is spelling and puntuation important.

[Doc Spock]

I am reasonably good at the above, alas my children are not.
Looking at A B random posts it seems the level of accuracy in spelling is poor, does it matter?

[Goodsoulette]

I think texting is responsible for a lot of the poor grammar seen on here. No one uses it in a text and lots of us do it all day long. I still include it in a text and then find myself editing it out just before I send it.

My mum was doing her O levels when I was 4 or 5 ( she was pregnant with me, when she should have finished them originally) and she taught me more about grammar and spelling and maths than any teacher did during my primary school years.

[ummmm]

That's what I was trying to say Joko, but I'm crap at typing !!

Or too lazy. Take your pick. :-)

[JOEYGREEN]

Well I am really good at spelling but everyone around me seems to be quite poor. My sisters often ask me how to spell things and also my fiance and even my Dad asked me how to spell something the other day which I saw as 'easy'. My Dad and Sister are financial advisors so they are not stupid but just poor in spelling that's all. I on the other hand am not really clever but can spell. So, to answer your question, no I don't really think it does matter too much.

[Doc Spock]

I agree that if a piece of written work flows and is easy to read, then that's reasonably ok.

[megan07]

Hi Doc i hope you are keeping well, i am a very poor speller and i feel so embarrassed about it, but my daughter is an excellent speller.
Wishing you all lots of love megan. xx

[annie0000]

Just being controversial here, but has anyone noticed a North/South divide in the spelling and grammar of colleagues? I work for a company that has an office in Scotland another in England and yet another in India.

Whilst you will always get a difference between the generations, I have also identified a clear difference not only with the Indian office compared to the UK, but also between the English and Scottish offices. This is apparent even between people of a similar age doing the same job.

[sleepy1]

is this question for me ? lol im very bad at spelling and punctuations . i think i i might have dyslexia .

[legend759]

I do think that spelling and punctuation are important in certain cases.But to be honest on a site such as ab its not really a requirement that has to be adhered to at all times.Afterall its only ab , and not some highbrow intellectual site .Though some members here professs their high intellect and think that correcting or making fun of mistakes bt posters makes them more intelligent.I feel some folk can be a bit anally retentive about spelling etc in an attempt to make themselves appear superior.Im sure most users see through that ploy and as long as they can read the posts then what is the big problem.My spelling and punctuation may or may not be correct here .But im sure everyone gets the message im trying to put across.As for anyone who wants to correct it why not go join a mensa site and give us simple folk a bit of breathing space from your infalted egos and your endless lectures.Well thats my opinion for what its worth.

[society]

Yes, I think it's important. Practice makes perfect.

[bensmum]

I think it is when applying for a job or writing official letters as it shows attention to detail and a basic grasp of the english language. I agree that a lot of errors are typos but these can easily be corrected. I read a lot of business mail and I disregard a lot which is poorly written. Then again I'm just a sad old git who always uses the correct spelling and punctuation in text messages!

[pingping]

One of my pet hates on here (and elsewhere), is not so much bad spelling, but use of the wrong word in a sentence. One of the most frequent offenders is the use of the word 'of' instead of 'have' - drives me nuts! E.g. "he should of kicked the ball".

Aside from that though, I agree with a lot of the other comments on here: that as long as the post is readable, (not in text-speak), then I'm not too fussed about spelling, punctuation and grammar in an informal setting.

[nightmare]

Whiffey,
If two words have been contracted together, you DO use an apostrophe, as you incorrectly do in "do'nt", which is a contraction of "do not", hence "don't ".

[barneyboo]

I used to be the champion speller at school and won first prize every year in the annual spelling contest ( which led to a lot of bullying), but it wasn't because it was taught well at school. They were more interested in the content of essays rather than spelling, which I think leads to bad spellers.

Ha ha Doc Spock, was the mispelt "puntuation" in your title a joke or a genuine mistake? .

[Whickerman]

I'm not sure that it does matter on AB. It matters a great deal in business.

But I hope that you accept that typo's (yes, the apostrophe should be there...) are inevitable in a forum such as this. You should know - you made one in the spelling of 'punctuation' in your question title...!

[Whickerman]

..and once again Whickerman fails to notice that there are two pages of answers. Sorry about the cross post.