Not to be a "grammar Nazi", or sound like a school teacher correcting the spelling errors of people making comments on the forum, but some folks really need to read their own comments before clicking the "Submit" button. While most here write pretty clearly and intelligibly, there are some that make me want to respond with just a question mark because I just cannot really tell what they are trying to express. Usually its not the spelling, because even with multiple misspelled words I can figure out what the writer means, but sometimes the grammar, or lack of it, leaves me sitting there thinking "WTF was he trying to say?". Maybe I'm just being ornery today but wanted to share this pet peeve.
Unintelligible comments
- Thread starter vito
- Start date
SR1911SHOOTER
Blackhawk
vito said:
Vito,
I am guilty. Often, My fingers get ahead of my brain. Maybe a bad case of CRS? :<)
Blackie
Jimbo357mag
Hawkeye
Some people are not good with English, spelling, a keyboard or a keypad. I can appreciate that they might want to participate in discussions online. Now if what they say is really dumb, I might say something but probably not, instead I will just add my own comments and let it go at that.
mjpchief
Single-Sixer
Direct result of "No child left behind."
Communication is a two way street. I always loved this, but can never remember exactly how it goes. 
“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
“I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.”
Jimbo357mag
Hawkeye
That's funny.mjpchief said:
Do you know how old most people on this forum are?
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David LaPell
Blackhawk
My nephew is the worst I have ever seen. For someone who is on the computer as much as he is, I have never seen someone so bad at typing, grammar, etc. and what's worse, is he has tried to get into freelance writing, so I know he got hammered by potential editors, like I did even when writing for free or small magazines. I liked to write so I got pretty good at it over the years, not to mention years of incident reports and statements in a couple jobs I have done, the first being all pen and paper. You learn after getting sick of having to rewrite an entire report. I think a lot of it has to do with people texting instead of typing for the most part and using abbreviations instead of real words. When I went to college I took an English composition class and on occasion the students had to grade each other's work. I remember going over one student's essay and it was one long run on sentence without a break of any kind for punctuation and most words had been misspelled. This was a kid who had graduated high school and passed high school English, how, I'll never know.
My thoughts exactly. I doubt that 'schooling' or lack thereof have much to do with it. I see lots of incorrect usage on occasion. Some have problems with 'usage' rather than spelling. There, they're, their are examples of what I mean.Jimbo357mag said:That's funny.mjpchief said:
Do you know how old most people on this forum are?
Big Old Boy
Hunter
I didn’t know, three of them wow. I went to school but did not pay attention.
BearBio
Buckeye
There is a SIMPLE solution:
1. First turn on spellcheck.
2. Use it!
3. read what you wrote BEFORE hitting enter!
4. Re-read what you posted and edit it, if necessary.
I suffer from "fat fingers" and stuttered as a kid. Both result. usually, from brain going faster that tongue (at least,in the case of stuttering). This will likely correct 90%+ of your errors. Not to do so is simple laziness!
Regardless of name-calling ("Grammar Nazi", etc.), writing and speaking well are still considered indications of an educated, if not intelligent person. The alternative often indicates someone whose opinion is not thought out or justified. Sorry=just the way it us.
1. First turn on spellcheck.
2. Use it!
3. read what you wrote BEFORE hitting enter!
4. Re-read what you posted and edit it, if necessary.
I suffer from "fat fingers" and stuttered as a kid. Both result. usually, from brain going faster that tongue (at least,in the case of stuttering). This will likely correct 90%+ of your errors. Not to do so is simple laziness!
Regardless of name-calling ("Grammar Nazi", etc.), writing and speaking well are still considered indications of an educated, if not intelligent person. The alternative often indicates someone whose opinion is not thought out or justified. Sorry=just the way it us.
mjpchief
Single-Sixer
Should have made my post clearer. I was looking at society as a whole rather than just the members here. My apologies.
SR1911SHOOTER
Blackhawk
BearBio said:
Bear,
I don't think Vito was "Name Calling" (grammar Nazi), he was referring to himself.
And, isn't that what this forum is for? To express opinions?
:<)
Blackie
Colonialgirl
Hawkeye
Spell Check????????????
