Who else out there does this highly annoy?
By Dask1221
@Dask1221 (160)
United States
November 4, 2007 12:19pm CST
This is something that really bugs me. I am big on grammar and proper English and what not, when talking or writing. Of course, I know everyone slips up sometimes, but come on, when it's constant and the people obviously know English, and still continue to screw it up? I have been on myLot for a while now, and I have read so many discussions on here where people use obvious mispellings and bad grammar that it just frustrates me. Who the heck spells the word "always" with 2 Ls? And what kind of a word is "Tooked"? I find this in practically every other discussion post or response I see. Why would you post to a discussion forum where everyone uses English without knowing or properly using the language? I'm not trying to be rude here, but that is my question. Don't you think that people should use the language properly if they are going to post to a forum where that language is dominant? What do you think?
6 people like this
20 responses
@Calais (10893)
• Australia
4 Nov 07
If it annoys you then dont read it, everyone is here for the same thing and should not be isolated due to their spelling etc...Geez....I know that over time this place has helped A LOT of people with their spelling and english. They should be helped not put down for their efforts, have a heart..
2 people like this
@RosieS57 (889)
• United States
4 Nov 07
If they post that way and it annoys you, they still get the money from myLot and you still stay annoyed.
Seems to me like you're spitting into the wind. That's what I think. I now have the obligatory three sentences with good grammar and spelling. I've written more than three sentences, in fact. It is the way you like it, too, but I hope you get that it isn't required to be this way.
Especially if it annoys you.
2 people like this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
5 Nov 07
As long as I can understand what the poster is trying to say in their discussion, then that is all that matters to me. I often make mistakes in my spelling and have used colloquials to express myself and if other's don't understand what I am saying, then all they need to do is ask or move on to the next discussion.
1 person likes this
@chrys84 (118)
• United States
4 Nov 07
I think your post was completely uneccessary. People shouldn't have to feel like they need to use proper english or grammar when they're online. This media has encouraged lots of new words and acranyms.(i'm pretty sure i spelled that wrong) As long as you know what they're trying to say, it should be fine. AND not all people on mylot are from America or english speaking countries. So just beacause they don't know proper english they shouldn't be able to express their opinions?? That's a little negative don't you think??
@Dask1221 (160)
• United States
4 Nov 07
I wasn't saying that at all. I know everyone on here isn't American. It's an international discussion site. All I was saying is that if you're going to post to a discussion board where everything is in English, you should be pretty up on the language. I was not trying to be rude, just venting my own opinion. That is allowed on here!
1 person likes this
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
4 Nov 07
Of course we are allowed to vent here and since we are all supposed to be adults everyone should be able to take every discussion with a grain of salt. There are a lot of people who's only language is English yet they don't even bother to use a spell check. It actually does bother some people to see English words misspelled.
@raychill (6525)
• United States
7 Nov 07
People shouldn't have to feel like they need to use proper English online? What?! So when the only place we really have to write is online, we shouldn't have to use proper writing so that we forget how to use it and completely dumb ourselves down?
I mean, I understand that it is online, but you should write properly whether online or not because you dumb yourself down otherwise (and if you're not dumbing yourself down, you're appearing so to some people like me.)
For instance, I go to college online. We therefor ALL speak the English Language fluently... because it's not meant for other languages. Yet, since it's online, people shouldn't feel the need to write in proper English? Because the people in my class certainly don't and you know what kind of grades they get? Failing grades!
Now sure, you can argue that it's school so you should be using proper English even though it's online right. Yet at the same time, How much you wanna bet that most of these people are just out of Practice!!!
If you USE proper English ALL THE TIME whether online or for your kids notes or for your job maybe you wouldn't get out of practice!
@Amberina (1541)
• United States
4 Nov 07
I am not very good with grammer in fact I am taking grammer lessons online lol. I hate it too I can't read text talk you know the stuff that people send each other on cell phones it's kinda like shorthand I guess but when people use it online posting and what not it bugs me. lol. I'm sure I have done alot of grammical errors in this post alone lol. Take care -Amber
1 person likes this
@patgalca (18181)
• Orangeville, Ontario
5 Nov 07
I understand your frustration and feel it too. But I also understand the people from many countries and languages who write on these boards. I detest short forms of any kinds, including XMAS. So telling me "2 go b4 its 2 late" really rubs me the wrong way.
There are people on here who are trying to improve their English and I honestly hope they are making an effort when reading other posts. The misspellings and improper grammar are aggravating for a grammar queen like me, especially for aspiring writers. I frequent a writing board on another website and there is one person on there who spells at least one word a sentence wrong. Perhaps it's typos. If that is the case, proofread before hitting the button.
We can all learn from each other here.
@shywolf (4514)
• United States
5 Nov 07
I don't know if it annoys me so much as it worries me about the current education system. I know that I've always been a bit of a nerd - I was a bookworm when I was younger, always reading, and I do believe that that added to my ability to spell and use (mostly) proper grammar. But it just appalls me at times seeing the apparent lack of education, basic educational skills that it appears that a lot of people have today, which is basically what you seem to me to be talking about here. I really am not sure what can be done about it, but I feel that something ought to be done.
