Why are spelling skills deteriorating?

[Dagobahn Eagle]

Vietnam, sonofabitches, they is, I think their's a chance, that's there loss, i'm certain, Im certain, its not right, ever here of that new movie, those guys is, I be on da bus, don't have no excuses...

 

Have anyone else than me noticed how people just don't pay attention to how they spell anymore? Chat room and message board typos are bad enough, but when I encounter typos in novels, news articles, ads, and even teacher assignments, I just have to wonder. Case of point:

(Ad I found on my door handle)

Dear house owner!!!

The following few weeks, we will be in the area doing tree work such as trimming (...) etc.

 

And now we have a new foundation prevention system,

stop the roots from growing into the foundation. How this system work? Well, we dig a two-feet deep dish to place a plastic shield along the walls to keep the roots from growing longer, that way you don't have to remove your beutiful tree. If you need any this type of work done, and you would like for us to give you a free estimate of what it would cost to do the work you request?,

feel free -n- call us!

It goes on like that for another paragraph...

 

I have to say that protecting you from your foundation to keep the roots of the trees from growing under it is a nice idea, but how is an underground dish going to keep someone from placing a foundation on the surface? Is the foundation supposed to collapse into the hidden dish or something? And is it the foundation that has roots, or the tree? How this system work;)?

 

I have to wonder if you can still call them if you don't feel free? If you're a gay and feel oppressed, you don't necessarily feel free, do you? Can you still call, or is this a Republican-only service?

 

But anyway, because they have few additional and operating expenses, prices will be low as long as they are there, so I guess that should even it a bit. But does that mean that when they're gone and send the bill, it'll be back up? And while I'm glad they've got no operating additional expenses, I've got to wonder what an additional inoperative payment is). All you have to do is call them and leave your message if they are out. Not a message; it has to be your message. Don't leave messages from others on their answering machine!

 

I took care of that one, neatly folded in my desk drawer.

 

And if you go to Empires Heaven, more than 2/3 of the posts have glaring typos.

 

But anyways, example aside, what are these hobby-dyslexians thinking? Are most of them lazy, ignorant, or apathetic?

 

If you have an opinion on how this system work?, feel free and leave a message. It doesn't have to be your message entirely; you can quote others without me giving operating or inoperative complaints.

 

Eagle:)

[RpTheHotrod]

People always ask me why I type correctly. I even end every sentence in chat with a period. It is a matter of respect and dignity for humankind, I suppose.

 

Pretty soon, it will all be, "y0!11!! W4ssuP!!?! j00 w4nn4 l1k3 g0 PWN stf!? it b3 teh r0x0rs!!!

 

in our speech....and it will just get worst. Oh wait, it's already like that online.

[wassup]

I agree with RP, its partially due to a growing disrespect for the fellow man and humanity in general. I think its also due to this ever-increasingly fast-paced world, where efficiency and speed are becoming more and more important in people's lives. Thus, they tend to rush through things, making more mistakes in the process.

[Tyrion]

Grammar changes. What you call deteriorating, may just be the language evolving into another dialect.

 

Wether or not it's for the better is another subject...

[Dagobahn Eagle]

Are you saying that Word 2025 might come with a spelling checker for English Haxxor:p?

 

It's lazyness, plain and simple. And don't say that the important thing is to get the point across. Well, in the ad above, the point was that they could protect your foundation, so the message got trough, right? No. It just made a horrible first impression. "We care about you, but not enough to check this ad we send you for typos".

 

It's like me giving directions, saying "I think it's by this street, then a turn to the right.. I think.. at..".

[Datheus]

Amen. I don't think it has anything to do with disrespect or any of that jazz. It's simply laziness, and it hurts my head.

 

I'll admit, I'm not the most grammatically correct person. I speel [sic] things wrong here and there. I use the wrong punctuation. I sometimes have crappy sentence structure. However, I still havn't given up like so many others seem to.

 

When I'm browsing the internet on lower tiers, most of the people I come across believe that I must be 20 or 30 years old. They find it hard to believe that someone would actually know how to speak the language.

 

I've heard horror stories of kids even turning in papers using pseudo-words such as "u", "2", etc. It's horrid. It scares the crap out of me.

 

I hate listening to kids talk in school. Rap slang and southern drawl mixed together is somewhere between slapped in the face with a meat tenderizer and having my thumbs cut off with a pair of children's scissors. America is slowly deteriorating into the sludge that is on television.

