A Disturbing Trend

Though I have noticed this in my previous time on WWS, the problem seems to be getting worse. What this problem is, is improper grammer and horrific spelling. I make the effort most of the time to spell check and capitalize correctly, and also not put everything in all caps or put way too many exclamition points at the end of a sentence. Heck, if I'm stuck on a word, but I really want to use it, I go to dictionary.com and check it (a good example of this is the word sentence two lines above). Sure, we all skimp off sometimes, but it looks like a lot of people just don't even make an effort. Most of this problem, I hate to say is because of n00bs (ugh I hate that word, after all I am one). Established (another example of spell checking) veterans such as Edge, WWS, Real, TCon, Ish, pdonahue, etc. (sorry if I left you out, just listing people that came to my mind always seem to use proper grammer. While some people [whose names shall be withheld (another example) to prevent embarrassment] just put out total crap. Another problem I find is swearing on the fourms. While I'm not offended by it, some times it's just used excessively. I know some people will not share my veiws on this topic, I know many will. Thank you for reading this rant on people who just don't care.

As my 8th grade English teacher put it, "Grammar is the most important thing to humans. It's used everywhere, even when you think or get an idea it's grammar." I'm also annoyed at the bad use of grammar. When people don't capitalize or have sentences that take up 12 lines it's just hard to read. I appreciate when someone takes the simple time to write with the readers in mind. Thanks to all who use good puntuation and grammar.

^Amen to your teacher. Also a lot of times I actually go and edit posts to fix punctuation and some grammarical errors (I did it above). I'm 13 and I see some 18 year olds write like they're 8. It's that bad sometimes.

I get annoyed by all this too, but also by all of IM type spellings and shortening of words. Sometimes I can't even figure out what people are saying. I also edit my posts if I find something spelled wrong or something wrong with grammar.

My teacher that year was one of my all time favorites. I don't really know why I try to type nicely. Maybe its just that typing class was mandatory in elementary school. We had to get high accuracy and high words per minute and we couldn't look at the keyboard either. Because of that, I key 60 wpm at 98% accuracy. Keyboarding can be fun if you want it to be. I'm also a perfectionist, so maybe that's why I put so much effort into my typing.

And then again there's me...lol. Well, I try to write in a correct way though it's not easy sometimes. I do have english for 4 years now but I'm far away from being good in english. But compared to what some peole write I think my english is pretty good.

Thats what teachers are for. But yes, I used to type like that, but then I guess I started to care about my reputation, and I wanted people to actually understand what I was typing so thats when I started to type correctly, but yes I totally agree that this "trend" is getting really, really annoying...but im afraid there is nothing that we can do about it...

Ish, your English is fine. I can only hope my German will be that good when I have taken a few years of it.

[Oscar]

well, working in a place where a bunch of illiterate, ghetto grown people come to shop, my grammar and English speaking skills have literally diminished and my brain is now forced to take normal Enlgish, convert it to ghetto English and then comprehend. j.k. about taking normal Enlgish and converting it ghetto Anyway, yeah, you're right. People annoy me who can't or are to lazy to even attempt spell correctly. I sometimes type stuff up and has a bunch of mistakes, but taken my position, 2-4 hours a sleep per night, for the past two years has a toll on me and can't be arsed to go back and fix stuff so I hit submit and go on. Sometimes I find talking to myself rather than typing and hit submit after writing half a sentence Anyway, food time, midnight in Cali [:p]

4S!76u3 j3dojd

^ This is "proper English"... you just have to look at it a different way.

Originally posted by Jimmy Yoshi

Though I have noticed this in my previous time on WWS, the problem seems to be getting worse. What this problem is, is improper grammer and horrific spelling. I make the effort most of the time to spell check and capitalize correctly, and also not put everything in all caps or put way too many exclamition points at the end of a sentence. Heck, if I'm stuck on a word, but I really want to use it, I go to dictionary.com and check it (a good example of this is the word sentence two lines above). Sure, we all skimp off sometimes, but it looks like a lot of people just don't even make an effort. Most of this problem, I hate to say is because of n00bs (ugh I hate that word, after all I am one). Established (another example of spell checking) veterans such as Edge, WWS, Real, TCon, Ish, pdonahue, etc. (sorry if I left you out, just listing people that came to my mind always seem to use proper grammer. While some people [whose names shall be withheld (another example) to prevent embarrassment] just put out total crap. Another problem I find is swearing on the fourms. While I'm not offended by it, some times it's just used excessively. I know some people will not share my veiws on this topic, I know many will. Thank you for reading this rant on people who just don't care.

