The Spelling and Grammar Police patrolling ATS

Helo,

As sume menbers are awaire their arre peiople on abuvtopsecrit who geit rielly angrey at sume menbers who doent use prioper einglish dou to thae faxct thit thheir englesh isnet therie fthirst lenguigde or theiy haive lurning defifcultiees.

Please, my message to those who insist on pointing out grammar and spelling mistakes, give it up, it can make members feel humiliated, and left out on the fact they can't engage in a discussion without someone making fun or correcting there spelling mistake. Unless what they have written in complete gibberish and makes sense no way what so ever, or it is in a different language all together i ask you to refrain from making comments.

The Human brain is very clever at reading, it picks up what the word is without reading the middle part, the brain only usually reads the first and last letter of a word and knows what the word is, i put an example at the top, i bet everyone can read what it's supposed to say.

reply to post by Haydn_17


Flag for you.
My first thread on ATS dealt with issues like this one.
Thank-you for posting this thread to remind others that
english may not always be another members primary
language.

Actually I hate the posters who continue to use short hand text type.

Although I like your threads haydn, I disagree with your sentiments.
If you have the decency to start a thread here, use the spellchecker and proper english.

This is not high school.
This is not a text message.

You can always tell serious posters from trolls or the like.
At least serious posters use whole words.

If you don't want to write in a language that everyone adheres to, don't write at all.
Taking short cuts to make any post look like a text message, or 4th grade english failure is ridiculous.
We are not children.

This is a civil, adult-minded website.
Or at least I thought T&C stated that...
Let's keep it that way.

Oh and I promise not to correct you if you misspell something. ;p

reply to post by havok


Actually shorthand or text type are against the TandCs. We should never be using those. Common grammar errors such as their vs. there, and common typos (I often type "not" instead of "now" and it changes the whole meaning of my statements ) are going to happen.

I think the key is that people, especially OPs, should take care to make the post as high quality as possible. It is just good practice to compose an OP in a word processor first and then paste into ATS.

It is usually easy to tell the difference between someone using English as a second language, and someone that is just a lazy typer and doesn't bother to correct themselves. It is a little harder to distinguish between dyslexia and bad typing or spelling skills.

If anything, I believe one should seek to improve themselves the longer they are on the site. I have seen my own communication skills improve, and I have witnessed others transformed into more articulate composers and learn to use more and more sources. I think ATS is a great venue for one to improve these skills rather than make excuses for them.

hyez, im koolz wit it al. I dun wory about it @t alz. U woold b suprized at hw efecteve dis stile is wen uzed 4 a perpose.

reply to post by getreadyalready


Then i think the T&C should be looked at again in this area, some people who spelling difficulties and learning inabilities use short hand typing and writing, as this is the only way they can communicate with others online, i don't think it's right to throw the T&C book at these members because we assume they are trolls, i judge members on Points, Flags and Stars, and the amount of time they have been a member, not by the way they type.

I do agree though, with members who can spell and use grammar they should make the effort, and not be lazy.

But it's a different kettle of fish for those who can't.

Horrah. I, for one, am a terrible speller. Although I try to keep my gammar as crrect as I possibly can, my spelling constantly scuppers my attempts.
It is not a dissitation I am writing but my views do come from the heart.
Well said OP. For all you wannabe doctors out there, keep on mis-spelling. LOL

Originally posted by Haydn_17
Helo,

As sume menbers are awaire their arre peiople on abuvtopsecrit who geit rielly angrey at sume menbers who doent use prioper einglish dou to thae faxct thit thheir englesh isnet therie fthirst lenguigde or theiy haive lurning defifcultiees.

Please, my message to those who insist on pointing out grammar and spelling mistakes, give it up, it can make members feel humiliated, and left out on the fact they can't engage in a discussion without someone making fun or correcting there spelling mistake. Unless what they have written in complete gibberish and makes sense no way what so ever, or it is in a different language all together i ask you to refrain from making comments.

The Human brain is very clever at reading, it picks up what the word is without reading the middle part, the brain only usually reads the first and last letter of a word and knows what the word is, i put an example at the top, i bet everyone can read what it's supposed to say.

Completely agree with you on every count ... it is so bloody annoying when self-righteous know-it-alls insist on picking people up on spelling and grammar errors and it potentially takes the thread off topic.

Whether someones spelling / grammar / punctuation etc is poor or not does not mean they don't have something intelligent or relevent to say.

I have read many posts on ATS where the spelling / grammar / punctuation has been faultless and yet the content was an empty waste of space.

There may be numerous reasons for the issue ... besides dyslexia we should remember that english may not be a posters first language.

