Humor me and answer a question...

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

Do those of you who use poor spelling, grammar, capitilization and punctuation on the forum do so in your business email coorespondence, papers for classes and other such communications?

I am not talking about a misspelled word or a missing comma from time to time. I am talking consistent disregard for basic English skills. If not, why do you do it here? It takes no more effort to do it correctly, unless you are talking out of your rear and need to look up "supine" or something.

Just sayin'.

[saniflush 0]

i do'nt no wy peepal du that. Its' something that reely gets on mi nervs.

[autiger518 1]

TM you forgot to flash your badge.

[AU_tiger_2000 0]

Do those of you who use poor spelling, grammar, capitilization and punctuation on the forum do so in your business email coorespondence, papers for classes and other such communications?

I am not talking about a misspelled word or a missing comma from time to time. I am talking consistent disregard for basic English skills. If not, why do you do it here? It takes no more effort to do it correctly, unless you are talking out of your rear and need to look up "supine" or something.

Just sayin'.

I'm an engineer, of course I have terrible grammar and spelling! Most of the stuff I type at work looks like this.

F=P/A + Mc/I

MS = FTU/F-1

[autiger518 1]

Do those of you who use poor spelling, grammar, capitilization and punctuation on the forum do so in your business email coorespondence, papers for classes and other such communications?

I am not talking about a misspelled word or a missing comma from time to time. I am talking consistent disregard for basic English skills. If not, why do you do it here? It takes no more effort to do it correctly, unless you are talking out of your rear and need to look up "supine" or something.

Just sayin'.

I'm an engineer, of course I have terrible grammar and spelling! Most of the stuff I type at work looks like this.

F=P/A + Mc/I

MS = FTU/F-1

Good pointe! Im contractor, I dont ned know stinkin grammer. All I need to say is your house will be ready in 6 months.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

Oh, you're a residential guy? I thought you worked for a real contractor.

[SupperClub 0]

I have my secretary proofread every post I make for grammatical errors.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Do those of you who use poor spelling, grammar, capitilization and punctuation on the forum do so in your business email coorespondencecorrespondence, papers for classes and other such communications?

Fixed that for you - didn't want you to have to get off your high horse...

But you know I agree with you. 100%. I am looking to hire myself an assistant, and since my job involves copious amounts of high level writing, and requires a strong command of the English language and the ability to actually form a grammatically correct sentence, I fully intend to make all applicants submit a writing sample. No joke. My niece, who just graduated college and completed her paralegal certification, would not be eligible for this position. Her thank you note for her graduation present looked and read like a first grader wrote it. It was a spelling and grammatical nightmare, written with pisspoor penmanship, complete with BUBBLE DOTS over the i's. UNREAL. She's 23.

Anddo you know what her graduation present was? A VERY NICE Black's Law Dictionary and a book entitled "Fundamentals of English Grammar".

[autiger518 1]

Oh, you're a residential guy?

Nope. Actually I was just kidding we do commercial, residential, renovation, and some light industrial. (residential is usually a custom home)

I thought you worked for a real contractor.

That is debatable.

[GalensGhost 0]

I am looking to hire myself an assistant, and since my job involves copious amounts of high level writing, and requires a strong command of the English language and the ability to actually form a grammatically correct sentence, I fully intend to make all applicants submit a writing sample.

What doo the job pay?

[autiger518 1]

Do those of you who use poor spelling, grammar, capitilization and punctuation on the forum do so in your business email coorespondencecorrespondence, papers for classes and other such communications?

Fixed that for you - didn't want you to have to get off your high horse...

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! BURN!!!!

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

That was the occasional misspelled word.

Some people that claim to be graduates of some school in the western part of the state are obviously not aware what an apostrophe is.

[AUesquire 1]

I would normally say that I could care less about this kind of thing. But, irregardless of my feelings, TM has a good point.

[AUChizad 0]

Her thank you note for her graduation present looked and read like a first grader wrote it. It was a spelling and grammatical nightmare, written with pisspoor penmanship, complete with BUBBLE DOTS over the i's. UNREAL. She's 23.

You're gonna get Howard all hot and bothered.

[BamaGrad03 0]

That was the occasional misspelled word.

Some people that claim to be graduates of some school in the western part of the state are obviously not aware what an apostrophe is.

Whatever. I have excellent grammar skills. (ESPECIALLY for someone who holds a degree from the College of Engineering). And I rarely mess up with my spelling. RARELY. Apostrophe usage can be filed under "typing something quick and dirty". As opposed to incessant misusage of "their, there, they're". Or spelling it "grammer".