I've had that site screw up what I was trying to say more than once.
I've had that site screw up what I was trying to say more than once.
Interesting, the concern about other folks writing skills, or lack of. I have worked or rubbed elbows with many folks over many years, some quite intelligent, and some not so much. I know of folks that could design, plan and execute a big job, could manage people, give classes and speak very well. But to look at their writing, you'd wonder if they had any education at all. Seems their brains are working so fast, and so efficiently, but the side of their brain that puts thoughts to paper, just never gets the connection.
I don't know the reason for this, nor am I making excuses for anybody.
I remember long ago, a Platoon Leader that had me type a letter for him. This 1st Lieutenant was a top notch pilot, and a top notch maintenance officer. But his writing skills were not great. I suggested some changes to his letter before I typed it, but he was offended, and ordered me to perform no editing. As soon as the letter was distributed, other folks saw the poorly written letter and the Lt. was called out over it. He then was angry at me for not making the changes I suggested. My point being, some folks truly do not see their writing errors, and are completely unable to proof read. Seems when they proof read their writing, the corrections are already made within their head while they are reading, and they do not see the deficiencies.
WAYNO.
I don't know the reason for this, nor am I making excuses for anybody.
I remember long ago, a Platoon Leader that had me type a letter for him. This 1st Lieutenant was a top notch pilot, and a top notch maintenance officer. But his writing skills were not great. I suggested some changes to his letter before I typed it, but he was offended, and ordered me to perform no editing. As soon as the letter was distributed, other folks saw the poorly written letter and the Lt. was called out over it. He then was angry at me for not making the changes I suggested. My point being, some folks truly do not see their writing errors, and are completely unable to proof read. Seems when they proof read their writing, the corrections are already made within their head while they are reading, and they do not see the deficiencies.
WAYNO.
Busterswoodshop
Hunter
I think it has a lot to do with laziness.
People don't even want to take the time to spell something out , they want to abbreviate everything.
I think it all started with texting. People are just to lazy to have a conversation anymore. They want to text it and even then they don't want to spell anything out.
If you really want to screw with people these days write in cursive.
Most people today wouldn't have a clue what it was.
I don't even think they teach it anymore.
People don't even want to take the time to spell something out , they want to abbreviate everything.
I think it all started with texting. People are just to lazy to have a conversation anymore. They want to text it and even then they don't want to spell anything out.
If you really want to screw with people these days write in cursive.
Most people today wouldn't have a clue what it was.
I don't even think they teach it anymore.
I agree.Busterswoodshop said:
Another causation for unintelligible posts is the autocorrect feature on today's cell phones, for those of us that utilize them for our internet communication needs. There are other glitches that I am not bright enough to correct such as this: you'ryou're. I typed "you're" but it ALWAYS prints as "you'ryou're". There are other words that also do this.
Between autocorrect, phone glitches, fat fingers, ignorance, laziness, the Russians, and mental disorders it's a wonder many of us can communicate at all. Not that I have much of any importance to share...
In the end, it's Bush's fault.
Between autocorrect, phone glitches, fat fingers, ignorance, laziness, the Russians, and mental disorders it's a wonder many of us can communicate at all. Not that I have much of any importance to share...
In the end, it's Bush's fault.
Famous thinkers that couldn't spell...
http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/01/24/15-famous-thinkers-who-couldnt-spell/
http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/01/24/15-famous-thinkers-who-couldnt-spell/
Rick Courtright
Hawkeye
Hi,
When I was in school, back in the days we rode our dinosaurs there and parked 'em in the swamp for the day, our teachers engaged in a learning process often referred to by today's classroom babysitters (with apologies to those real teachers who are still doing a good job out there!) as some version of "drill and kill." In other words, what we were learning was a function of "practice makes perfect" trumping "fun, exciting, challenging" or whatever other buzz terms are in vogue to describe today's "Don't make the kiddies work, they don't like it!" mentality.
We learned to print and write in cursive, for which we got a "penmanship" grade. That involved seemingly endless rows of "o"s and other similarly shaped letters, followed by more seemingly endless rows of letters made of half loops, such as "m"s, "n"s then "u"s and "w"s. Then others followed, forever, if not longer. Yeah, it was boring, but one could read what was written by even the worst "penman" in the class. And we could do that for long periods of time without crippling our hands because the teachers were death on holding one's pencil or pen correctly, rather than that crab claw grab one sees so many younger people use today.
