Illiterate number in Ireland - must be high given some posts!

Hobbes

smokingman wrote:

Am I the only one in thinking that illiteracy in Ireland is growing. I'm not simply talking about people who can't read and write - I'm talking about people who can't spell normal words.

What you are seeing is language evolution. To give an example try to find a text from say 50 years and then 100 years ago. You will see language changes in the text.

Your just getting old.

Terry

Phantom Lord wrote:

Text speak annoys the hell out of me, I'm probably the only teenager that uses apostrophes in texts...

It's crazy how many people have little understanding of basic grammar and punctuation, it makes reading alot easier, who wants to read a huge post without paragraphs?

Hobbes wrote:

What you are seeing is language evolution. To give an example try to find a text from say 50 years and then 100 years ago. You will see language changes in the text.

"alot" is still not a word. however, a lot of people seem to think it is.

Pherekydes

smokingman wrote:

Am I the only one in thinking that illiteracy in Ireland is growing. I'm not simply talking about people who can't read and write - I'm talking about people who can't spell normal words.

I'm asking due to the surprising number of posts I've seen on boards from what can only be described as monkeys with access to a keyboard.

Can anyone spell properly anymore? Are people getting more stupid? Is it just the young 18 year olds who think text-speak is in some way a language and therefore couldn't be arsed even try to be anything other than thick?

God it gets on my wick.....

Your first sentence is a question and should have a question mark after it. Your last sentence is missing a comma after 'God', and an ellipsis has only three dots.

Spelling: Excellent
Grammar: V Good
Punctuation: V Good
Style: Good

Overall mark: 75%

Well done, smokingman. Keep up the good work.

P.S. As regards the question regarding 18 year-olds and text speak, have a look at this. It's from a 40 year-old:

Hi again! Sor bout all the txts, just hav 2 send when i tink of sumthing! This time 'leinster'! Entries hav 2 b in by 31st. Its €25 4 ops and €5 reg 4 either pre ops r figs. So most of u wil b €30 r just €5 if doing pre ops & figs. Timetble, syl on the net. Entries this wk r nxt pls.

You say's tomato, I say's TUH-MAH-to

Or something along those lines. It's even stranger now to see words like "lol" appearing in the Oxford english dictionary.

Dutchology

If we say poe-tay-toe, why do we not say toe-may-toe?

That has always bugged me...

Text speak - In a text message, in order to avoid sending two messages instead of one, it's acceptable - to an extent. Abbreviations, 2 instead of to, too or two... That sort of thing.

Here on Boards however, it is nice to be able to read a post in English, with paragraphs and punctuation.

emeraldstar

I Fcuking Hate:

could/should/would of
i seen
'your' for 'you are'
'then' for 'than'

Rb

emeraldstar wrote:

I Fcuking Hate:

could/should/would of
i seen
'your' for 'you are'
'then' for 'than'

Yeah they're pretty common, annoying little mistakes. Also, a lot of people don't see the difference between "lose" and "loose" and "loser" and "looser".

I type properly when posting to forums, writing emails etc. but when it comes to text messages, I like to fit as much into the one message as is possible so will abbreviate any word I possibly can.
However, it depends on who the receipient is, there was only one or two people I'd fully abbreviate my words when sending them texts, purely because of the sheer amount of texts I'd send them and I knew they'd understand what I sent them.
Most of the time though, I know people won't have a clue what I'm on about so will only shorten some words that people will get.

As for literacy in this country, well, having a look on Bebo doesn't make me too optimistic, its unbelievable how retarded some people come across on that site. They've a full keyboard in front of them, with no limitations on how much text they can put in, yet they shorten every single word and stick in random punctuation marks. Anyone caught doing that on Boards should be insta-site-banned.

phantom_lord

Slow coach wrote:

P.S. As regards the question regarding 18 year-olds and text speak, have a look at this. It's from a 40 year-old:

Hi again! Sor bout all the txts, just hav 2 send when i tink of sumthing! This time 'leinster'! Entries hav 2 b in by 31st. Its €25 4 ops and €5 reg 4 either pre ops r figs. So most of u wil b €30 r just €5 if doing pre ops & figs. Timetble, syl on the net. Entries this wk r nxt pls.

I'd imagine there's a significant chance that was written by his daughter/son, more learning towards daughter.

nlgbbbblth

Incorrect punctuation, bad grammar and poor spelling annoy me.

I frequently point out errors to people at work and my hatred of text speak is not kept hidden.

I find that most people have think that it's cool to have a casual attitude to such things and anybody who takes them seriously is square, anal or a nerd.

JoeSchmoe

nlgbbbblth wrote:

Incorrect punctuation, bad grammar and poor spelling annoy me.

I frequently point out errors to people at work and my hatred of text speak is not kept hidden.

I find that most people have think that it's cool to have a casual attitude to such things and anybody who takes them seriously is square, anal or a nerd.

There you go, the problem with being such a stickler for these things is when you fall, you fall a lot harder than those with a more casual attitude. People make mistakes typing and don't check it over, it's a fact of online life, as you demonstrated with such delicious irony.

Reganio 2

I am 17 and even I hate people who do not spell right one of my mates sent me a text saying "Ar u cumng out l8r. I ned a lon of a few bob" I didnt reply and he didn't get the money he needed. Making mistakes while typing does not bother me. Its just when they spend 5 minutes typing a message with "txt spk" when they can type it in 3 with normal spelling.