Welcome, to the world we live in of trying to decipher the 25th version of "Stupidity in Conversation" released this week. Personally, I am glad you finally made the trip Jimmy. Real, get his coat for him .... let me get you a chair, you must be tired.

This is of course a nice little jaunting pun, but to help you out -- yes Jimmy, you are NOT alone on this point. I think Tyler said it best a few weeks ago ... "So many idiots, so little time." [;)]

Yeah, I don't get it either. Some people just don't know how stupid it sounds when they make posts like "o my gawd, this s so awsom!" I still like posting things in geek language, however.

Here is the same paragraph as above, translated into geek language... (confused yet?)

*j3A3m04 '36Vn6uV7 >|336 u! S6u!4t 6u!tS0d 3>|!7 77!tS I "w0SmV 0S S S!4t 'pmV6 hw 0" 3>|!7 StS0d 3>|Vw h34t u34m spun0S t! p!dntS m04 m0u>| t,u0p tSnf 37d03d 3w0S *j34t!3 t! t36 t,u0p I '4V3h

(Sorry, I'm just looking for ways to entertain myself that make it look like I'm actually working on something.)

[coolbeans326]

I r 2 ann0yed wh3n ppl cnt spll r!ght.

[gouldy]

aye, ye, I know wot u mean, I love' h8 it wen ppl rite lyk dis and love' swear wen theres no love' need.

Seriosuly though, why does it bother anyone? Ok if someone is writing like full on text speak or geek speak then thats just stupid, but really its just a way of personalizing your posts further. When I write "You'm" instead of "you're" for example, thats just me slipping in a little bit of my local tongue. And I'm not going to go onto dictionary.com to check every word I'm slightly uncertain about. I don't see there being any problem with people writing like that at all, it really shouldn't bother anyone, I mean, if you can understand what it says then why does it matter? Why does swearing bother anyone aswell, do you get annoyed when you hear the word "duck"? no, so why when you hear the word "love"? They sound the same, look the same, but one makes old people go [:O]! . I've not got a problem with swearing, it just adds emphasis to whats being said. I do have a problem with people who use swearing to show off though, people like that are just stupid.

I agree with the first post, but i think people are being over the top about it. Some people just can't spell very well. They have trouble with words, im not the best speller in the world. Yes, i think people should start spelling better (including me) on the forums, but you have to excuse some people. Alot of people cant actually help it, but then i suppose, alot can.

I also agree with Gouldy, i spell things how i say them sometimes, and its not on purpose, its just what i tend to do by accident. And then other people dont seem to understand the odd word or so, because its in my accent or whatever.

In a way its kind of like us getting on to you for saying color instead of colour. Just kidding. [;)]

Originally posted by gouldy

I've not got a problem with swearing, it just adds emphasis to whats being said. I do have a problem with people who use swearing to show off though, people like that are just stupid.

Interesting point gouldy, however, it amazes me though of ALL the words in the ENTIRE language structure, people can only choose from a handful of colorful metaphors to actual "emphasize" something. Um, sorry, but no. This is just the inability for a person to actually speak on a civilized level without sounding like a moronic barbarian. Truly, it is not that much of a laborious task to find a few different words to use -- shoot, they even make "word of the day" toilet paper meant to help educate the bafoons among us.

Everyone must of seen the animation about the word 'love' by now, so i wont go and find a link.

As you dumb spelling, i blame mobile/cell phones. I actualy cannot type in shorthand without seriously thinking about what to type. It takes me longer to type like that than it does normaly. Furthermore i seem to get a good portion of people talking to me on msn in shorthand which i will just ignore and not reply

I wouldnt ask gouldy to speak on a civilized level without sounding like a moronic barbarian, its just impossible for him. After all, have you not seen his picture of him throwing a spac on the Runaway mine train at Alton Towers???

I think its alright to speak in shorthand in the right place, like on msn, when you speaking to someone on msn who can actually understand it. I mean, i wunt strt tlkn like dis 2 a randm prson off dis site nw wud i???? [:p]

[gouldy]

Originally posted by TConwell

Originally posted by gouldy

I've not got a problem with swearing, it just adds emphasis to whats being said. I do have a problem with people who use swearing to show off though, people like that are just stupid.

