Poll: Does bad spelling on the internet bother you?

[ScrubberDucky]

Only when it gets to the point where I can't understand them. There are many reasons why I always try to use perfect grammar and English (Even if I sometimes fail), but it'd be rather stupid of me to try and force it on other people. When it gets to the point where I have to ask them several times to repeat a basic sentence, or when watching a conversation where one party resembles a drunken orangutan, I start to get annoyed. Yes, sometimes I crack jokes at their expense. "What about their crazy?"

I'd like to add as a footnote that unless I'm sure that a person doesn't have an excuse, I don't crack jokes or mention their grammar. I just quietly seethe over it in a disgustingly passive-aggressive manner. I've seen many people shove their legs into their cake holes up to the knee making fun of war vets who're missing half a hand.

 

[DVS Storm]

I don't mind a couple of mistakes here and there but sometimes when the text is just so full of mistakes and no dots...... Seriously it gives me a headache to read that kind of text.

 

[Pat8u]

I don't mind it but I do mind people on the minecraft forums and other forums that attract little kids is when they tell me that the correct acronymn of mother is mom when I type mum arrgh. also I can't use that much punctuation and Im not that good of a everyday speller but I can spell words like chlorophyll without needing to think

 

[Farther than stars]

dood, noway,its just teh natral progreshun uv langach, duh, lol u guize r so wierd 4 thicnking taht itsnott good way 2 rite.

Yes, I, along with many, mind because, while occasional mistakes are, by themselves, acceptable, the fact is, repeated errors, even small ones one makes during a text, WILL lead to future errors. As inconvenient as it would be to go look up the spelling of large and complex words like natural, progression, and language, or the appropriate use of you're/your/yore, the fact is that later, when you are writing important stuff that matters, like essays or status reports, your mistakes will subconsciously weave their way into your writing, turning a solid thesis into a pile of unintelligible gibberish... or maybe just a solid thesis with a few irritations, but the point remains.

In summation, mistakes during texts will lead to mistakes during future essays/reports/fanfics/etc., undermining one's message and leading to potential readers not wanting to read it.

P.S. 'Tis my first comment, fellow escapists. Wish me a bright future of arrogant blabbering!

Interesting arguments. And although I understand your concern about the importance of correct spelling professionally (and I encourage everyone to keep spelling correctly in said situations), I am annoyed when faced with linguistical purists who insist that the way that language is now, is the way it should always remain, allowing no space for evolution or progrerssion of any kind.
That's simply not the way language works when you look at how it has changed over the millenia from grunts through Shakespear to this sentence and that opinion always strikes me as conservative and in the sense of that word, well... just backwards.

P.S. to you: Thank you very much for replying. And I am honoured that you chose this thread to grace us on with your first ever Escapist post, espcially since this is my first ever Escapist poll.
(And also, don't bother keeping track of where you did which post, I already messed that up on this thread. >.>)

 

[evilomega13]

It doesn't really annoy me, I just can't take the person using bad spelling seriously. When I read the bad spelling, my brain converts it into a loud, brain damaged voice in my head.

Prety much this. A post with bad spelling will either be read with a Ralf Wiggum voice or a Lenny (Mice and Men) voice. As amusing as that is, it kind of ruins any tone they were trying to convey.

Also I despise bad spelling in games (like team chat on MMO's), it means that I don't understand what they're saying half the time.

(Ironically, I made 8 typos (9 now) while typing this, new keyboard)

 

[JezebelinHell]

Furthermore, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that IE is still unfortunately the most used browser, and I don't think it has spell checks.

IE does not have spell check but I am happy as hell to tell you, you are wrong, it is not the most used browser. Consider yourself corrected.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Spoiler: Edit, because it is true:

As someone who occasionally makes websites, it would make me exceptionally happy to be wrong about this, but unfortunately w3schools is very biased. They say this themselves below the first batch of tables. Basically their visitors, who are generally web developers, are more likely to use better browsers than the average person. I think Wikipedia's stats [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers] are probably more representative and they show that IE is unfortunately still the market leader worldwide and in most countries separately. But at least things are moving in the right direction.

Edit: that picture is very right by the way. It is basically the only thing I use IE for. (well, that and testing my websites)

I wouldn't trust Wikipedia either. By the same logic they are accessed a lot by computers that are used by people who do not have a choice of browsers because they are accessing from schools and work PCs. So I see that as being just as biased.

 

[Farther than stars]

Well for starters, Australia.

Also, the Internet.

Sorry for being a little harsh about your first thread, I was more demonstrating clarity of meaning being more important to me than avoiding typos.

Oh those dog eyes were meant ironically, so don't worry about me. I honestly value your input.
Although I still can't find any example of "every where" - not in Australian language (sorry, dialect) or even on that link you sent me. Are you sure you're not confusing the hyphen in the word, symbolising the syllable, on that page?

 

[FalloutJack]

I don't like it when I make a mistake. I'm more lenient on others. I don't like confusion, though.

 

[Doc Cannon]

It really annoys me.
But I don't go around correcting people, that's not polite

 

[Wintermoot]

a bit my reading voice change to a mentally challenged person when I read stuff like "U" instead of "you"
and I don,t take anybody serious when they type in leet speak (and 9/10 times I can,t read what they are typing in leet speak).

