Poll: Does bad spelling on the internet bother you?

[nuba km]

Like I often have to say to my grammar nazi friend 'Language (both written and spoken) has been invented in order to bring a point across, so as long as that point is made language has achieved its goal' (just like to say this is not the first time I have quoted myself), in short I don't really care about grammar and spelling as long as I understand what the person is trying to say/write. This is also why I get irritated when I see people trying to make everything have 100% perfect grammar and spelling as a sentence such as 'pandas eat shoots and leaves' is pretty self explanatory and having the comma in their by accident won't make people think that pandas are some sort of fast food murderers.

I'm going to sound like a total jerk when I say this but while that point you make is valid, language is a consensus based form of communication and there must be a high level of conformity for it to be able to carry out its functions well. Sure, even if there are misspellings or other grammatical errors (for whatever reason) the majority might be able to understand, but when continued and uncorrected indefinitely, this can lead to any combination of misconstruing of words, mispronunciation and permanent bastardisation. Granted, this is how lingual evolution works and the raison d'etre of etymology, but when verbal constructs change completely within a generation, it leaves a distinctly bad taste in the mouth (or at least my mouth). Case in point, the word 'gay'.

Moreover, with English as having a three-hundred-thousand word vocabulary, verbosity is not compatible with a high incident of mistakes in text for the simple reason of the prevalence of homonyms and homophones. Conscious editing of mistakes take up some time, especially when syntax needs to be changed, and even the edit may be incorrect.

...

I'll stop the trolling now. -_-

OT: It does annoy me, yes, but I cut slack to those that deserve it (however, as noted, I'm a jerk). Though I can't really remember correcting people that often around here, primarily because of the point made in what I quoted and do not wish to appear more of a jerk than I already am.

As much as I agree that language needs some continuity in order to keep doing it's job I don't agree with you using the word 'bastardisation' to describe the change of language over time. All languages used around the world stem from one base language (not Latin) that was spoken before man spread over the world, and the Queen's English is a 'severe bastardisation' of that language but the word 'bastardisation' would imply that what is happening to the language is a bad thing, it is just a change in language.

 

[SckizoBoy]

As much as I agree that language needs some continuity in order to keep doing it's job I don't agree with you using the word 'bastardisation' to describe the change of language over time. All languages used around the world stem from one base language (not Latin) that was spoken before man spread over the world, and the Queen's English is a 'severe bastardisation' of that language but the word 'bastardisation' would imply that what is happening to the language is a bad thing, it is just a change in language.

Ah, now, see, in part, that is sort of my point. With respect to language, 'bastardisation' is not a label of negativity, merely that it is an inadvertent deviation from the 'parent' word. When first used 'bastard' wasn't an insult and was applicable to nobility only. And to be absolutely facetious, the correct term in linguistics is 'corruption' which doesn't sound much better.

Though at first glance, perhaps not the most... tactful of words to use. Perhaps 'fixed derived word'? Doesn't roll off the tongue well, but at least it looks neutral.

And I'll apologise for my earlier post... I've been in a philosophical mood recently, and my desire for self-inflated superiority requires a punch in the face.

 

[FinalHeart95]

As long as it's not horrible, I can deal with it. I know this example wouldn't be the internet, but in texting I'm especially lenient. One of my friends almost never seems to use vowels and I somehow don't strangle him.

However, confuse there/they're/their or your/you're, and you will be shot. From point blank.

 

[Innegativeion]

Only if it's really *REALLY* bad.

I mean, c'mon it's the internet. Using slang and such is fine, it's a casual place of conversation. But when people's typing starts looking like they just smashed their forehead into the keyboard, I get a little miffed.

Doesn't reflect well on peoples' intellect, and the internet is already bad at reflecting intelligence. Doesn't take that much effort to make something look legible rather than gibberish.

 

[Jakub324]

Only if the person with grammar/spelling issues is calling me stupid, or if I have to spend 10 minutes extricating each sentence from the next one before realising it still doesn't make sense.

 

[Nudu]

depens if they're first langage are english

 

[coldfrog]

Laziness in typing bugs me (not the "there"/"they're"/"their" type of mistake, but typing that skips letters, punctuation and such on purpose throughout a post), but little typos don't bother me. My policy for both is about the same - ignore the typo, and ignore the lazy poster. I should note, grammar I'm willing to go around if I'm not sure if English is your native language, it still can bother me but I'm more willing to accept it because I know it might not be your fault.

 

[Farther than stars]

Laziness in typing bugs me (not the "there"/"they're"/"their" type of mistake, but typing that skips letters, punctuation and such on purpose throughout a post), but little typos don't bother me. My policy for both is about the same - ignore the typo, and ignore the lazy poster. I should note, grammar I'm willing to go around if I'm not sure if English is your native language, it still can bother me but I'm more willing to accept it because I know it might not be your fault.

I understand what you're saying. The question might be though: is it really not their fault? After all, especially if it's not their native language, one could argue that they would benifit the most educationally if someone tactfully pointed it out to them.

Just throwing it out there.

 

[Anomynous 167]

I try to use good spelling and punctuation, but typos are inevitable. And for people whom English is their second language, I understand if they don't spell words correctly or use punctuation in the right way. At least they've tried.

However I do hate people that misspell words on purpose with a completely straight face. Let me give you a perfect example from one of my facebook 'friends'

"weekend is gowna be so amazing buzzin aready fur it yassss Love danny boy ♥ ♥"

"‎2 weeks since me and daniel gemmell has been gown out fur canny believe its 2 weeks already one thing tht matters tht i love him wai all my heart and i hope i neva lose him♥"

"my poor wee conore ma wee bro is not getten any betta a tall man the poor wee soil i hope he gets betta soon love u conor xoxoxox♥"

THAT PISSES ME OFF!

I hear ya. It should be "daniel and I".

 

[Low Key]

It used to piss me off, but then I realized there are too many people who will fail grammatically and misspell words whether I said something or not, so I got over it for my own sake.