BTW, I have really stepped up my apostrophe usage since the last pasting I took over it.

[GalensGhost 0]

That was the occasional misspelled word.

Some people that claim to be graduates of some school in the western part of the state are obviously not aware what an apostrophe is.

Or they use it wrongly.

Since you started this, here are the ten things that bake my nuts:

1) To, too, two. Learn how to use them.

2) Apostrophes. When I see "We had dinner with the Long's." I want to stab my eyes out. The lady in charge of our church bulletin is the queen of the misplace apostrophe. It annoys me so much I've spoken to her about it on more than one occasion. She doesn't ca're. She knows that every apostrophe has it's place. WRONG!

3) Seperate. I want to separate heads from bodies when I see this.

4) Lovelly. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHHH.

5) IM slang. U R not my bff.

6) There, their, they're. I've gotten letters from college presidents with these misused. If I had a shovel, I'd smack them in [ a) their there or c) they're ] face.

7) Lose/Loose. We do not loose games. We should not lose them either.

8) Your/You're. Right: You're coming with your friends. WRONG: Your coming with you're friends.

9) The Al Sharpton effect. If you don't know what a big word means, don't use it. Or at least look it up before you do.

10. Privelege or Privilege? Well, which is it young feller?

Unfortunately I am occasionally guilty of some of the above. When I discover that I have made such an egregious error, I castigate myself.

[Guest Tigrinum Major]

That was the occasional misspelled word.

Some people that claim to be graduates of some school in the western part of the state are obviously not aware what an apostrophe is.

Whatever. I have excellent grammar skills. (ESPECIALLY for someone who holds a degree from the College of Engineering). And I rarely mess up with my spelling. RARELY. Apostrophe usage can be filed under "typing something quick and dirty". As opposed to incessant misusage of "their, there, they're". Or spelling it "grammer".

BTW, I have really stepped up my apostrophe usage since the last pasting I took over it.

Kudos, brutha.

That was the occasional misspelled word.

Some people that claim to be graduates of some school in the western part of the state are obviously not aware what an apostrophe is.

Or they use it wrongly.

Since you started this, here are the ten things that bake my nuts:

1) To, too, two. Learn how to use them.

2) Apostrophes. When I see "We had dinner with the Long's." I want to stab my eyes out. The lady in charge of our church bulletin is the queen of the misplace apostrophe. It annoys me so much I've spoken to her about it on more than one occasion. She doesn't ca're. She knows that every apostrophe has it's place. WRONG!

3) Seperate. I want to separate heads from bodies when I see this.

4) Lovelly. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHHH.

5) IM slang. U R not my bff.

6) There, their, they're. I've gotten letters from college presidents with these misused. If I had a shovel, I'd smack them in [ a) their there or c) they're ] face.

7) Lose/Loose. We do not loose games. We should not lose them either.

8) Your/You're. Right: You're coming with your friends. WRONG: Your coming with you're friends.

9) The Al Sharpton effect. If you don't know what a big word means, don't use it. Or at least look it up before you do.

10. Privelege or Privilege? Well, which is it young feller?

Unfortunately I am occasionally guilty of some of the above. When I discover that I have made such an egregious error, I castigate myself.

My lovely bride agrees with you.

[otterinbham 0]

First, last, and foremost, I am a writer who specializes in corporate communications, marketing, branding, and advertising. I make a good living from clients who cannot seem to articulate their thoughts and therefore rely on me to do it for them. However, given that doctors, lawyers, and executives all seem to have major challenges in this area, I wouldn't say that proper written grammar is fundamental to success. For some reason, the notion of putting words on a page seems to frustrate people from all walks of life.

I think that part of the problem is that high school educators do a terrible job of teaching this subject. Instead of mind-numbing grammar grills, it's far more important to give students everyday practice in writing, then show how poor punctuation affects one's ability to communicate. That's the difference between theory and application.

At the same time, I would offer that proper spoken grammar is absolutely essential. I cannot tell you how many times I've witnessed people being pigeonholed and discounted simply because they could not speak a correct sentence. I'm not talking about having a Southern accent, either. I'm talking about people with college degrees simply mangling the language in conversation. Incorrect word usage, subject verb agreement, and slang all tell the world "Hey, I don't care how many degrees I have. I'm still a dumbass."