S&F for you this is something that has bugged me for ages especially when it sometimes borders on bullying.

Woody

Attacking spelling is a sign of a weak argument. That said I post elsewhere, and someone was blowharding about another person's reading comprehension skills (flaming them) all the while they themselves were using the wrong form of "your" in their flame. I feel pointing out mistakes like not spellling properly etc. are off topic and should be reported and taken down.

reply to post by Haydn_17

I do witsh that people would learn to spell MARTIAL LAW correctly. It is Not Marshall Law. Not the Marshall Plan nor the law of marshalls or sheriffs in the western territories. It implies law administered by the military and is named after Mars, the roman god of war.

reply to post by Haydn_17

I do witsh that people would learn to spell MARTIAL LAW correctly. It is Not Marshall Law. Not the Marshall Plan nor the law of marshalls or sheriffs in the western territories. It implies law administered by the military and is named after Mars, the roman god of war.

reply to post by Haydn_17


I agree, but I haven't seen Mods throw the book at anybody. The few actions I have seen were definitely deserved, because somebody was just being immature or completely ignoring the rules. It is important to remember that composing these threads is similar to writing and sharing a blog, or publishing an original work. Although your Avatar and Screenname give you some anonymity, it is still a published work of prose for the whole world to access. Some of these threads become very important, like the Wild Mustang thread from last year. I have seen some posts that were worthy of Thesis or Dissertation status! I have had local people from my community contact me after posts, because they realized they knew me!

It seems like a shame for anyone to take their posting lightly and not make it worthy of publishing, because that is exactly what they are doing when they hit that button to post it.

Mistakes happen but I don't see why you have to purposefully make errors.

Take some pride in yourself and what you write.

I've always been interested on who gets to choose which spelling or grammatical rule makes it's way into accepted standard English (American or British English)

Some of us use dialects that are not in line with standard English, and what can be seen as spelling mistakes or typos are in fact actual grammatical rules that can be traced back 1,500 years plus years.

I've always found it interesting that up to the 20th century the Southern African American dialect has more in common with my local dialect than Standard American English or Standard British English.

The imposition of standard English in my neck of the woods only took place around 100 years ago, which I am sure is replicated through out England.. So all I have to say to those claiming their version of English is the only correct one is *raspberry*

As long as I understand the meaning of the post I am going to continue to ignore any typos, spelling or dialect differences, while viewing those who pull people up on those things as not the nicest people on the block..

For me the important part is understanding what is being communicated.

I prefer substance over form.

Those who prefer the reverse are in my opinion the reason why everything is placed upon its head in the world.

I instantly lose respect for anyone who comments upon someone's spelling or grammar mistakes.

The most annoying one liner i have had directed at me was;

"It's you're, not your "

I was fuming.

Positively the worst thing is when someone interrupts a thread to point out spelling and/or grammatical errors - the thread or some posters then get sidetracked and go off topic, defending themselves.

Of course it's entirely possible that in some instances this is a deliberate form of trolling - and in fact I've seen, on occasion, the same members pick up other members in some threads but not in others.

At the end of the day, if a thread doesn't have perfect spelling or grammar, it doesn't really matter, but when you have an 8k character post all lumped into one paragraph, like some kind of stream of consciousness spiel, it's hard to read and understand, so in that instance I think it is perfectly acceptable to offer a word of advice to the poster, as long as it's constructive.

Apart from that, IMO some people should mind their own business - we're not in school, and if someone gets offended by bad spelling or grammar, then they need to get a life...

reply to post by Haydn_17


As Loam said, you probably should have viewed that as a compliment. If that was the only thing worthy of attacking in your post, then it must have been a pretty good post. Anybody that would take the time to point out such an easy and common error is obviously grasping at straws, so I would view that as a concession to the debate, LOL.

edit to add:
I typed "and" instead of "an" and I had to come back and edit.

Originally posted by Haydn_17
Please, my message to those who insist on pointing out grammar and spelling mistakes, give it up, it can make members feel humiliated, and left out on the fact they can't engage in a discussion without someone making fun or correcting there spelling mistake.

While impolite to denigrate, in public view, the grammatical mistakes of another, there is a much more important aspect for those of us who care; credibility.

If you (the rhetorical "you") care not for the nuances of grammar, syntax, and spelling when contributing your ideas within this written medium, you portray that the topic on which you post is of no concern as you've made no effort to communicate in a way that engenders credibility.

So please, there is a far more important reason to pay attention to the quality of your writing than avoiding the grammar trolls; demonstrating you care about that which you write.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
Actually shorthand or text type are against the TandCs

Originally posted by getreadyalready
LOL.

I jest, of course