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Baa?21244 Posts
On February 01 2011 03:09 newvsoldschool wrote:
Can you tolerate spelling mistakes? In what degree until you realized it's just another guy who googles everything (if he doesn't find an answer on the first results page he goes to wikipedia) as his source? Whatever happened to real education, what you actually know without going to google/wiki (and keeping your hands off the keyboard if you're not an expert in the subject)?
I don't understand the point you're trying to make here. Are you saying there's a correlation between spelling mistakes and people not being experts on a subject? You do realize that stuff like typos happen right? Or that someone can Google up some information on a subject and then type a post about it with perfect spelling and grammar while knowing nothing about the subject to begin with?
I just don't see the connection you're trying to make here.
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spelling and grammar doesnt matter as long as you know what they mean. i get very angry when people judge posts or use spelling and grammar as an argument.
correct english != knowledge on the subject matter
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I actually find that people from Canada/USA have worse English than European posters in general.
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On February 01 2011 03:19 Scorch wrote:
I have found native English speakers to make much more stupid spelling mistakes than people who speak English as their second language. Lots and lots of English speakers cannot handle homophones and mess them up all the time, thus making them look like idiots:
there - their - they're
your - you're
its - it's
lose - loose
And then there's this annoying should of / could of / would of crap.
I find these the most annoying kind of spelling mistakes.
But 99,5 % of posts in TL are still fully comprehendible.
Maybe not anywhere near perfect english but pretty good overall seeing that there is people from allover the world posting.
u gotta skate instead of losing it because of something so trivial as grammar in the internet.
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On February 01 2011 03:39 Slivered Skin wrote:Show nested quote +On February 01 2011 03:30 newvsoldschool wrote:On February 01 2011 03:24 Slivered Skin wrote:
Right, I forgot that being a foreigner or having other strengths besides written English meant a general lack of knowledge or intelligence.
I'll let Jinro know the next time he posts on TL. Or IdrA, with his lack of capitalization. Or MarineKing, if he ever posts in the "who's who" threads again. Or TLO, or pretty much any non-American/English progamer.
Those darn foreigners should know better than to try to act smart. Oh, and I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors in my post; I'm just a lousy francophone. I'm sorry I'll never be as good as you. We're talking about random people here, your average poster (not just the TL forums but anywhere on the net). When you're referring to a known poster, he already has a "built-in" credibility in your mind. I'm a random person, an average poster. I'll make sure to try to avoid posting in any forums you frequent, as I don't want to offend your delicate sensibilities with my sub-par second-language. And even if you can look at someone's country and make assumptions about his first language, you have to remember that the kid might be an unbelievable math whiz who just isn't that good at English, or something of the sort. You can't just start disregarding someone because their English isn't as good as yours. That's incredibly presumptuous. You know what I really dislike on TL these days? The arrogance and self-entitlement that many newer posters seem to have. They feel like they're always right and that everyone should conform to their standards. Forum guidelines? No need. Known player giving advice? He's a noob. Person writing with inferior English? Must be stupid. Get a grip on your priorities, and start respecting posts for their content, not the way they are written.
Is that what you really thought I'm imposing on? I'm not trying to be an elitist or require a PhD in literature or else I'd brush the post off as useless.
As I posted on a reply, misspellings don't bother me if the post explains itself well. If a foreigner talks to me, I can understand if they make a mistake or two, but aside from that, what he's saying makes sense and he knows what he's talking about, or else I'd rush to end the conversation. I'm a freshman in UCLA and there are lots of foreigners here who don't have perfect English. Still, some of them are my friends and I like having them around.
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On February 01 2011 03:39 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:Show nested quote +On February 01 2011 03:09 newvsoldschool wrote:
Can you tolerate spelling mistakes? In what degree until you realized it's just another guy who googles everything (if he doesn't find an answer on the first results page he goes to wikipedia) as his source? Whatever happened to real education, what you actually know without going to google/wiki (and keeping your hands off the keyboard if you're not an expert in the subject)? I don't understand the point you're trying to make here. Are you saying there's a correlation between spelling mistakes and people not being experts on a subject? You do realize that stuff like typos happen right? Or that someone can Google up some information on a subject and then type a post about it with perfect spelling and grammar while knowing nothing about the subject to begin with? I just don't see the connection you're trying to make here.
There's a bit of a correlation in the two. If 1) the post has spelling mistakes, and 2)the information on the post has no depth beyond what google/wiki tells you are the kind of posts I'm ranting about. If a post hits BOTH of those criterias, bam, stop reading that post, scroll to the next one or click another topic to read.
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I think it's important to understand that a person's argument could still be logically valid even if their English is poor (or their post count is low).
That being said, from a peripheral standpoint, it makes the person look sloppy and less professional if the grammar, syntax or spelling is incorrect.
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TossFloss
Canada606 Posts
Spelling mistakes bother me less than careless grammar, confusing sentences and incohesive paragraph structure.
Although I cannot understand posts suffering from rampant spelling errors. Most browsers feature built-in spell checkers which underline misspellings. I guess such posters choose to ignore or disable this feature???
IMO ESL learners possess better spelling than their native counterparts.
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I never nitpick at someones spelling unless they do it to someone else, while making their own spelling and grammar mistakes.
