Originally Posted by jonthefishguy
As it was noted in a previous thread, it seems that punctuation and correct grammar seems to be a thing of the past and it is quite sad. Although this is a forum and not English Class 101, improper grammar says a lot about a person. As we know, slang has always been around and will continue to be. But the argument that was brought up was not about a misspelling here or there. It was about continuous mispellings and lack of respect for the English language to correct it. Yes, they may put more effort in spelling when it comes to employment. But that shouldn'd be the only time. To make excuses about the reason's for your bad grammar shows even more about you. Example: "its a message board and me and alot of other people on here arent authors". Well, while the writer may not be an author, he/she certainly isnt educated either. You dont need to be an author to know how to use correct spelling.
Many of the youth today seem to think it is acceptable as long as the word sound correct, like "WUT" for "WHAT" or "HOLLA" for "HOLLAR" or loose for lose etc. Its a bit like an engineer arguing that it doesn't matter if a calculation is just wrong by a little bit. It does matter. I think it matters more than they care to realize. Maybe this is due to things like texting where you tend to abbreviate. I get very annoyed with emails where the sender hasn't bothered to capitalise properly or use good punctuation. It seems to say that they really aren't bothered by it. It's mostly the result of laziness, poor teaching and as I said before, lack of respect for the language, unless half the population is educationally subnormal or dyslexic. It's not just that people can't spell or write; what's worse is they don't care, and aren't interested in correcting their mistakes.
I understand that not everybody is a good speller or able to punctuate correctly, but anything that is for public to read should be checked by someone who is or can. These days, there's no excuse for bad spelling. You cannot spell? That's what a spellchecker is for. And if you haven't got a spellchecker, that's what a dictionary is for (kids would call that "old school").
Americans tend to be lazy when it comes to spelling and learning. They take less time to do these things and they don't find it important. People from native countries are more dedicated to learning and doing well with what they are learning. They study harder and are usually more proper when speaking in English than most americans. Also, some foreigners have something to prove in order to keep jobs, etc. so they are going to try and do everything better than an American.
Americans as a whole tend to rush everything that we do. That is why Fast Food is so popular in this country. Now from other countries, people are trying there best to fit in. In most countries, you are rewarded for saying stuff correctly, etc. But, in this country people tend to not care about stuff like that unless if you are in a professional environment like Alix2.0 said. Now, that creates a natural environment for people to relax into and then tend to sink into not caring what they are talking about. It is all about the natural tendency to get stuff done quicker to make time for more fun time.
Maybe some of you who read this will feel its a bit petty and that this is a forum and not school. Or maybe others including myself feel a bit peeved about the way our language is torn apart all in the name of simplicity. Take the extra time to add a letter here or there where it belongs. Most of us that are on here that answer your questions are older and may not take you as serious as we should for the simple fact that you cant take your grammar serious. At an employer's standpoint, it shows that if someone can't be bothered with their spelling and grammar at this stage what chance is there that they would be conscientious about the quality of their work or their husbandry habits.
Maybe this is just a way for me to vent about something. Maybe its nothing at all and should be overlooked. Whichever it is, it is my opinion and I am certainly not the only one that feels this way.
I'm a horrible speller, but I agree, none of this text message short hand, it drives me nuts. You have a full keyboard use it.