 

And don't even get me started on multiple exclamation marks. It's like a kick in the face to see my English teacher who supposedly has a Masters in English (!) to use more than one exclamation point on her handouts.

[Dagobahn Eagle]

I hate listening to kids talk in school. Rap slang and southern drawl mixed together is somewhere between slapped in the face with a meat tenderizer and having my thumbs cut off with a pair of children's scissors. America is slowly deteriorating into the sludge that is on television.

Da spellin'n da states be messed up, niggah!! EEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh (I hate it when they think they have to scream or make some related high-pitched sound to get their point across)!

 

But anyways, bad spelling is apparently a global problem, not only an American one. The question is what we should do about it. Will more English classes help?

 

And don't even get me started on multiple exclamation marks. It's like a kick in the face to see my English teacher who supposedly has a Masters in English (!) to use more than one exclamation point on her handouts.

Like a dentist with yellow teeth...

[Kurgan]

The internet's plethora of spelling/grammar mistakes is easy enough to account for.

 

Combine the often "real-time" nature of postings/chat with the large number of young people (who haven't fully mastered the language or typing) and foreignors (who have to rely on faulty translations to get the word out to others).

 

But even with the best scholars, typos happen, that's why we have editors. ; )

 

Even spell checking programs make us lazy... they don't often catch for example wrong word substitutions (ie: your vs. you're, their vs. there, etc).

 

 

 

And I know from experience that when you're tired it's easy to hit the wrong keys. *pwned!*

[Dagobahn Eagle]

I also hate people who abuse "Lol", for example by using "LoL?" instead of "what do you mean?".

 

I know there are typos, and I know foreigners who haven't mastered the language can't be blamed, but I do dislike people who don't care about how they spell. And sadly, their ranks are increasing in size and strenght.

 

It also depends on the standards of the page. Typos are rare in the Senate Chambers, but on sites like Empires Heaven, they're more frequent than flies on a dead rapist.

[Homuncul]

A thread in my honor? Again?

[Rogue_Ace]

Even spell checking programs make us lazy...

 

That’s it exactly. So much of our work is done on computers we have begun to rely too much on spell check. When posting on the boards or IM people don’t have spell check, thus they spell incorrectly w/o even knowing it. It’s all about the laziness.

[griff38]

speaking only for my self, I had a very poor education. Although I have a High school diploma my writing skills are terrible. I graduated with people who could not read or write at all so I guess I should consider myself lucky.

[Writer]

In that advertisement you posted, many things you pointed out were simple slang. Many people say those things, so when it comes down to writing it, they don't recognize that it may be less than professional.

 

As for here on the message boards, many people just don't care as much because it's not like somebody is going to be rating their grammar. I realize that we do that, but maybe we shouldn't. People don't come and post here to get their grammar mistakes corrected. When they post something, they are trying to give you their opinion. Can we at least try to let them do that without tearing at their grammar?

[Dagobahn Eagle]

There's a difference between how you talk and how you write. You're not supposed to use slang in writing, unless you're reffering to someone's dialogue, or writing in the first person as a character who uses slang, etc.

 

The advertisement is clearly made by someone who doesn't have a grip on the English language. I mean, "how this system work"? Even a kindergarten kid knows you can't write that. And "foundation prevention system"?

[Sam Fisher]

When I first posted on LF, I noticed a lot of people simply didn't use any grammer (not to point any fingers). So I decided to start using grammer(remember that I was 12:P) In short, I think it's just hard to read non-punctuated/run-on sentences.

 

For what its worth.

[toms]

I think saying that bad spelling is due to a lack of respect for humanity is pushing it a bit.

 

Personally i can spell pretty well in comparison to most people i meet, but when typing on discussion boards i tend to type in a much more casual style (more how i would talk,) than if writing a report for work (for example).

 

Almost every post i write i immediately spot a number of typos and spelling mistakes, but unless they disrupt what i was trying to say i can't be bothered to go back and fix them. This doesn't mean i don't know how to spell, just that i don't have time to worry about it.

 

It is also a lot easier to make errors when typing as im not a complete touch typist so i don't always see what i'm writing. I think like a lot of people i have also developed a reliance on spell checkers. When i am writing physically my spelling is definately better (although my handwriting has deteriorated massively, mainly due to always typing).

 

The only problem is when the style of writing actually obscures what you are trying to say. There are a number of posters who tend to never use full stops or commas, making their posts into an incomprehensible mass of text.

 

THe point of writing is to clearly communicate. Most grammar rules are there to help in this, but they dn't always need to be applied every single time. Just make sure your post is readable and im happy.