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On February 01 2011 03:39 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
I don't understand the point you're trying to make here. Are you saying there's a correlation between spelling mistakes and people not being experts on a subject? You do realize that stuff like typos happen right? Or that someone can Google up some information on a subject and then type a post about it with perfect spelling and grammar while knowing nothing about the subject to begin with?
I just don't see the connection you're trying to make here.
I think it's more giving an air of not caring about your post.
I accept spelling mistakes if you're just making an offhand post, but if you're for example making a topic trying to convince me that XXX is imbalanced or XXX political system is the best or something like that I expect a certain degree of quality, in order for me to spend my time reading it.
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I don't see a problem with spelling and grammar errors. Most people aren't novelists, and many have difficulties writing, but unless the mistakes are stopping me from understanding the post, I couldn't care which 'your' their using or weather there's an extra comma, where there shouldn't be. Gotta cut people some slack.
trollface :D
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spelling is meh. english has a lot of stupid ass rules and peculiar things. basic grammar errors (their/they're/theyre, etc), i assume that the person is a moron.
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The only mistakes that bother me are the ones that get corrected for you and you ignore it anyways.
Honestly, most browsers have an auto-corrector now, just fucking use it.
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On February 01 2011 07:04 Redmark wrote:Show nested quote +On February 01 2011 03:39 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
I don't understand the point you're trying to make here. Are you saying there's a correlation between spelling mistakes and people not being experts on a subject? You do realize that stuff like typos happen right? Or that someone can Google up some information on a subject and then type a post about it with perfect spelling and grammar while knowing nothing about the subject to begin with?
I just don't see the connection you're trying to make here. I think it's more giving an air of not caring about your post. I accept spelling mistakes if you're just making an offhand post, but if you're for example making a topic trying to convince me that XXX is imbalanced or XXX political system is the best or something like that I expect a certain degree of quality, in order for me to spend my time reading it.
I'm in complete agreement. Having a well polished article is really important if you want to be convincing or have your website or organization be taken seriously in general.
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On February 01 2011 03:19 Scorch wrote:
I have found native English speakers to make much more stupid spelling mistakes than people who speak English as their second language. Lots and lots of English speakers cannot handle homophones and mess them up all the time, thus making them look like idiots:
there - their - they're
your - you're
its - it's
lose - loose
And then there's this annoying should of / could of / would of crap.
Amen. Its an embarrassment to the rest of us. On the bright side, I can rest assured knowing that getting a job, in even this economic downturn, is made that much easier by the sheer volume of idiots out there who's resumes get thrown in the trash after someone reads it for 5 seconds.
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I have a Ph.D. in genetics and I misspell shit all the time. Some people are just bad at spelling, it doesn't make them retarded or not worth listening to.
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On February 01 2011 03:19 Scorch wrote:
I have found native English speakers to make much more stupid spelling mistakes than people who speak English as their second language. Lots and lots of English speakers cannot handle homophones and mess them up all the time, thus making them look like idiots:
there - their - they're
your - you're
its - it's
lose - loose
And then there's this annoying should of / could of / would of crap.
Amen to that, these people are almost always synonymous with being douchebags and posting garbage. And it's really easy to tell the difference between someone who has English as a second language and someone who just isn't that bright.
It's all about perception, e.g. if you dress like a gang member then people are usually going to be wary of you; if your posts look like they're written by a 10 year old then you aren't going to come across as very bright.
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United States2822 Posts
The only thing I don't understand is people who use the computer extremely often but never bother to learn how to type or spell properly. One of my best friends is on the computer as much, if not more often, than I am, and his typing ability and spelling is atrocious. I've told him about it before, and he just doesn't seem to care enough to get better, or at the very least passable, at something he uses so frequently.
But for the most part, there's a certain line. Typos and occasional misspellings are okay if they do not detract from the overall message. Typing properly does add a bit of professionalism to any written article, and I will opt to read a long post that's typed properly than one in which none of the first letters of each sentence are capitalized.
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definitely this, but it's usually not as extreme. I factor some other variables: What the topic is about, how many posts the guys has/who he is, where he is from, and how many times he makes other grammatical or spelling mistakes.
If the guy's name says hes from US or Canada and he's repeatedly saying 'loose' or misspelling something really basic I just can't take him seriously.
There is a huge difference between an honest mistake/typo and someone trying to sound knowledgeable on something but not knowing/caring about basics of how to convey the knowledge they have to others.
If your excuse is that you're too lazy to type properly because its just the internet or whatever then I'm too lazy to read your poorly written post as well. If you don't write seriously, then I can't take you seriously.
PS- In firefox and many browsers there is a built in spell checker. If someone doesn't have/use this, then that also says something about their skill/knowledge as well.
All that being said, I think I often have a problem with syntax and that leads a lot of people to misunderstanding me or calling me dumb.
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This is kind of an interesting thread. Everyone who has posted have been self-conscious about using immaculate spelling and grammar, yet half the people are arguing that proper spelling and grammar aren't necessary. I'm guessing people who actually do make these mistakes just dodge this thread altogether.
I feel that if someone is too lazy/stupid to differentiate between your/you're, especially if they are long-time English speakers, it really impacts negatively on the substance of their writing. Improper spelling/grammar gives the impression that the writer is simply throwing away his/her thoughts and doesn't care of anyone understands them or not.
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EPT