Then we learned to spell, by spelling. In class, at home, in informal classroom spelling bees. Misspellings were circled or crossed through with red, and we were marked off for them, not rewarded with a "Well, at least you tried" trophy.
Writing itself was a challenge, but it got easier as time went by and we'd diagrammed who knows how many sentences, and turned in outlines and pencil-written drafts prior to turning in the final, copied in ink, copy. Each of those assignments also came back bleeding red at times so we knew what needed to be corrected.
After all that "light" work was done, it was time to get down to real work with arithmetic and then math. We had no calculators, so it was all done by hand. Our arithmetic assignments often required a "proof" of our work in class (I'll bet some here remember teachers telling the class to "show your work" on tests), and ALWAYS involved such a proof for my bookkeeper trained mother who checked our homework before we took it back the next day. My first "calculating machine" was a slide rule my junior year of high school. My first electronic calculator came a couple of years after college and it was just a simple 4-banger, but the top of its particular line when I got it, as it had a square root function!
Later on, after graduations from high school and college, which, given a decent foundation in grade school, weren't nearly as tough as the scare stories I'd heard before beginning either had made me think they'd be, I found out what it had all been about, when I went to work for people who demanded the ability to "do it right" the first time as part of the job. Over the years, I've worked with people who had similar backgrounds to mine, and those who'd managed to graduate by simply showing up each day and not causing trouble. It doesn't take much imagination to figure which group is easier to work with!
Was all this fun? No. It was work. But what I learned can't be taken away from me, and the skills involved, while many are simple, became ingrained to the point it's sometimes hard to understand how kids can get thru their lives today not knowing them. But enough of the past: I've rambled and gotten off track from the OP, so let's see if we can get back there.
In all this, I learned one extremely valuable lesson, which I think fits the OP's comments to a "t', as often drilled into our heads in a slightly more colorful fashion by one of my first bosses:
PROOF READ YOUR DA(R)NED WORK!
It really does help... at least when we remember to do it!
Rick C
When I was in school, back in the days we rode our dinosaurs there and parked 'em in the swamp for the day, our teachers engaged in a learning process often referred to by today's classroom babysitters (with apologies to those real teachers who are still doing a good job out there!) as some version of "drill and kill." In other words, what we were learning was a function of "practice makes perfect" trumping "fun, exciting, challenging" or whatever other buzz terms are in vogue to describe today's "Don't make the kiddies work, they don't like it!" mentality.
We learned to print and write in cursive, for which we got a "penmanship" grade. That involved seemingly endless rows of "o"s and other similarly shaped letters, followed by more seemingly endless rows of letters made of half loops, such as "m"s, "n"s then "u"s and "w"s. Then others followed, forever, if not longer. Yeah, it was boring, but one could read what was written by even the worst "penman" in the class. And we could do that for long periods of time without crippling our hands because the teachers were death on holding one's pencil or pen correctly, rather than that crab claw grab one sees so many younger people use today.
Then we learned to spell, by spelling. In class, at home, in informal classroom spelling bees. Misspellings were circled or crossed through with red, and we were marked off for them, not rewarded with a "Well, at least you tried" trophy.
Writing itself was a challenge, but it got easier as time went by and we'd diagrammed who knows how many sentences, and turned in outlines and pencil-written drafts prior to turning in the final, copied in ink, copy. Each of those assignments also came back bleeding red at times so we knew what needed to be corrected.
After all that "light" work was done, it was time to get down to real work with arithmetic and then math. We had no calculators, so it was all done by hand. Our arithmetic assignments often required a "proof" of our work in class (I'll bet some here remember teachers telling the class to "show your work" on tests), and ALWAYS involved such a proof for my bookkeeper trained mother who checked our homework before we took it back the next day. My first "calculating machine" was a slide rule my junior year of high school. My first electronic calculator came a couple of years after college and it was just a simple 4-banger, but the top of its particular line when I got it, as it had a square root function!