Also, the context of writing is important. If I'm writing the annual report for a bank for distribution to stockholders, you better believe I will be far more careful than if I were dashing off a quick note to a friend.

However, your point is well taken. The two most important subjects in any person's education should be writing and public speaking. If you are accomplished in both areas, it almost guarantees success in whatever field you ultimately choose.

[BamaGrad03 0]

How people confuse "know" vs "no"...is BEYONDme.

[otterinbham 0]

That was the occasional misspelled word.

Some people that claim to be graduates of some school in the western part of the state are obviously not aware what an apostrophe is.

Or they use it wrongly.

Since you started this, here are the ten things that bake my nuts:

1) To, too, two. Learn how to use them.

2) Apostrophes. When I see "We had dinner with the Long's." I want to stab my eyes out. The lady in charge of our church bulletin is the queen of the misplace apostrophe. It annoys me so much I've spoken to her about it on more than one occasion. She doesn't ca're. She knows that every apostrophe has it's place. WRONG!

3) Seperate. I want to separate heads from bodies when I see this.

4) Lovelly. AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHHH.

5) IM slang. U R not my bff.

6) There, their, they're. I've gotten letters from college presidents with these misused. If I had a shovel, I'd smack them in [ a) their there or c) they're ] face.

7) Lose/Loose. We do not loose games. We should not lose them either.

8) Your/You're. Right: You're coming with your friends. WRONG: Your coming with you're friends.

9) The Al Sharpton effect. If you don't know what a big word means, don't use it. Or at least look it up before you do.

10. Privelege or Privilege? Well, which is it young feller?

Unfortunately I am occasionally guilty of some of the above. When I discover that I have made such an egregious error, I castigate myself.

Here are my additions:

1. Were/Was -- Were is subjunctive case. Was is not. As in "If I was going to the store..."

2. Its/It's -- It's is not possessive. It is the contraction for "It Is."

3. Effect/Affect -- "Effect" is almost always a noun. "Affect" is a verb.

4. May/Can -- Surely everybody knows the difference between the two.

5. Good/Well -- One is an adjective. The other is an adverb, or a hole in the ground from which to draw water.

[Jenny AU-92 0]

Also, the context of writing is important. If I'm writing the annual report for a bank for distribution to stockholders, you better believe I will be far more careful than if I were dashing off a quick note to a friend.

Preach on, brother. My occasional miscues on the board seldom occur in my professional life. I also make use of the tools available to me. For example, there are a few words that I habitually mis-type (ahve, int eh), even though I know how to spell them, so I use the Auto-correct feature in Word. Saves me often.

However, your point is well taken. The two most important subjects in any person's education should be writing and public speaking. If you are accomplished in both areas, it almost guarantees success in whatever field you ultimately choose.

At this point, I would settle for "somewhat proficient" - if my niece is any indication, I WEEP for the future of this country - and, I suppose, the world, since English is the main language of business and government.

U R so rite tht IM has F'd us up in terms of the written word.

[otterinbham 0]

Preach on, brother. My occasional miscues on the board seldom occur in my professional life. I also make use of the tools available to me. For example, there are a few words that I habitually mis-type (ahve, int eh), even though I know how to spell them, so I use the Auto-correct feature in Word. Saves me often.

You know, one writer to another, I just don't trust Word's auto-correct feature. Its grammar check is flaky at best.

The only surefire way to catch boneheaded mistakes is to read your work aloud. If you don't, the mind plays tricks on you and often glides right over a mistake.

[WarTiger 4,050]

another one I see a lot on boards and in emails is:

want/wont I mean the a and the o are on totally opposite sides of the keyboard. How that mistake can happen, I'll never understand.

[keoson7 28]

this thread has some vary valid points, I hate misuse of words. They're ought two bee a law against it.

[SLAG-91 1,631]

Here are some other misspellings/misusages that are alternately maddening and, on occasion, hilarious:

* "Pre-madonna" instead of "primadonna." That's pitiful, but it makes me laugh every time I see it because it's so ridiculous.

* "Rediculous" instead of "ridiculous"

* "For all intensive purposes"...you've GOT to be kidding me.

* "french benefits" instead of "fringe benefits"

* "sensative" instead of "sensitive"

* "definate" instead of "definite"

I could go on, but I won't.

I'm a math teacher, but it drives me batshit crazy to see people who are ostensibly intelligent just butcher the language. I overuse the ellipsis (not the ellipse...the ellipse is a conic section) when I post, but that's minor.