 

[Jordi]

Furthermore, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that IE is still unfortunately the most used browser, and I don't think it has spell checks.

IE does not have spell check but I am happy as hell to tell you, you are wrong, it is not the most used browser. Consider yourself corrected.

http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp

Spoiler: Edit, because it is true:

As someone who occasionally makes websites, it would make me exceptionally happy to be wrong about this, but unfortunately w3schools is very biased. They say this themselves below the first batch of tables. Basically their visitors, who are generally web developers, are more likely to use better browsers than the average person. I think Wikipedia's stats [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers] are probably more representative and they show that IE is unfortunately still the market leader worldwide and in most countries separately. But at least things are moving in the right direction.

Edit: that picture is very right by the way. It is basically the only thing I use IE for. (well, that and testing my websites)

I wouldn't trust Wikipedia either. By the same logic they are accessed a lot by computers that are used by people who do not have a choice of browsers because they are accessing from schools and work PCs. So I see that as being just as biased.

I disagree. First of all, why wouldn't you want to count those school and work PCs? If it's just for leisure sites (like this one) I can understand, but overall I'd say that you need to take these things into account. Second, I think the group that uses Wikimedia is much, much more diverse than the group using w3schools. Finally, and probably most importantly, if you go to that page I linked you will see that they actually use multiple web statistics from different sources, which together amount up to many billions of page visits a month.

Those stats are probably not unbiased, but they are way more unbiased than w3schools'.

 

[JezebelinHell]

Furthermore, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that IE is still unfortunately the most used browser, and I don't think it has spell checks.

-snip

Spoiler: Edit, because it is true:

-snip

I wouldn't trust Wikipedia either. By the same logic they are accessed a lot by computers that are used by people who do not have a choice of browsers because they are accessing from schools and work PCs. So I see that as being just as biased.

I disagree. First of all, why wouldn't you want to count those school and work PCs? If it's just for leisure sites (like this one) I can understand, but overall I'd say that you need to take these things into account. Second, I think the group that uses Wikimedia is much, much more diverse than the group using w3schools. Finally, and probably most importantly, if you go to that page I linked you will see that they actually use multiple web statistics from different sources, which together amount up to many billions of page visits a month.

Those stats are probably not unbiased, but they are way more unbiased than w3schools'.

Any bias is still bias. I am also unsure how you could think they are less so when they have a huge proportion of education institution hits even though they are not even supposed to be used as a documented source for such work in most instances. They are no less biased. They even state they should not be used as a documented source.

And it is nearly 4 AM and I have probably butchered the above snipping.

 

[Radelaide]

Ugh, yes.

Now while I'm not the best speller on the occasion, when your spelling resembles the keyboard mashing of an acid-tripping monkey, I reserve the right to correct you.

Poor punctuation makes you look like an idiot. Not only is it lazy, but utterly disrespectful to those who are trying to decypher your post/text message/instant message.

What makes it worse? Are the people who use the same amount of letters in a word, but replace them. Perfect example: Boy. If you spell it "boi" why not just jump left two keys and use the correct letter, you vapid twit.

If you're willing to write an essay without sounding like a blubbering idiot, why not use that language all the time?

 

[Rottweiler]

It's a sign of laziness to me. If you can't be bothered to the basic, easy spell checking available almost everywhere, how much effort is behind your actual thought and words?

Frankly, it goes hand in hand how I support the warnings for low post content.

 

[HydraMoon]

I just assume the person who types something out that poorly is either ESL, young or has a handicap that makes typing difficult (some voice typing software can really mess up and it's easy to miss it in the heat of an argument/discussion).

Spelling and grammar aren't the alpha and omega of intelligence to me. I do confess I get a sinful glee when I see true pretentiousness get rewarded with a typo. I'd like to say I'm a better person than that, but, apparently I am not.

 

[Erana]

My problem with it is that when I read, I hear it verbally. So when someone omits letters, uses numbers as letters or ignores punctuation, its like someone stops mid-sentence to interject an odd pronounciation of normal words or numbers into whatever they were saying.

 

[Arfonious]

Well I don't spell very good so I don't notice other peoples spelling mistakes that often

 

[Ensiferum]

Yes it does bug me. It makes the poster seem unintelligent and lazy and as a result I tend to ignore such posts. I know how stuck up that sounds but honestly if you don't care enough to at least try to type a coherent post then why should I care enough to read it?

 

[Sizzle Montyjing]

Ooh, looks like everyone got the same idea as me, because i was going to say:
Of corse not m8, me dant mind aboot spellleing ateall!
But it seems i'm on the same wavelength has you guys so, yeah ninjad .
The noly thing i do mind is when it affects they're real life spelling and if it is completely atrocious.
Like i found out when someone over youtube called me gay.
H0nastli, tere is no rong with ma punctuoatien, WTF is rong weth uz man?
*shudders*

 

[Chibz]

I used to be bothered by poor grammar and spelling until I realized: Not everyone can comprehend basic grammar as well as others. Also people make mistakes. Sometimes.