Guest kjun12 Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 At times I am amused by some of the ways people write the messages they post. Most do a good job and some try but wow. Makes you wonder how they have gotten ahead in life without the ability to spell or write a decent sentence. One prolific poster sometime writes with clarity and good structure but at other times his post can be so bad that I have a hard time understanding what he is trying to say. Makes me wonder if he always proof reads before posting what he has written. Some guys just get and "F" in spelling, grammar and sentence structure. One point is that we do a much better job than several other boards. One in particular has some writers that are so bad that it is beyond humor. Some of this is because English is not their native tongue but in many cases they are plain illiterate. Quote
Guest gorcum Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 I wonder why it is so important for some posters that every post is written correctly. I know my English skills are not the best, but why should it stop me from posting? I know that many people do not know how to write 100% correct, but why is this difficult to accept? Let people freely express their opinions and get a good exchange of ideas and information. That is what I look for . Quote
daddydawg Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 KJUN12: "Some guys just get and "F" in spelling, grammar and sentence structure." I believe the correct word is: Some guys just get a "F" in spelling, grammar and sentence structure. Sorry, don't mean to be pedantic. Quote
Guest kjun12 Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 why is this difficult to accept? Hey, I just find it distracting when the mistakes are so gross and take over what the person is writing. We all make mistakes occasionally. But, some write very badly. So badly that it is hard to understand what they are trying to say. And, as I said, this board is certainly not the worst one. Most of the guys write fairly well here. Please don't get your panties in a knot! Quote
Bob Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 I believe the correct word is: Some guys just get a "F" in spelling, grammar and sentence structure. Sorry, don't mean to be pedantic. Nor do I. You get "an" F also....lol (use "a" before a consonant sound; use "an" before a vowel sound) Quote
Guest travelerjim Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Nor do I. You get "an" F also....lol (use "a" before a consonant sound; use "an" before a vowel sound) Bob, Go to the head of the class. You have earned a GOLD star today! You are correct. tj Quote
Rogie Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Makes me wonder if he always proof reads before posting what he has written. I have no idea whether this mystery poster does or does not proof read his contributions, but you are absolutely right - we should all do it. IMO the general standard on this board is excellent - I could be wrong as I haven't been posting on this Board as long as some of you - and I attribute that to strong moderation. Strong moderation? Yes, you see we hardly notice it now do we, and whether or not the current crop of mods have their work cut out or not doesn't affect the general feeling I have at any rate that this is a board at ease with itself. The board went through a period of several years with strong moderation which, by definition almost, will drive as many posters away as those lured in. To my mind the board has matured nicely, it just seems to run itself, and that brings me back to the OP's point about certain standards. If you encourage and nurture a certain standard of contributors then the standard of content will reflect that. Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 I generally accept the way people write. If I understand it, fine, if not, I make any one of a number of assumptions as to why I can't comprehend what I read, including if the poster's native language is not English. If I can be forgiving in consideration of that, I can therefore forgive a lot of others things as well. Some people write the way they talk, others are simply sleepy, drunk, lazy or can't be bothered to proofread. We all make mistakes. None of this ever really bothers me. If I need to get bothered I start reading some other boards, which portrays malicious intentions far more than it does bad grammar or spelling mistakes. I agree with Rogie, that this board is gentler and wiser in that respect. If I really wanted to nitpick I would point out only a few common errors I see often. "Your" instead of "you're" (or vice versa) and punctuation which should always be inserted Inside quote marks. Those are my pet peeves. Also, sometimes spell check programs hinder more than help. Only you know what you mean to say. But if the thought comes across successfully, as far as I'm concerned the job is done. This isn't grammar school and I am not your teacher. We are not writing dissertations for a doctorate degree and already this post is too long for such a trifle subject. YoU kin kerect me if Im wRonG. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 Makes me wonder if he always proof reads before posting what he has written. I have a similar view to the OP but perhaps not to such a similar extent. Like it or not, there are some people who happen to write pretty well and don't have to bother too much with proofing. Perhaps they are professional writers, bloggers, editors or even advertising copywriters. Who knows? There are others (I'm being polite in stressing plural!) who, it is quite clear, deliberately go out of their way to write in a form and manner which is just plain childish and where the content is pretty close to gibberish much of the time. And let's not kid ourselves - it IS deliberate! Of course they deny it, but . . . ! The best way of handling such posts is, in my view, to try and ignore them. And then there's the vast majority (I think) who think of an idea and want to get it on to a thread a.s.a.p. If they had to proof-read every time, that might spoil the spontaneity of a post or a reply. So occasional slip-ups, grammatical twists, incorrect spellings shouldn't matter, I reckon. The important point is - communication. If you can convey what you mean, that's surely the only crucial point here. Unless, as the OP points out, a poster is writing in a language which is not his native language. In these cases, I applaud them and hope they - and others - will always post in the style of English with which they are most comfortable. My second language is supposed to be French, but I couldn't go anywhere near a chat room forum and make myself understood! Quote
