ask. Angela

Spelling matters to me, and I get very cross with Public Bodies and Companies who make elementary errors in their publications. I appreciate that not everyone can grasp spelling and grammar, but then I wouldn't employ such a person to write my brochures/catalogues/annual reports etc. Having said that we can all blame the advent of the printing press for stopping our language being fluid. It wasn't until Dr Johnson published his dictionary that a 'norm' was established. And he got things wrong too. It ought to be Hwo, Hwat, Hwere and Hwen.

Harry ,did i get one right,,,thats a first

No definite answer then. Thanks for the replies. Gwen, anyone who can spell 'grammar' can,t be all bad. Best wishes to you all. Happy days

Hi Harry I'm one of the few who cant spell,i try i really do,but sometimes the word is there but fails to reach from brain to fingers,my grammar is even worse,i appoligise but if folks dont like it,just have to ignore my threads sorry

Wot I h8............ is all this appreviation lark due predominately to texting I presume. I was trained as a secretary and have been appauled at the slide in standards of recent years. Spelling/Grammar don't really matter in the greater scheme of things but would an employer really take you seriously if your CV was full of these appreviations and spelling mistakes? I know I wouldn't. It seems that no one really makes the effort anymore to get it right. I'm not above making mistakes and would never condemn anyone else for theirs but I get narked if they don't attempt to try in the first place. What IS absolutely UNFORGIVEABLE (she types jumping up and down on her soap box!x) is misspelling your name when you have already written to them. It happens to me all the time and it's just plain RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE! Dianna (Yes it has 2! n's)

Can I just say that sometimes spelling etc. is too important - sometimes I spend so long going over my post for spelling etc. that by the time I post it everyone has given up on that thread and I've killed it! lol I must learn not to be so picky. lol Kaye x

Lin, Why thank you kind lady lol Paul x

It matters to me that my own spelling and grammer are at least reasonable (I try my best) and it niggles me if I get it wrong - I will even go back and correct a message if I've made a mistake. However, on here it doesn't matter to me if other people have bad spelling or grammer, so long as I can understand what they are trying to put across. I find that many of the messages on here are much more like conversation, whereas my posts will often come across more like a letter or something similar - they lack the chattiness (spelling?) of some other posts which is a shame. It definitely matters in school and I am shocked at the standard of English of many children. I have a 12 year old Step Son and his English is absolutely appalling and we wonder how he's going to get on with exams etc. if he doesn't improve? He's getting an extra English lesson a week, but has to forgo a Science lesson because of it, yet he has French and German lessons? Personally I think that more emphasis should be put on the 3 R's and less on foreign languages, but I'm going off topic now so will shut up. Kaye x

Well as you know, The Long and Winding Road is my favourite Beatles song, so post away. Paul x ps I used to drink in a pub called Jude the Obscure in Oxford - fact. lol

exquisite, charming, divine, agreeable, delightful, superb oh and nice.

lol, Paul. Brace yourself for the entire script of Hamlet, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Jude the Obscure and The Long and Winding Road. Thanks, Julie and Lin. Gwynne

I am very keen on decent spelling, for myself anyway, but I'm sure that's partly because spelling was considered so important at the schools I attended. I still remember the weekly spelling tests. What really irritates me is the (fairly new?) habit of not using any punctuation at all! Where has this come from? Maybe it's just me, and I hope this isn't offending anyone, but I just cannot make any sense of it! Bev x