Later on, after graduations from high school and college, which, given a decent foundation in grade school, weren't nearly as tough as the scare stories I'd heard before beginning either had made me think they'd be, I found out what it had all been about, when I went to work for people who demanded the ability to "do it right" the first time as part of the job. Over the years, I've worked with people who had similar backgrounds to mine, and those who'd managed to graduate by simply showing up each day and not causing trouble. It doesn't take much imagination to figure which group is easier to work with!
Was all this fun? No. It was work. But what I learned can't be taken away from me, and the skills involved, while many are simple, became ingrained to the point it's sometimes hard to understand how kids can get thru their lives today not knowing them. But enough of the past: I've rambled and gotten off track from the OP, so let's see if we can get back there.
In all this, I learned one extremely valuable lesson, which I think fits the OP's comments to a "t', as often drilled into our heads in a slightly more colorful fashion by one of my first bosses:
PROOF READ YOUR DA(R)NED WORK!
It really does help... at least when we remember to do it!
Rick C
As one who tries to keep things legible when posting. I can tell you I often catch my mistakes AFTER proofreading, more than once, and then posting. How does this happen? Easy, as I am proofreading I am "reading" what I wanted to say and not necessarily what I typed. My mind flies right over the text assuming it says what I was typing even though my hands weren't up to the task.
graygun
Hunter
Czech
Colonialgirl
Hawkeye
Ah Me; When I was smaller (Kindergarten/First grade) I had a speech impediment and sounded like Elmer Fudd
(Dwat that wascally wabbit); However my Mom found a good speech therapist (rare in those days) and she recommended a work book on speech and my problem in particular and after MANY sessions, I no longer had a problem with my R's
(Dwat that wascally wabbit); However my Mom found a good speech therapist (rare in those days) and she recommended a work book on speech and my problem in particular and after MANY sessions, I no longer had a problem with my R's
Rick,Rick Courtright said:Hi,
When I was in school, back in the days we rode our dinosaurs there and parked 'em in the swamp for the day, our teachers engaged in a learning process often referred to by today's classroom babysitters (with apologies to those real teachers who are still doing a good job out there!) as some version of "drill and kill." In other words, what we were learning was a function of "practice makes perfect" trumping "fun, exciting, challenging" or whatever other buzz terms are in vogue to describe today's "Don't make the kiddies work, they don't like it!" mentality.
We learned to print and write in cursive, for which we got a "penmanship" grade. That involved seemingly endless rows of "o"s and other similarly shaped letters, followed by more seemingly endless rows of letters made of half loops, such as "m"s, "n"s then "u"s and "w"s. Then others followed, forever, if not longer. Yeah, it was boring, but one could read what was written by even the worst "penman" in the class. And we could do that for long periods of time without crippling our hands because the teachers were death on holding one's pencil or pen correctly, rather than that crab claw grab one sees so many younger people use today.
Then we learned to spell, by spelling. In class, at home, in informal classroom spelling bees. Misspellings were circled or crossed through with red, and we were marked off for them, not rewarded with a "Well, at least you tried" trophy.
Writing itself was a challenge, but it got easier as time went by and we'd diagrammed who knows how many sentences, and turned in outlines and pencil-written drafts prior to turning in the final, copied in ink, copy. Each of those assignments also came back bleeding red at times so we knew what needed to be corrected.
After all that "light" work was done, it was time to get down to real work with arithmetic and then math. We had no calculators, so it was all done by hand. Our arithmetic assignments often required a "proof" of our work in class (I'll bet some here remember teachers telling the class to "show your work" on tests), and ALWAYS involved such a proof for my bookkeeper trained mother who checked our homework before we took it back the next day. My first "calculating machine" was a slide rule my junior year of high school. My first electronic calculator came a couple of years after college and it was just a simple 4-banger, but the top of its particular line when I got it, as it had a square root function!
Later on, after graduations from high school and college, which, given a decent foundation in grade school, weren't nearly as tough as the scare stories I'd heard before beginning either had made me think they'd be, I found out what it had all been about, when I went to work for people who demanded the ability to "do it right" the first time as part of the job. Over the years, I've worked with people who had similar backgrounds to mine, and those who'd managed to graduate by simply showing up each day and not causing trouble. It doesn't take much imagination to figure which group is easier to work with!