Interesting point gouldy, however, it amazes me though of ALL the words in the ENTIRE language structure, people can only choose from a handful of colorful metaphors to actual "emphasize" something. Um, sorry, but no. This is just the inability for a person to actually speak on a civilized level without sounding like a moronic barbarian. Truly, it is not that much of a laborious task to find a few different words to use -- shoot, they even make "word of the day" toilet paper meant to help educate the bafoons among us.

If I was writing a school report or a letter to someone of importance, then maybe I would go to the effort of using the variety of linguistic skills that I do posess, although it may not look like I do on occasions. I don't feel the need to go to that effort on here, I mean why? Hell, its not school or anything is it? I'm not being marked on my use of language or quality of written communication. You can understand what I'm saying, so why should I then feel the need to think of a new word to emphasize my point every time, when I can quite as easily just use the same word everytime and emphasize the point just as validly as if I were to use a different word or phrase everytime.

"they even make "word of the day" toilet paper meant to help educate the bafoons among us."

I wonder why I've never seen that in England, hmmm, oh yeah, its because we use school to do that

Hey man ... you had BETTER not be getting pissy with me.
I am not saying this is school and "woohoo" to the fact that you possess the skills, but let me set the stage for something.

You and I are both coaster freaks at a park and I introduce you to someone that right now you have no idea who they are. You reply to them (forgive me), "Hey mate, how the love are ya?" Then, I let you know that this is your girlfriend's dad who is also a good friend of mine. Now, how do you feel? While I know this is an exaggerated point, go with me here.

This is what I am getting at. Imagine how you look to others, and then consider your actions. So, taking the time to use a little proper grammar and the such says nothing bad about you, if anything, it improves your reputation. On the web all we have is words to formulate opinions of one another ... so yes, your words really DO mean everything. Now, the response can be "I don't care what others think" and that may work for some, but for most ... most people do care how they appear to others, even if they are not willing to admit that publically.

This is all I am getting at mate -- and this is NOT just a reply to gouldy for the lurkers in the room.

[gouldy]

aye, I can fully understand where you're coming from here, but I don't talk all posh and hoity toity around my mates so why would I on here? This is me, this is the way I talk, if I was to talk differently, I would merely be creating a view of myself that simply wasn't true, I talk on here how I would talk if I was face to face with you. This is mainly because I'm an apathetic, lazy 'moronic barbarian' as you so kindly put it .

As for greeting someone buy saying "Hey mate, how the love are ya?", well that would just be rude . In the real world I would greet someone by saying "a'ight, how'mya?", thats because of where I am from and, although its cliche'ed, I like to be true to my roots and my accent is the way I speak. I do generally restrain myself from talking like that on here because obviously, while I like being to true to my hometown, I also like to have people understand me

TConwell your comments are preposterous, Gouldy having a girlfriend? Jeez, what where you thinking?

[gouldy]

I've nearly wet myself here Oh wait no, scratch that .

edit: my girlfriend said you're mean by the way [:P]

Good points from both TJ and Gouldy. And Edge, your last point was good too.

After reading all the posts, i reckon that you should make an effort to spell words correctly, and not swear too much, but i also think you should be comfortable in how you are talking, or otherwise what is the fun of being on this site?

[hyyyper]

i just type the way i type, everyone must have noticed that i'm not spelling everything correct or being grammaticly correct, but who cares, as long as everybody means what you mean, it's ok right, it's not that i go check on every word to say if it's correct, and if i don't know how to spel a word, i'll just something that's alot like it, so you guys still get what i mean. Grammar, i don't even consider thinking about all the lessons english i've had, cos i've had it with that, i'll just type what comes into me, even if the sentence is completly wrong but if it makes sence, who cares?, nobody is giving a frenchman who is talking the worst english a hard time...

english speaking ppl are also not the blame, when on msn or dutch forum i type with a lot of abbreviations, just to save time and backspaces, and still everybody understands what i'm saying, and no-one complains

about swearing, once or twice, to ecpress a feeling of somekind like how much you hate the ride-ops at SF-parks or how long the f**ing queue was at TTD, but again not to much

about all the reading marks, i usually dont use "." but rather a "," cos in real life i talk very fast and every alinea i say is basically a large sentence with a lot of ",". about capital letters, who give's a "something" (trying not the swear), if the sentence starts with a "B" or a "b", but when using abbreviations, like B&M, CCI or whatever, capitals should be used to mark that you're using abbreviations

i might have just typed what everybody has already typed before on the tread, but i just wanted to express my own opinion and not copy or agree with anybody else (not that i don't agree)

short version:
complainers : don't complain that much,
bad spellers: don't spell that bad so the complainers don't have complain that much