Why spelling is important

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#524659 22-Sep-2011 16:00

Exactly. I read a post with "here" instead of "hear", "of" instead of "have", "there" instead of "their" and half of the credibility goes away. It does happen a lot. Sorry.

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dclegg

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#524663 22-Sep-2011 16:10

I tweeted this today, and a mate of mine who is fond of correcting my spelling mistakes, came back with this excellent retort.

rvangelder

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#524665 22-Sep-2011 16:12

jnawk:
kiwitrc: I know a lot of people get a bit annoyed when spelling and grammar are pointed out in forums, but here is an example why it is important.

poor b@stard is going to wonder why hundreds of hits and no bids, watches or questions!

might have to do with his rating. pretty funny reading through his feedback responses.

sen8or

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#524667 22-Sep-2011 16:16

Maybe this might help, an oldie but still good

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English" .
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c'"will be dropped in favour of "k" This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where! more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

edge

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#524696 22-Sep-2011 17:31

Another oldie but goodie. How to spell "fish" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti

"It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of what he was never reasoned into."
— most commonly attributed to Jonathan Swift, author/theologian

michaelt

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#524715 22-Sep-2011 18:03

sen8or: Maybe this might help, an oldie but still good

The European Commission has just announced an agreement whereby English will be the official language of the European Union rather than German, which was the other possibility. As part of the negotiations, the British Government conceded that English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a 5- year phase-in plan that would become known as "Euro-English" .
In the first year, "s" will replace the soft "c". Sertainly, this will make the sivil servants jump with joy. The hard "c'"will be dropped in favour of "k" This should klear up konfusion, and keyboards kan have one less letter.

There will be growing publik enthusiasm in the sekond year when the troublesome "ph" will be replaced with "f". This will make words like fotograf 20% shorter.

In the 3rd year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be expekted to reach the stage where! more komplikated changes are possible. Governments will enkourage the removal of double letters which have always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the horibl mes of the silent "e" in the languag is disgrasful and it should go away.

By the 4th yer people wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing "th" with "z" and "w" with "v".

During ze fifz yer, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords kontaining "ou" and after ziz fifz yer, ve vil hav a reil sensi bl riten styl.

Zer vil be no mor trubl or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech oza. Ze drem of a united urop vil finali kum tru.

Und efter ze fifz yer, ve vil al be speking German like zey vunted in ze forst plas.

I don't know if I should admit this, but I had absolutely no trouble reading any of that. I almost think it's a good idea.

JMatt94

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#524721 22-Sep-2011 18:15

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/56/harveyrealestatexg5.jpg/

I thought this real estate typo was pretty hilarious :D

floydbloke

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#524858 23-Sep-2011 07:38

JMatt94: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/56/harveyrealestatexg5.jpg/

I thought this real estate typo was pretty hilarious :D

Oh dear.

Roses are red, that much is true, but violets are purple, not ****ing blue!

geek4me

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#524866 23-Sep-2011 08:12

Fhat spalin mis stakes i didna cee n e?

I'm inclined to think many Trade Me ads with bad spelling are by foreigners who haven't been here long or are based overseas. Ever tried writing an ad for a Chinese web site - good luck with the spelling!

Chainsaw

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#524934 23-Sep-2011 10:36

I'm bit of a spelling pedant, but not perfect myself obviously.

I do make a concious choice not to buy from outfits that spell incorrectly, if I can purchase elsewhere.

oxnsox

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#524947 23-Sep-2011 11:02

Chainsaw: I'm bit of a spelling pedant, but not perfect myself obviously.
I do make a concious choice not to buy from outfits that spell incorrectly, if I can purchase elsewhere.

Whilst I understand this, we all make spelling, punctuation, and grammatical, mistakes AND errors.

For me, mistakes are mostly forgivable, especially if one can see them in some context like keyboard dyslexia or part of the writers style.
But errors, especially lazy ones, or where folk who should know they lack good skills but don't seek to have anything reviewed or checked.... those annoy me to the point where I may choose to go elsewhere

eracode

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#524951 23-Sep-2011 11:11

oxnsox:
Chainsaw: I'm bit of a spelling pedant, but not perfect myself obviously.
I do make a concious choice not to buy from outfits that spell incorrectly, if I can purchase elsewhere.

Whilst I understand this, we all make spelling, punctuation, and grammatical, mistakes AND errors.

For me, mistakes are mostly forgivable, especially if one can see them in some context like keyboard dyslexia or part of the writers style.
But errors, especially lazy ones, or where folk who should know they lack good skills but don't seek to have anything reviewed or checked.... those annoy me to the point where I may choose to go elsewhere

I'm a bit of a stickler too for proper grammar and punctuation. There are errors and there are lazy people but there are also ignorant people, which I think is a different category. People who write things like "I have five green apple's" and "Whats there problem?". Perhaps I am too pedantic - but - yuk.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

Chainsaw

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#525050 23-Sep-2011 14:47

oxnsox:
Whilst I understand this, we all make spelling, punctuation, and grammatical, mistakes AND errors.

For me, mistakes are mostly forgivable, especially if one can see them in some context like keyboard dyslexia or part of the writers style.
But errors, especially lazy ones, or where folk who should know they lack good skills but don't seek to have anything reviewed or checked.... those annoy me to the point where I may choose to go elsewhere

Yeah of course, mistakes fine - but when it's obvious they're not trying, or repeatedly use "color", not "colour", I'm off...

Some NZ sites just copy and paste product descriptions from the manufacturer's website too, without bothering to correct it.

btw, my spell checker says: "forgiveable" :)

oxnsox

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#525054 23-Sep-2011 14:56

Chainsaw: Yeah of course, mistakes fine - but when it's obvious they're not trying, or repeatedly use "color", not "colour", I'm off...

Some NZ sites just copy and paste product descriptions from the manufacturer's website too, without bothering to correct it.

Y'all just gotta allow for Amercanisation. (or should that be Americanization??)

btw, my spell checker says: "forgiveable" :)

lol... and therein lies some of the problem, sometimes we just back ourselves... ;-)

toyonut

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#525161 23-Sep-2011 18:44

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Home-living/Beds-bedroom-furniture/Beds/Queen/auction-407387607.htm
Does Anthony Hopkins come to live under this bed? I see you Clarice...

I always try and say things at least in my head before clicking post, if it is spoken, I read it out loud now. Had to lead a prayer on powerpoint in Chapel and told people there was a black bit which I would read and a red bit which everyone would read. Unfortunately I stumbled on the words and you would never guess that "black bit which" would become black b**ch.
Lots of silence in Chapel that day...

Edited for bad grammer!

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