Our man in Havana

What is it with people reading out the letters HSE? It always sounds like HSC on radio and tv news. Annoying.

InFront

smokingman wrote:

Like sjones said, typos - no problem: blatent spelling mistakes - annoying.

What brilliant irony!

Black Swan

smokingman wrote:

By the way, anther thing that annoys me is the over-use of exclamation marks; one will do perfectly well thank you.

TCN invades AH. Charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!








.

Pherekydes

phantom_lord wrote:

I'd imagine there's a significant chance that was written by his daughter/son, more learning towards daughter.

There's nil chance it was written by anybody else but the woman herself. Her eldest child is 11.

phantom_lord

Slow coach wrote:

There's nil chance it was written by anybody else but the woman herself. Her eldest child is 11.

lol, ok.

Rb

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

TCN invades AH. Charge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!








.

Back in yer box before you give the more impressionable users of TCN ideas.

coffee_cake

A number which is illiterate...?

User45701

sjones wrote:

Click on the flag in my signature. It's a warm, happy and joyful place.

Don't be so quick to jump down everyone's throat. Some people are dyslexic, and some of those people don't use the Firefox spell checker extension (probably because they don't use Firefox).

1. I hate forums i cant access

2. I use the firefox spell checker but i hate the way its american spelling it wrecks my head

scojones

User45701 wrote:

1. I hate forums i cant access

2. I use the firefox spell checker but i hate the way its american spelling it wrecks my head

Hating a forum that you don't have access to. Now that's a perfect thought process if I have ever encountered one.

I'm pretty sure they capitalise I, and America, in America. Also, there is a UK version of the plugin. Go figure.

Tar.Aldarion

Grammar is king in the land of Tar.
Sp?
We used to have spelling and maths tests every week in primary school.
They made me feel like a big man.
Sp?
There was also a guy in my class who had the name Sp.
Sp?

Terry

nlgbbbblth wrote:

Incorrect punctuation, bad grammar and poor spelling annoy me.

I frequently point out errors to people at work and my hatred of text speak is not kept hidden.

I find that most people have think that it's cool to have a casual attitude to such things and anybody who takes them seriously is square, anal or a nerd.

I questioned my 13 year old cousin on why he chose to use txt spk on his bebo page. he told me that "it's cool to use it". go figure. I hope he enjoys his LC english exam.

nlgbbbblth

JoeSchmoe wrote:

There you go, the problem with being such a stickler for these things is when you fall, you fall a lot harder than those with a more casual attitude. People make mistakes typing and don't check it over, it's a fact of online life, as you demonstrated with such delicious irony.

The word 'have' should not have appeared in my sentence. Yes, I made a mistake.

Could it be argued that you, by pointing it out, have proved yourself to be as much of a stickler as I am?

iguana

Deleted User wrote:

i.e. isn't there some country which is considering to allow it as part of their school curriculum (can't think of the country off the top of my head but I do remember reading an article on it somewhere).

In the UK examiners have been instructed not to penalise students for use of text speak in exams as long as they are able to show they understand the content. Even in English exams!:eek:

Just imagine.

Hamlet's main dilema was his fear of the afterlife, discuss using quotes:

"2b r not 2b Dat's de ?" dat sums it up innit.

JoeSchmoe

nlgbbbblth wrote:

The word 'have' should not have appeared in my sentence. Yes, I made a mistake.

Could it be argued that you, by pointing it out, have proved yourself to be as much of a stickler as I am?

I only stickle the sticklers, I can almost feel the heat from those rosy cheeky of embarrassment from here

Zonko

[CrimsonGhost] wrote:

I think you mean illiteracy (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/illiteracy) not illiterate.

This is a good post.

jimmycrackcorm

You'd think by now you could get a phone to transl8 txt speak back to english for viewing...

nesf

It's the posts that are impossible to make out that bother me. I don't care about typos, one or two words misspelt or whatever, but if your posts are so mangled that it's difficult for anyone to decipher them then I fail to see why you are bothering to post on a bulletin board at all.

At the end of the day we are using a written medium here and people should at least make some effort to make their posts readable. That said, grammar/spelling nazis who chase people around after misplaced commas etc are just being unreasonable imho.

embee

GODDDDDDDDDDDDD

There is another thread here in AH which says "Imbarassing"... it is driving me potty.

Anyways, where I work, they love their powerslogans. There are posters festooned everywhere, and each poster is liberally sprinkled with bullshít "There is no I in TEAM" nonsense.

One of the slogans reads "I do as a I say". EVERY time I see it, I want to blacken that bloody "a". It sits there like a big tumour, taunting me.

Oh yes, and we have a Team Leader who is a 2nd year medical student. Her inability to spell her own name (let alone anyone elses) is absolutely stupifying. She frequently sends around mails that say "Hi guys, we have a teem meating in the confirence room @ 3pm - c u der!"

THIS WOMAN IS GOING TO BECOME A DOCTOR SOMEDAY.

Lord save us all.

coffee_cake

iguana wrote:

In the UK examiners have been instructed not to penalise students for use of text speak in exams as long as they are able to show they understand the content. Even in English exams!:eek:

Just imagine.

Hamlet's main dilema was his fear of the afterlife, discuss using quotes:

"2b r not 2b Dat's de ?" dat sums it up innit.

My grandparents' way of asking where I am: "? r u"
It took me a while to figure out, the first time....