People's spelling is gone to the dogs!

radar0976

Is it just me or can a large amount of people not spell anymore ?! I see it every single day in e-mails at works, posts on forums, texts, newspapers etc.

People might say I'm being snobby and not everyone has the same level of education. However that's not my point at all. It seems to be happening across the board.

The most recent mistake I've seen is LESSONS spelled "Lessions"!!!

What's the reason ? Not enough practice writing letters any more ? Too much reliance on computers / phones ?

pickarooney

It's hard to say if spelling has become worse lately or if the problem has just become more obvious with the advent of mass-communication technology.

If you go out of your way to spot mistakes you'll find them everywhere (including in your own posts) so it may well be that if you habitually read others' letters in the olden days you'd have been just as dismayed.

seamus

Before the web came along, by and large the only content that most people read was stuff that had been edited and double-checked before printing.

Self-publication was relatively rare outside of small clubs and if you ever had the pleasure of seeing a handwritten, photocopied notice on a church bulletin board, you'd have noticed spelling mistakes everywhere.

We only spot it more now because we've embraced text as a communication medium. It went out of fashion for a long time when the telephone became ubiquitous and letters took a week to mail from Cork to Dublin. SMS messaging and email brought text back to life and now we can see how atrocious our spelling is.

What I notice the most is how closely most people stick to their own pronunciations when they misspell a word. People who very clearly say "of" instead of "have", also tend to write "of". Whereas those who say "have" or "uv" (as in "could've"), tend to write "have".

In fact, it's quite normal for language to evolve so that the spelling changes to suit pronunciation. The word "olde" is one example - the "e" was dropped over time because the spelling didn't match the pronunciation.

Clever phonetic variants or improvements on current words are to be welcomed. Lazy spelling is not.

Alun

radar0976 wrote: »

Is it just me or can a large amount of people not spell anymore ?!

Not only that, but their grammar isn't up to much either.

CiaranC

People's spelling is gone to the dogs!

:rolleyes:

mikemac

Language adapts OP

I remember being given out to in school as I spell organization not organisation. The US English version just seems correct to me.
That is just one example, there are many others I use too but maybe you or other posters will comment that I'm not using correct spelling

My own pet hate.
My number is zero eight seven, 087
It is not letter O eight seven, I think I'm only person I know what states zero in my mobile number, that's just me, mock me if you wish.

But in my job I call France or Belgium or Switzerland and if I ask to maybe check their fax number that say the letter O
Why? Where did they learn this from?

deman

feelingstressed wrote: »

Language adapts OP

I remember being given out to in school as I spell organization not organisation. The US English version just seems correct to me.
That is just one example, there are many others I use too but maybe you or other posters will comment that I'm not using correct spelling

No matter what your own personal opinion might be on what is correct and what is not correct, ORGANIZATION is wrong on this side of the Atlantic. Your teacher was right to give out to you.

BTW...

feelingstressed wrote: »

there are many others I use too to but maybe you or other posters will comment that I'm not using correct spelling

FYP

feelingstressed wrote: »

My own pet hate.
My number is zero eight seven, 087
It is not letter O eight seven, I think I'm only person I know what states zero in my mobile number, that's just me, mock me if you wish.

Seriously? This is your pet hate? I take it you'll be avoiding the bingo halls then? Again, it's a British English/American English thing.

BTW...

feelingstressed wrote: »

I think I'm only person I know what that states zero in my mobile number

FYP

feelingstressed wrote: »

But in my job I call France or Belgium or Switzerland and if I ask to maybe check their fax number that say the letter O
Why? Where did they learn this from?

Erm...


what?

mikemac

Yes, my own fault.
I gave my opinion on a thread and didn't fully spell check it. And this should have been done for this thread especially

Well done, you corrected my post, you didn't understand all of it either.

So what is your opinion to the OP's post, some more FYP, BTW....?
And you're the third poster here with little to add other then to correct spelling

p1akuw47h5r3it

feelingstressed wrote: »

Yes, my own fault.
I gave my opinion on a thread and didn't fully spell check it. And this should have been done for this thread especially

Well done, you corrected my post, you didn't understand all of it either.

So what is your opinion to the OP's post, some more FYP, BTW....?
And you're the third poster here with little to add other then to correct spelling

ye i don't understand what that other posters problem was hahaha

dabbido

My own personal hate: "should of went"...etc.
Really grinds my gears!

The Raven.

deman wrote: »

No matter what your own personal opinion might be on what is correct and what is not correct, ORGANIZATION is wrong on this side of the Atlantic. Your teacher was right to give out to you.

That is not correct. The situation is that American spelling uses only the -ize verb ending (in most cases), but -ize and -ise are both acceptable in UK spelling (obviously not for all verbs). The Oxford English Dictionary spells it 'organization' but the Chambers Dictionary spells it 'organisation'. It is a contentious issue, and it is argued that verbs of Greek origin should use -ize.

deman wrote: »

feelingstressed wrote: »

...there are many others I use too but maybe you or other posters will comment that I'm not using correct spelling.

there are many others I use too to but maybe you or other posters will comment that I'm not using correct spelling

This correction is wrong. Feelingstressed obviously meant 'too' as in 'also', which is correct.

deman wrote: »

feelingstressed wrote: »

I think I'm only person I know what that states zero in my mobile number

Both of these are wrong. The correct sentence should be 'I think [that] I'm the only person I know who says 'zero' in my mobile number'.

The Raven.

radar0976 wrote: »

Is it just me or can a large amount of people not spell anymore ?! I see it every single day in e-mails at works, posts on forums, texts, newspapers etc.

People might say I'm being snobby and not everyone has the same level of education. However that's not my point at all. It seems to be happening across the board.

The most recent mistake I've seen is LESSONS spelled "Lessions"!!!

What's the reason ? Not enough practice writing letters any more ? Too much reliance on computers / phones ?

I agree. There is a lot of bad spelling about. It is not snobbish to draw attention to it. Mobile text messaging certainly has had a very bad influence, but computers should have the opposite effect. There is a lot of good reading material on the Internet, and plenty of dictionaries at the touch of a button. Of course there is a lot of rubbish also, which wasn't available before.

The use of text speak on anything other than mobile phones, or other tiny screens, is just sheer laziness, except for occasional amusement.

radar0976

dabbido wrote: »

My own personal hate: "should of went"...etc.
Really grinds my gears!

Me too. How can people get that one wrong ? Basic basic grammar!

radar0976

Just spotted this in another forum on boards.

"What sence does this make..."

Agggggggghhhhhhhh!

deman

The Raven. wrote: »

This correction is wrong. Feelingstressed obviously meant 'too' as in 'also', which is correct.

Sorry. I misread his original post.

Sorry Feelingstressed.

The Raven. wrote: »

Both of these are wrong. The correct sentence should be 'I think [that] I'm the only person I know who says 'zero' in my mobile number'.

No. Only 'what' is wrong. 'Who' is also correct but 'that' can be used instead of 'who' or 'which'.

Oxford Practical Grammar (John Eastwood) wrote:

We can use that instead of who or which:
Mrs Bryant is the woman who/that owns that enormous house.

pickarooney

dabbido wrote: »

My own personal hate: "should of went"...etc.
Really grinds my gears!

It's the 'of' rather than the 'went' that annoys you most?