Spelling and grammar

[Gevs1966]

Not really a news item so much but more a general, present day topic of annoyance.

Why can't people spell properly? Why can't people use the right words in the right places?

I'm noticing more and more these days that people don't actually write the words they mean, but instead, replace them with other words that mean something completely different.

Examples would be using the word loose instead of lose, board instead of bored, aloud instead of allowed and to instead of too.

I don't mean to criticise anyone in particular but it happens in abundance on this very site.

When I was at school, spelling and grammar was deemed very important. Is it only me that gets the impression these standards have gone out the window and such mistakes allowed to pass by with alarming regularity?

[NORMANTHEDOG]

yeah,ur wite bout dat.

[maggie01]

spelling and grammar is important. My spelling isn't too bad although my grammar could be better.

We have had this argument on this site before and sometimes it stops people posting because they feel they will be critisised for it. As long as you can read the post and answers then I shouldn't worry about it too much.

[Grunty]

I know several teachers who can't spell, so nothing is surprising. I agree with Maggie. Everyone is an expert at something, and I would rather learn from something that is spelt badly than not to have the chance to read it.

[Lonnie]

A few reasons for this, the advent of text messaging, lack of discipline in schools and home, and the main reason, the emergence of the PC brigade, 'its my right' etc.

[noxlumos]

I think it would be wrong to discourage people from posting just because their spelling, grammar, use of words may not always be correct.I have a head injury from childhood which resulted in some brain damage (no kidding I hear you say) and this sometimes makes it almost impossible for me to discern how to spell a word properly even though I know it really.It also results in numerous typos as my motor co-ordination is poor sometimes, so there may be reasons people appear illiterate when in reality they are not.

The other thing I'd like to point out is that surely people who post here are avid learners, so even if their spelling is a bit deficient they are clearly keen to remedy that and there's no better way than practising by reading and writing answers.

[Whickerman]

Misuse of apostrophes is my bugbear. I see you've cleverly avoided the issue in your question by simply not using any.

Cunning.

[Whickerman]

My humblest apologies. I was soooooo wrong. The question as it appears on the opening page omits apostrophes, your question plainly doesn't.

I shall spank myself furiously for my clearly ridiculous posting.

[B00]

My biggest bug bear with grammar is the word of being used instead of have in sentances, e.g:-

I'd of come earlier if i'd have known"

instead of the correct....

I'd have come earlier if i'd have known"

It drives me crackers!!!

[snook]

Just don't enjoy it, Whickerman, that's all. /:0[

[Gevs1966]

My intention is not to discourage anyone from posting, far from it. It is just that it is becoming more and more apparent in everyday life that people use the wrong words and poor grammar frequently and I just find it a little frustrating.

No offence was meant to be caused.

[Oneeyedvic]

Depends on how far you want to go. Whilst I partially agree and find it irritating that my step daughter (aged 23) can't differentiate between their / there and they're, I couldn't see a problem with '10 items or less', but apparently it is '10 items or fewer'.

Since I am happy with bad grammer, maybe I shouldn't moan about the aforementioned 'there' problem.

I must also confess that all the English grammer I learnt at school is long forgotton.

[littleoldme]

"I shall spank myself furiously for my clearly ridiculous posting."

Ha! Any excuse, eh Whickerman? ;-)

Both my biggest moans have already been mentioned on this thread - people who write "loose" when they mean "lose" should be pointed and laughed at, as should people who say/write "I should of" instead of "I should have" (hi B00, by the way - long time, no banter).

But fear not. My regular fans will be delighted to know I have yet another ruddy great bee in my bonnet. ("Yay" - the entire Answerbank community). People who use the word "literally" to emphasise something, when they don't mean it literally at all e.g. "the heating's playing up and I'm literally freezing". Erm, no you're not, actually. The fact that you're not dead is a clue.

[Vics]

Absolutely agree Gevs. But more worrying is the speech !!!

Where's me coat

We done this today

We come home yesterday

It were great

Oh God I could go on and on. Local accents/languages I love - but getting the tenses wrong in speech is my bug bear (or is it bare!!!) V x

[snook]

Lots of these things grate on me too, but it�s true, pointing them out can discourage people from participating. If they want to improve their grammar, or work on their spelling, they can go and do it, but nagging them isn�t going to make it happen, so what�s the point?

Oneeyedvic, a current blatant example of this misuse of �less� where �fewer� would be more appropriate can be seen in the gym of the Big Brother house. A slogan on the wall, in big lettering, states: Eat Less Pies (which should read �fewer�). If you find it confusing, the way to think of it is this: if the stuff referred to can be piled up or accumulated (like sugar, gravel, snow, cheese, mist, etc.) then it needs �less� to qualify it. But if the things referred to are individual items (like pies, people, items, bricks, etc.) then �fewer� is correct. A way to differentiate is: you can have a few bricks, but not a few gravel� a few clouds, but not a few mist. Where you can use few, fewer is appropriate as well.

Long explanation, sorry about that, but since it�s so widely misunderstood I thought it might be worth getting it out in the open. Okay, anyone who hates grammatical detail can crawl out from behind the couch now, it�s over!

Oh, and don�t even get me started on those apostrophes!

[jno]

it's mostly down to poor education. This isn't very surprising; learning English spelling and grammar is quite complicated and takes time. Schools these days don't have the time. (They have to teach computers. Didn't have any in my day, so we had all that extra time.) So I don't really blame people. And typos are just typos; anyone can make them. The best I can do is try to keep my own posts literate and hope you all think 'Wow, that looks impressive, I must learn to write like that.' (Pretentious, moi?)

txtspk does annoy me; I think it's lazy, rather than just badly educated, to send posts full of gr8s and u nos, and I seldom bother to read them.

[joko]

I don't mind typos, but i hate ppl hu rite like dey r sendin a txt - it's so annoying and takes too long to decipher -it's only acceptable in a text message.

I find homophones very annoying two...;o)

One eyed vic - what a word to spell wrong! Grammer??

[Grunty]

.... or even 'what a word to spell wrongly'.

[Oneeyedvic]

d'oh

[Supernick]

I quite like seeing how language changes and evolves, and text speak and regional slang are something that I think should be embraced rather than scorned. Words changing their meaning, or new words springing into existence make our language rich, although poorly spelling those words already in existence is lnot so easy to let slip.

Lets not forget, that without constant evolving of language we'd all still be speaking in a strange Shakesperian dialect. I expect that most people who write incoherently on this website are just letting typos slip.

[Dark Angel]

you are write bout that...i notice that to for cryieng out allowed- its horrible!

Jokes apart, yes, I too have noticed that some users use wrong words, for instance to allude to your examples the use of 'to' instead of 'too'. Also the use of simple case where capitals should have been used, and a host of other spelling and grammatical errors. It's a pity I know but what can be done about it, other than maybe read more novels and broadsheets, where the English language is spared from slaughter!!