Is grammar/spelling going down the drain?

StompToWork · 12-02-2014 11:46PM #1

How many of you have read an online news article, or a Tweet or Facebook update from a business/media source/professional-service, which has contained a grammar or spelling mistake?

Do people mainly brush this off, or do you find it unprofessional, distracting and off-putting (as I do)?

Examples I have come across lately include the RTE News App, met.ie (I can almost forgive them today!!), journal.ie, and quite a lot of tweets from local radio stations and newspapers.

Do I need to chill out, or are we, as a society, giving up on grammar? Also bear in mind that my grammar and spelling is by no means perfect, but I kinda expect more from a professional outfit - even if it is providing me with free content!!

StompToWork · 12-02-2014 11:47PM

And I know, I shouldn't start a sentence with "Also".

StompToWork · 12-02-2014 11:48PM

And I know - I shouldn't start a sentence with "And".

kneemos · 12-02-2014 11:48PM

Chill as they say in fact out.

irish bloke · 12-02-2014 11:49PM

I wish I had your worries...

shopaholic01 · 12-02-2014 11:49PM

Short answer, yes. As for text speak ..........

Arbiter of Good Taste · 12-02-2014 11:50PM

What's wrong with having standards?

Tangatagamadda Chaddabinga Bonga Bungo · 12-02-2014 11:51PM

Spelling has never been better, even 15 years ago only a certain percentage of the population wrote words down daily; students, doctors, journalists and that, but now everyone writes sh1t online or whatever.

Femme_Fatale · 12-02-2014 11:52PM

When it comes to stuff like Boards, I don't really care about most spelling/grammar/punctuation mistakes, so long as the piece of writing is readable. Not everyone has a good grasp of writing and that's fair enough. I think some rules seem silly and irrelevant too - e.g. starting a sentence with "And" or "Also" looks fine IMO. There are plenty of situations where a comma is not necessary, and the split infinitive just seems to be pedantry. Don't think people bother with it any more though.

But I think businesses and the like should proof-read. The thing of not wanting to seem like a grammar nazi is grand to a point (and I'd subscribe to it myself) but there's a line.

dxhound2005 · 12-02-2014 11:54PM

StompToWork wrote: »

How many of you have read an online news article, or a Tweet or Facebook update from a business/media source/professional-service, which has contained a grammar or spelling mistake?

Do people mainly brush this off, or do you find it unprofessional, distracting and off-putting (as I do)?

Examples I have come across lately include the RTE News App, met.ie (I can almost forgive them today!!), journal.ie, and quite a lot of tweets from local radio stations and newspapers.

Do I need to chill out, or are we, as a society, giving up on grammar? Also bear in mind that my grammar and spelling is by no means perfect, but I kinda expect more from a professional outfit - even if it is providing me with free content!!

The comma is on the way out. Get a supply of them in before they become obsolete. You seem to need quite a few.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2014-02-11/edit-page/47201523_1_full-stop-breath-pico-iyer

Cantremember · 12-02-2014 11:54PM

A forward slash is not a word and grammatically incorrect. It is of course, the only sensible way to piss.

shleedance · 12-02-2014 11:55PM

itz rediculous rite

fussyonion · 12-02-2014 11:57PM

It's funny you should start a thread on this as I was only thinking about this very subject today.

I'm seeing a lot of bad grammar/spelling lately, more so than I ever have before, and I wonder if it's becoming an epidemic.

My local newspaper must hire illiterate journalists and reporters because the articles contain atrocious spelling mistakes and bad grammar.

As for Facebook; it annoys me so much. I always feel like saying: "Did you not learn how to use punctuation in school?

Do you realise how stupid you're making yourself look?

Yesterday I read this status update on my Facebook page:

"congratz 2 me sistr on passin her drvn tst i no she has bin waitin along time for it and were al very proud of u well dun sis"

Underneath this abysmal sentence were the ubiquitous responses:

"woop wel dun darlin u must b feelin wel plaesed we must go 4 drnks l8r"

"kul dats great, tel her i sed wel done anal ("and all") and il talk cha later"

Anal? Really? Do you not see what you've done there?
And what the hell is "talk cha"?

Why can't you just attempt to look educated and say "Talk to you"?

I really think it's awful that people either didn't listen in school, or have no respect for themselves that they feel they have to shorten their words and avoid punctuation completely.

Makes me feel you're really thick and skanky.

AerynSun · 13-02-2014 12:00AM

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

But I think businesses and the like should proof-read. The thing of not wanting to seem like a grammar nazi is grand to a point (and I'd subscribe to it myself) but there's a line.

Grammar nazi is 100% for paid-for print media

detective monkfish · 13-02-2014 12:00AM

was never great at the aul writing myself but had a few lecturers at college who couldn't spell to save their lives but i suppose its the effort to communicate that counts.

dxhound2005 · 13-02-2014 12:05AM

fussyonion wrote: »

It's funny you should start a thread on this as I was only thinking about this very subject today.

I'm seeing a lot of bad grammar/spelling lately, more so than I ever have before, and I wonder if it's becoming an epidemic.

My local newspaper must hire illiterate journalists and reporters because the articles contain atrocious spelling mistakes and bad grammar.

As for Facebook; it annoys me so much. I always feel like saying: "Did you not learn how to use punctuation in school?

Do you realise how stupid you're making yourself look?