Guest thaiworthy Posted October 18, 2011 Posted October 18, 2011 BTW, when are you Englanders going to learn to spell color and behavior without the extra "U?" Quote
Bob Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 I'm so dense I have no clue who the "mystery poster" may be and I'm so mentally lethargic that I will make no effort to go back to re-read some posts in an effort to try to discover the answer. And I'm much too lazy to even think about it. Yet, Khun Thaiworthy makes a most valid point. Not too long ago, I participated in a trivia event at the Olde Bell bar here in Chiangmai. Besides myself (a midwestern US guy), our team consisted of a guy from London, a guy from Ireland, and another English guy who may have been Welsh or Scottish. After about a hour of chatting, one comment I blurted out in a fit of laughter was: "You know, guys, not one of us is speaking the same English!" (They all agreed too!) And, yes, Thaiworthy, the "correct" spelling is "behavior" (don't for a moment believe anything that our former colonial masters might say to the contrary!). Quote
daddydawg Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 Nor do I. You get "an" F also....lol (use "a" before a consonant sound; use "an" before a vowel sound) Bob.....you are absolutely correct!! And TJ only knows it is correct because he copied off your test paper. lol Quote
Guest joseph44 Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 Nor do I. You get "an" F also....lol (use "a" before a consonant sound; use "an" before a vowel sound) Quote
Guest Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 BTW, when are you Englanders going to learn to spell color and behavior without the extra "U?" (Taking the bait...) Remember WE write English the authentic way. I can only conclude literacy must have been limited amongst the first settlers in the US. Not only that, when visiting Thailand, I found some otherwise charming Americans don't even pronounce my username properly. Quote
Rogie Posted October 19, 2011 Posted October 19, 2011 . . . some otherwise charming Americans don't even pronounce my username properly. I find that hard to believe, that you are actually called that face to face. I suspect you are using it to make a point, and a valid one it is too. Whereas the spelling of mere words such as colour / color or center / centre are trivialities hardly worth getting hot and bothered about, names are another matter. So, just supposing z909 is actually the name you use on a daily basis and by which you are addressed by friends and acquaintances. In that case they should pronounce it as you do. So if you say 'zed909' and somebody else well-known to you calls you 'zee909' that is bad manners, even if they come from a country where the last letter of the alphabet is routinely pronounced in that way. Quote
Bob Posted October 20, 2011 Posted October 20, 2011 Not only that, when visiting Thailand, I found some otherwise charming Americans don't even pronounce my username properly. Hmmmmm.....okay, I'll slide to the edge of oblivion here (although nobody's ever called me "charming"). What is the pronounciation??? Looks like the last letter of the alphabet (which we goofy yanks would pronounce it "zee", not "zed") followed by the number 909. There something more esoteric than that? Second question: Any particular meaning to your user name? If you've told us before, forgive me - I'm old and I'm even about to forget what question I just asked. Third question: Presuming you met a charming American (yea, I know, a rarity...), why would they call you by your username unless your parents had a wacky sense of humor and actually named you that? Quote
Guest Posted October 20, 2011 Posted October 20, 2011 1 What is the pronounciation??? Looks like the last letter of the alphabet (which we goofy yanks would pronounce it "zee", not "zed"). That's it. 2 Second question: Any particular meaning to your user name? Any meaning to my username? No. Just a total lack of imagination at the point of first registration on one of these forums. Maybe I should change to using Jun. Theoretically, the Germans & Spanish could mispronounce that of course (likely to be rare in practice). 3 Well if you meet a few other board members, the introductions are meaningless unless both the username and the real name are used. So Z909 gets an outing. Also I cheat a little, by thinking of other American uses of Z. Strangely enough, almost all the Americans I have met on holiday were charming. Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted October 21, 2011 Posted October 21, 2011 Besides myself (a midwestern US guy), our team consisted of a guy from London, a guy from Ireland, and another English guy who may have been Welsh or Scottish. Oh dear! Oh dear! Our American cousins clearly don't realise that calling an Englishman "Welsh" or "Scottish" is a recipe for reviving all out war between the three countries! They were at it for centuries, and the hostilities still sometimes simmer just under the surface. And when it comes to spelling, let us never forget that wizzard of the dictionary who really was a heartbeat away from the Presidency, but whose primary talent seemed to be mangling the English language. As encyclopediadramatica says: "Perhaps the first politician to ever lose a political career over a spelling mistake!" http://encyclopediadramatica.ch/Dan_Quayle But of course, even that sentence is grammatically incorrect, for it should read, "Perhaps the first politician ever to lose . . . " Infinitives should not be split! Quote
