Sorting out the idiots.

[rogerthomas]

There has been much said on here about correct grammar. Two points need to be made.

1. Some people's grammar is so bad that they display a complete ignorance of the English language. It has been said that it is more important what a person says, rather than how they write it. WRONG.

If you post an answer on this forum that is riddled with grammatical errors and spelling mistakes, then you are obviously not an intelligent person. How, therefore, can I expect your answer to be accurate.

2. There is a certain amount of divine intervention in the English language. Certain words have similar spellings but have very different meanings. Examples include, stationary and stationery, their, there and they're, principal and principle. I firmly believe that these words were sent to sort out the idiots from the intelligent.

[juliely]

rogerthomas,
I sincerely hope that your posting is indeed, tongue in cheek.
If not, perhaps you should have used a capital letter for your own name? After all, what's sauce for the goose etc.etc.

Let's live and let live.
J.

[Jaq]

An excellent point to raise, as I myself find irritation with the lack of knowledge some people display when it comes to proper spelling and use of grammer. It does not however, give any indication as to the level of intelligence of that person, and their answers are no less reliable.

Please also note that you used "people's" in your first paragraph, indicating that the grammer was belonging to one person; I am assuming that you meant to type "peoples'", meaning the grammer to belong to more than one person.

Please make sure that you have a firm grasp on your own grammatical ability before you call into question the intelligence and reliability of others'.

[dotjhawkes]

Well at least I know I have a valid excuse for my grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. (well I did have until i gave up voddy, but I am liking this brandy and so in future my errors may be a little bit continental in essence.)

[joko]

Oh no Jaq! What a word to get wrong!

Grammar!

I agree with what you said though.

[Chinajan]

And Jaq, your point about people's is wrong. People is a multiple noun, so people's spelling means the spelling of the people, not of one person. There's a law [must check Wikipedia for it] that says when correcting someone's spelling or grammar on an internet forum, one automatically makes an error oneself.

In regard to the OP, I like to see 'proper' spelling and grammar, but I don't mind if people make the odd slip. What I really object to is text language when not used on a mobile to save space.

[joko]

Just seen "sort've" on another post, when it clearly should have been "sort of" - won't mention any names.

It's a perfect example of the opposite of people using "of" instead of "have", and of people attempting to shorten words but actually having no effect on their length.

[Buenchico]

I've just scrolled through all of these posts and I'm pleased to see that Roger has admitted that his original post was 'tongue in cheek'. (I still take his point. I've sometimes spent hours researching an answer only to find out that the original question meant something completely different to my interpretation of it!).

I'll just pick up on one of his examples of erroneous spelling:

Back in the days when I used to teach mathematics, I also used to run several of the school footbal teams. While getting changed, in the P.E. office, to referee a match, my eye fell upon the label on a filing cabinet. It read 'P.E. stationary'. I'm still wondering about exactly how this is carried out :-)

Chris

[juliely]

Supposedly tongue in cheek!