Yesterday I read this status update on my Facebook page:

"congratz 2 me sistr on passin her drvn tst i no she has bin waitin along time for it and were al very proud of u well dun sis"

Underneath this abysmal sentence were the ubiquitous responses:

"woop wel dun darlin u must b feelin wel plaesed we must go 4 drnks l8r"

"kul dats great, tel her i sed wel done anal ("and all") and il talk cha later"

Anal? Really? Do you not see what you've done there?
And what the hell is "talk cha"?

Why can't you just attempt to look educated and say "Talk to you"?

I really think it's awful that people either didn't listen in school, or have no respect for themselves that they feel they have to shorten their words and avoid punctuation completely.

Makes me feel you're really thick and skanky.

Thats txtspk. A new language. Well not really. In the age of morse code, another technology which required brevity, a whole new set of abbreviations were invented to save dots and dashes, thus saving time. In informal exchanges, like amateur radio contacts, the word and became es requiring only four dots to transmit. Cul for see you later and so on are inventions of the morse age not some new fangled abomination to be condemned. Txtspk and real language are not the same thing.

fussyonion · 13-02-2014 12:05AM

I'd also like to add that it's actually quite hard to try and decipher a sentence which is riddled with spelling errors and above all, no punctuation.

Ficheall · 13-02-2014 12:07AM

Earlier, I noticed the sig of a poster, in support of Schumacher, which reads:
KEEP FIGHTING MICHAEL.

I found it amusing, but only because it's been a slow day...

kneemos · 13-02-2014 12:08AM

Arbiter of Good Taste wrote: »

What's wrong with having standards?

Standards are good but grammar Nazi types can be very pedantic and anal,pisses people off rightly.

tallaghtmick · 13-02-2014 12:08AM

U wot m8?

Legs.Eleven · 13-02-2014 12:09AM

Typos could also be on the rise.

whatsthetime · 13-02-2014 12:09AM

StompToWork wrote: »

How many of you have read an online news article, or a Tweet or Facebook update from a business/media source/professional-service, which has contained a grammar or spelling mistake?

Do people mainly brush this off, or do you find it unprofessional, distracting and off-putting (as I do)?

Examples I have come across lately include the RTE News App, met.ie (I can almost forgive them today!!), journal.ie, and quite a lot of tweets from local radio stations and newspapers.

Do I need to chill out, or are we, as a society, giving up on grammar? Also bear in mind that my grammar and spelling is by no means perfect, but I kinda expect more from a professional outfit - even if it is providing me with free content!!

Agree

Femme_Fatale · 13-02-2014 12:10AM

fussyonion wrote: »

I'd also like to add that it's actually quite hard to try and decipher a sentence which is riddled with spelling errors and above all, no punctuation.

That's what I draw the line at no matter where the piece of writing is. You don't need every comma/full stop/dash (as I said, some commas are superfluous) but for Christ's sake, if a pause is needed, put something in there to show it. Not doing so for an entire paragraph makes it look like the ramblings of a mad person. It's illegible.

returnNull · 13-02-2014 12:13AM

kneemos wrote: »

Standards are good but grammar Nazi types can be very pedantic and anal,pisses people off rightly.

but if they don't get pulled up on it , they'll pollute the web with bad english!Can't be having that :pac:

dxhound2005 · 13-02-2014 12:13AM

Femme_Fatale wrote: »

That's what I draw the line at no matter where the piece of writing is. You don't need every comma/full stop/dash (as I said, some commas are superfluous) but for Christ's sake, if a pause is needed, put something in there to show it. Not doing so for an entire paragraph makes it look like the ramblings of a mad person. It's illegible.

Not illegible, but unreadable. In the circumstances, I feel I should point that out.

Illegible refers to bad handwriting, while unreadable refers to poor writing.

nomdeboardie · 13-02-2014 12:20AM

We're on the way to loosing

the correct written versions of some words completely...

AerynSun · 13-02-2014 12:20AM

kneemos wrote: »

Standards are good but grammar Nazi types can be very pedantic and anal,pisses people off rightly.

If I'm paying a LOT of money for a print campaign, I absolutely expect the grammar and spelling in said expensive campaign to be 100% correct. Call me a nazi, but I am paying good money for good quality work.

If I'm not paying for it, then yews kan zpeller whowevers youse like-andi don't giveash1t.

dxhound2005 · 13-02-2014 12:26AM

AerynSun wrote: »

If I'm paying a LOT of money for a print campaign, I absolutely expect the grammar and spelling in said expensive campaign to be 100% correct. Call me a nazi, but I am paying good money for good quality work.

If I'm not paying for it, then yews kan zpeller whowevers youse like-andi don't giveash1t.

Do you not mean ALOT of money.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.ie/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

kneemos · 13-02-2014 12:27AM

AerynSun wrote: »

If I'm paying a LOT of money for a print campaign, I absolutely expect the grammar and spelling in said expensive campaign to be 100% correct. Call me a nazi, but I am paying good money for good quality work.

If I'm not paying for it, then yews kan zpeller whowevers youse like-andi don't giveash1t.

What's a print campaign?

AerynSun · 13-02-2014 12:33AM

kneemos wrote: »

What's a print campaign?

It's a thing that you run in the print media. Kinda like stuff you see on the interwebs, but it actually gets printed out with real ink, on real paper, and distributed en masse to the general public (whether they buy the publication or get it for free a la Metro Herald on the morning Dart).

The thought of all of those trees dying, only to have spelling and grammar errors perpetuated through them... brings an unhappy tear to my money-grubbing eye.

The Backwards Man · 13-02-2014 12:35AM

The odd typo, spelling mistakes or grammar faux pas doesn't really bother me. Nobody is perfect. Professional writers that do this regularly are nothing short of contemptible though, imo.

Is grammar/spelling going down the drain?

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