Was all this fun? No. It was work. But what I learned can't be taken away from me, and the skills involved, while many are simple, became ingrained to the point it's sometimes hard to understand how kids can get thru their lives today not knowing them. But enough of the past: I've rambled and gotten off track from the OP, so let's see if we can get back there.
In all this, I learned one extremely valuable lesson, which I think fits the OP's comments to a "t', as often drilled into our heads in a slightly more colorful fashion by one of my first bosses:
PROOF READ YOUR DA(R)NED WORK!
It really does help... at least when we remember to do it!
Rick C
I think you and I went to the same school.
I hated spelling and can't spell for crap, but I liked grammar. I was one of the first to sit down in the spelling bees when they went past Cat and Dog.
My Mother always told me to speak with proper English and not sound like a HICK. She would correct me every time I sounded like a Hick which was often. I do believe that trait is going away.If it wasn't for spell check I probably would not post anything on this Forum.
There's an app called Grammarly that you can add to your browser that works in the background to check your spelling, punctuation and even corrects for the proper word (such as you're / your for example) as you type. It underlines the mistake then you go back and hold the cursor over the underlined word and it suggests corrections. All you have to do is click on the correction and it replaces the mistake. It's right about 95% or more of the time. I use it all the time. Great app. Makes you look like you actually know how to spell and punctuate. (It corrected about 10 mistakes I made in this short post).
https://www.grammarly.com
https://www.grammarly.com
toysoldier
Hunter
Busterswoodshop said:
Interesting you should post this. It recently occurred to me that there is nothing new about abbreviated communication, as it was used with semaphore, heliograph, and telegraph. The difference is that it was only used occasionally, when words cost money. Now, most people use it, and letters (whose format we labored over in typing class) are a thing of the past.
I benefitted from a freshman English teacher who had been a drill sergeant. He passed out mimeographed forms for verb conjugation, and had us diagramming sentences. It paid off, as I was editor of the junior college newspaper my sophomore year.
"That's funny.
Do you know how old most people on this forum are?"
Yeah most of us went to school during the "We're completely happy to fail you and make you take 3rd grade again next year" period. My school had some 8th graders who had drivers' licenses.
Do you know how old most people on this forum are?"
Yeah most of us went to school during the "We're completely happy to fail you and make you take 3rd grade again next year" period. My school had some 8th graders who had drivers' licenses.
Lngstrt
Single-Sixer
I was educated in grade school by the good Sisters of the Immaculate Heart at Saint Louis IX grade school in Yeadon, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1970. From there a College Prep high school and on to a four year degree in History.
Ours was, perhaps, the last of the many generations that went through classic Catholic grade schooling. Had I not demonstrated a functional ability in reading and writing the English language .......
Well, at 61, I would still be there!!
There were no diplomas for participation in those days. The good Sisters had no qualms about having one repeat a grade.
All those jokes told by comedians about Catholic grade school? All true! My fifth grade Nun (who's name escapes me) had, as a desktop ruler, a 24 inch brass piece that she wielded like a Roman short sword! :shock:
Ours was, perhaps, the last of the many generations that went through classic Catholic grade schooling. Had I not demonstrated a functional ability in reading and writing the English language .......
Well, at 61, I would still be there!!
There were no diplomas for participation in those days. The good Sisters had no qualms about having one repeat a grade.
All those jokes told by comedians about Catholic grade school? All true! My fifth grade Nun (who's name escapes me) had, as a desktop ruler, a 24 inch brass piece that she wielded like a Roman short sword! :shock:
BRL
Single-Sixer
vito said:
You should have put an apostrophe in the word "it's".
Short for "it is".
Just kidding.
Actually some posts make me wonder what they're teaching in school these days.
Was telling a lady how much I hate computers (not their fault, I just suck at them) and she said that is what they are teaching in school these days.
She said she hates them too, and that they were designed to make everything easier for everybody, but it seems the opposite happened for a lot of us.
Told me they don't even teach cursive writing in school anymore... :shock:
