If I'm upset, the last thing I'm interested in is how I've laid out my paragraphs. I have been known to write a sentence that spans several lines, has no capital letters and doesn't use commas. So what? I think this is just all about elitism and people trying to make themselves feel superior, nothing else.
The reasons for correcting others have been explained already - I'll refrain from quoting my own post ;) But I don't see why it's elitism? As far as I understand the replies on this thread so far, no one has said it's acceptable at all times. It's acceptable in certain situations, and with familiarity. I doubt anyone who has argued here in favour of good grammar/spelling would go around randomly having a go at someone on the site for the quality of their writing - and if they did, it'd be wrong.
But similarly, it's my choice whether I want to bother deciphering something that's barely readable. Simple as. If I don't want to.. I'll walk away.
Quote:
Originally Posted by snailsgomoo
^I asked this earlier but it got ignored. How can you tell the difference between someone who is lazy and didn't proof read to someone who may be dyslexic?
Quote:
Originally Posted by [Purple_Rain]
People saying how their feeligns towards bad spellers etc don't apply if their dyslexic: but how can you tell?
I'd like to comment even though, to say that first, I really don't know the answer. I doubt there is a way to tell for sure. But there are differences between the occasional spelling mistake in a post (when overall it's obvious the person is making an effort) and a big chunk of text with no spacing, no punctuation and loads of text speak.
It's difficult to tell - which is why I'm all in favour of not jumping to conclusions. Honestly, though? Those of you who have posted on this thread who have dyslexia spell A LOT better than some I've seen both online and offline, who just couldn't be bothered.
What I hate with a passion, I must say, is people (I speak about chat here, goes with the green colour) blatantly using text speak and ignoring it when others ask them to stop, often being all "haha, im dyslexic so what" - don't get me wrong. I'm NOT annoyed by people with dyslexia. I'm annoyed by people who throw the word around as an excuse when most likely they really simply don't want to try typing out a real sentence.
Face your life
Its pain, its pleasure
Leave no path untaken
if i ask for it to be checked then correcting me is fine, its when people corret me without me asking. my brother is a huge fan of the second, although he does it to wind me up lol
people who have no difficaulties with this find it harder to understand, its like it with everything though like for example if you dont suffer migraines then you cant truely understand what its like.
i think what bugs me is a couple of times (when on old account) i got posts on the threads correcting me, if someone is that desperate to corret me id rather they PMed me so i dont feel so embarressed.
What I hate with a passion, I must say, is people (I speak about chat here, goes with the green colour) blatantly using text speak and ignoring it when others ask them to stop, often being all "haha, im dyslexic so what" - don't get me wrong. I'm NOT annoyed by people with dyslexia. I'm annoyed by people who throw the word around as an excuse when most likely they really simply don't want to try typing out a real sentence.
me too Rike.
Quote:
But there are differences between the occasional spelling mistake in a post (when overall it's obvious the person is making an effort) and a big chunk of text with no spacing, no punctuation and loads of text speak.
When i'm tired (like now) it's often hard for me to concetrate enough to check my spelling to the extent I susualy do. So, I would be one of those people with a big chunck of text with lots of mistakes in it. Infact, someone who is now my best freind, commented after seeing one of my first post she'd read, asking if I was drunk, becuase it was that bad :P
"I would be almighty in my own world of art, even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell." -Picasso
"No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war." - Picasso
'I have scars becuase I have a past; but they, like my past, do not define my future'
It makes me feel uncomfertable as it makes me think people are scrutinising and judging what I say. I know 9/10 times thats not the case, but that one time is enough.
Yeah, that's sort of what I keep trying to articulate but I keep getting irritable instead. I know it makes people feel like crap. I had little idea about dyslexia and other learning difficulties until I went to college, got diagnosed with Asperger's and spent many hours a week in the Learning Support office with people who had problems like dyslexia and dyspraxia. I often helped them with their work, and only corrected spellings or grammar people explicitly asked me to correct, because it really does dent self-esteem if they feel like you're constantly focusing on how bad their writing is, instead of what they've written - which is really all I care about. My dyslexic friends tend to actually be more insightful and creative when writing about something emotional than those I know who lack the condition, they just might not spell it all perfectly. I have also heard that there's a link between learning difficulties and creativity.
Also, in response to another post: yes, some people DO respond to posts just to say how badly they're written! I've seen support posts written in text speak (perhaps the person can't physically type because they're intoxicated? Perhaps they are dyslexic?) that people have responded to in SUCH a smart-arse way ("Maybe if you learnt to write properly we'd understand what you wrote.") when they've written about how they want to kill themselves, for god's sake!
I just find all this really unacceptable and presume most people have no understanding of disabilities.
I have also heard that there's a link between learning difficulties and creativity
there is an architecture firm in london somewhere that only hires dyslexic people, for this reason. Even though i'm pretty sure that's an unusual form of discrimination :P
"I would be almighty in my own world of art, even if I had to paint my pictures with my wet tongue on the dusty floor of my cell." -Picasso
"No, painting is not done to decorate apartments. It is an instrument of war." - Picasso
'I have scars becuase I have a past; but they, like my past, do not define my future'
there is an architecture firm in london somewhere that only hires dyslexic people, for this reason. Even though i'm pretty sure that's an unusual form of discrimination :P
It is a bit extreme to just hire people with the condition :P But then, it's estimated that a very significant proportion of people involved in engineering and science at a high level (also, stuff like computer programming) have Asperger's Syndrome. We're liked because of our attention to detail and inherent sense of loyalty (less likely to switch company). Also, people with AS seem to gravitate towards those careers and become very proficient at them.They just don't specify it on the applications as far as I know!
What I hate with a passion, I must say, is people (I speak about chat here, goes with the green colour) blatantly using text speak and ignoring it when others ask them to stop, often being all "haha, im dyslexic so what" - don't get me wrong. I'm NOT annoyed by people with dyslexia. I'm annoyed by people who throw the word around as an excuse when most likely they really simply don't want to try typing out a real sentence.
In my (very limited) experience, those who are dyslexic cannot use text speak. They strive to use normal English since mixing the text shorthand and proper grammar ends up causing more confusion. That could just be the few people with dyslexia whom I know.
Wow, what a lot of comment this thread has provoked - and a very good thing too! I'm not in any way qualified to speak about dyslexia and can only say how sorry I am for those who suffer (though I have little sympathy for those who "invent" it as an excuse).
Very strong recommendation for those of you who want to improve your written English: "Plain Words" by Sir Ernest Gower, written a good few years ago as a guide to the Civil Service to help them write instructions/leaflets etc for the general public, using simple and understandable English. In my day it was compulsory reading for we students at the Army Staff College and it is not at all heavy going - just a sound and readable commonsense guide to expressing oneself clearly and simply.
I stupidly lent my copy to a "friend" who never returned it and must now get a further copy, since it answers so many of the basic questions about written English. I can't believe that Amazon won't have a copy, so will definitely follow that up shortly. Try it yourself ...
Tony.
PS. As with all my posts, I shall reread this for mistakes before submitting it. Of course that doesn't mean that no errors or clumsiness in my English will get through (I'm as fallible as the next person}, but at least I'll have done those who read it the courtesy of having tried.
In my (very limited) experience, those who are dyslexic cannot use text speak. They strive to use normal English since mixing the text shorthand and proper grammar ends up causing more confusion. That could just be the few people with dyslexia whom I know.
I haven't encountered dyslexia in real life except for media stuff, actually, so I couldn't say - and thanks for the input, shadow-light! - but my problem with it is this:
There is text speak, and there is text speak. When someone puts "2" instead of "to" or similar things, that's one thing. But what about, say, "tonite" instead of "tonight"? I don't rule out the possibility of someone truly not knowing better. So what looks like text speak may be someone spelling phonetically - and it's so difficult to judge for sure!
My geeky self would like to add that English is really not a nice language for people with spelling trouble. It's not a phonetic language at all, so there's a lot of room for mistakes (Why "receive", not "recieve", huh? What's the P doing in "receipt"? And why does "eight" have so many letters when you only pronounce three? I'll stop now.) - still, that doesn't mean that disregarding grammar and spelling intentionally makes communication easier at all. And that's what language is usually good for, after all.
Face your life
Its pain, its pleasure
Leave no path untaken
My geeky self would like to add that English is really not a nice language for people with spelling trouble. It's not a phonetic language at all, so there's a lot of room for mistakes (Why "receive", not "recieve", huh? What's the P doing in "receipt"? And why does "eight" have so many letters when you only pronounce three? I'll stop now.) - still, that doesn't mean that disregarding grammar and spelling intentionally makes communication easier at all. And that's what language is usually good for, after all.
I completely agree with this i found and still do find English a really hard language to learn especially plurals. I still haven't got the hang of the them, although i'm a lot better now than i was a few years ago . As a general rule to me if words sound the same, the plural should be the same too, in my mind anyway.
We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken
I could check it a million times but miss a mistake... If you do not know how a word is spelt or how a certain grammatical rule works then how are you supposed to know if it is wrong?
That's always annoying It's quite annoying when on other forums people are being smartasses about "you misspelled 'exactly' or 'actually' "(common errors for me) when the truth is i can't see the errors
Quote:
Originally Posted by shadow-light
("How" and "who" are another two that I get mixed up)
Ha. Once i had an argument over that. Absolutely could not see that asking "Who are you doing" is sexual, not a simple question of concern.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeitgeist
It's difficult to tell - which is why I'm all in favour of not jumping to conclusions. Honestly, though? Those of you who have posted on this thread who have dyslexia spell A LOT better than some I've seen both online and offline, who just couldn't be bothered.
Anyone in that situation would, however, be at least trying to spell correctly. It's rather frustrating to get two papers back with red marks of circled words all the time.
English is a relatively(you mean it's not spelled "relativly". meh, FF spellcheck) stupid language. Really, we don't spell things at all how they sound, and half the time our grammar rules are messed with. Why even have the 'rules' when over 1/2 the time they're not followed?
But there are differences between the occasional spelling mistake in a post (when overall it's obvious the person is making an effort) and a big chunk of text with no spacing, no punctuation and loads of text speak.
It's difficult to tell - which is why I'm all in favour of not jumping to conclusions. Honestly, though? Those of you who have posted on this thread who have dyslexia spell A LOT better than some I've seen both online and offline, who just couldn't be bothered.
Is basically how I see it. Many people (in fact, maybe all) who have posted here with dyslexia have written clearly and you can see a general amount of effort, capitalisation or what-have-you.
Obviously it's impossible to tell the difference but in some cases the attitude and lack of effort in typing is very clear (which I won't point out here, I don't need to point out people for that). And I think when it's at the end of the continuum (i.e complete lack of trying) is only when it's very obvious, and most difficult to comprehend.
Ha. Once i had an argument over that. Absolutely could not see that asking "Who are you doing" is sexual, not a simple question of concern.
^^ i just lol'ed. I can see me doing the exact same thing!
"They say time heals all wounds. I don't agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessons, but it is never gone." - Rose Kennedy
But seriously, I can understand a little illiteracy, but when people are just typing because they're too lazy to type things out fully, it really gets to me. I know some people that type in text message form to me on msn, then I saw them writing an essay in perfect English and had a bitchfit.
Last edited by Snow White. : 11-08-2009 at 03:36 AM.
Reason: Removed derogatory slang language; please not make any comments that involve any level of discrimination
I am constantly picking people up for grammar!!! lol
If they say i'm hypo, meaning they're crazy, i tell them it's hyper because hypo means low, hyper means high.
And if they say i seen it i will say to them i SAW it or i've seen it.
U get the jist...
grr i just cant stand incorrect grammar!!!! :P
but it's only when people are talking, not if they are writing lol x
My texts are always spelt out correctly and fully punctuated. On MSN I type in full English also.
I don't have a problem with people using the odd bit of text speak on MSN or in texts - such as "u" or other common ones. However, "ppl dat tlk lyk dis or wuteva" are just ****wits. There's a reason that text speak gets called "****wit speak!"
Genuine spelling mistakes and that are fine. Everyone makes them. I did a 3 year Journalism degree where we had LOADS of writing training and improvement tips; I still screw up. However, there is a difference between things like this above (and those who suffer with Dyslexia - I'm not sure of the ins and outs of it, but I know it can affect their ability to spell etc correctly - I have no problem what that!) and those who are just too lazy / ignorant to actually use correct words.
What makes me laugh with some too, is that text speak was designed to shorten words down. However, I've seen many examples (although at it's nearly 4am I cannot recall any off the top of my head), whereby the "text" spelling of a word actually makes it longer than the original word.
Ah.. thought of one. I've seen people spell "You" as "Yhoo"
Any chance someone wants to shut this thread, because people are posting without reading the f*cking hundreds of posts about not judging people because they might have learning difficulties and it's starting to get on my tits.
It's just a big rantfest about how great some people are at English and how anyone who deigns to shorten a word should be taken out the back and shot.
I agree with xAdamx on the over the top spelling.
But yeah, i type like this on msn now and i say u and r an all that stuff. Pple are not gettin taken out to the back to be shot coz they miss a letter, my brother is dyslexic and im happy to help him with stuff.
And i miss out a load of stuff as u can see now because im talkin like i do on msn which in my point of view is quick to type and easy enough to read!
![[Purple_Rain]'s Avatar](image.php?s=6247cc567f5dbd3cefaa9d2ca12f81c9&u=153&dateline=1251793099)
. As a general rule to me if words sound the same, the plural should be the same too, in my mind anyway.
Pickle 