@Debs_place (10520)
• United States
5 Nov 07
I think that people who are writing in their native language should go out of their way to write and spell correctly. Now, I know my grammar is far from perfect but I do try.
People who are from other countries have the opportunity to learn English from us. Only in this way can English truly become universal.
It bugs me when I see people that obviously don't care about their grammar and yes, I maybe able to understand it but sometimes it is painful to try and figure out what they are saying.
@cobradene (1171)
• India
4 Nov 07
I understand your frustration, but yes, not everybody is perfect. We all live in an imperfect world and today English is a global language and how many countries speak the language after all? Please try to calm down just over look the mistakes people make and see the content, and if you're interested just continue with your postings. There are so many other things happening in the world which we ought to be frustrated about. This is something very minor. We can just overlook and keep posting and encouraging others to participate and share our wisdom in a positive way. Let's be positive. Thank you!
1 person likes this
@raychill (6525)
• United States
4 Nov 07
Oh you didn't put MY favorite bad spelling incident. For some unknown reason it seems that a lot of people want to spell the word "Lose" as in "the opposite of win" as "Loose" which means, NOT TIGHT. Where in the world do people get that? I see it all the time. "I'm loosing my mind" NO no, you are LOSING your mind! bah!
that's the most frustrating thing for me.
I make my own spelling and grammatical errors, but I've never seen Tooked before!
@Dask1221 (160)
• United States
7 Nov 07
That is one that really bothers me also. Most of the others that have responded to this discussion have told me that I'm basically being unreasonable and to "have a heart" as one person put it. I know that many of the people who post to myLot do not have English as their primary language, and that is fine. I think what really bothers me the most is when you can tell that certain people have English as their dominant language, yet still don't take the time to use it correctly. It seems that every other sentence I read has at least one misspelled word in it, or is a horribly run-on sentence. I don't mind the occasional mistake from people, we're only human, but at least try. And writing in short form is fine when you're trying to condense your character usage in cell phone text messages, but when you have the room here, and obviously the time if you're on here in the first place, nobody wants to be reading crap like using numbers to supplement words and taking letters out of words so that it still makes sense to you but other people have to try to guess what it means out of several possible words it could be.
@raychill (6525)
• United States
7 Nov 07
Yeah. That's actually what I was talking about. People who speak English as a Fluent/First language and not the ones who don't speak English fluently. I completely hear you on that. I mean, I understand also that it's not fluent for some and they try...and that's worth a lot. There are some who think they speak great fluent English and yet I barely understand their posts, that annoys me.
Anyway, yeah I missed the other comments as I didn't read them but I see that now, they're all complaining. Who cares if they don't like your post. They still commented right!? ha ha.
My favorite comment is the one that says "People shouldn't need to feel like they have to use proper English or Grammar online"! Oh man. So people should be allowed to write like idiots and sound stupid and then FORGET proper English and Grammar because they're out of practice!?
This is why people get so dumbed down.
I agree with you whole heartedly!
@summer218 (197)
• United States
5 Nov 07
I understand what you mean about bad grammer being annoying, but you might have forgotten that to alot of mylotters, english is a second language. I'd hate to think what my posts would look like in their language. In my opinion, I think they're very brave and mylot makes this a great opportunity to be able to talk to people from all over the world. :)
@myezybizonline (13)
• United States
5 Nov 07
I understand your concerns but, please remember that Mylot is international in nature and that english grammar is among the most difficult in the world. I speak Vietnamese (learned as an adult) and although I try very hard to use the language properly, it is not my native tongue and sometimes I can really screw up the language. I always appreciate the people that help me when I make a mistake but, I also find it very rude when someone insults me over my unintended language errors. Please be forgiving.
@rogue13xmen13 (14403)
• United States
5 Nov 07
I agree with you. People should use proper grammar and spelling no matter what the situation might be. You are not the only one who feels this way. My major in college is English, and I highly believe that people should use the language properly.
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
5 Nov 07
Yes it can be very frustrating and hard to read. I know that I tend to type like I talk, which is not perfect grammar. I also misspell (and mistype) words a lot. I was dyslexic (sp) and have that problem all the time with my words. I try to proofread everything I post to make sure it's right, but I miss things sometimes.
@Arkadus (895)
• Canada
5 Nov 07
I'm not one for watching my grammar most of the time. I at least like to try to make sure I spell things right though. As for 'tooked' and other such "Gooder English"... I can understand that to a point since I know someone who types, and talks, like that. They type like they talk, and feel it adds some personality to what is otherwise a giant wall of text. What I do dislike is the use of 'txtspeek' and other stuff. It's fine for a cellphone but when you've got yourself a fully functional keyboard you should bloody well use the whole thing.
Really though as long as their coherent enough I don't need a magic decoder ring to make out what they're trying to say then I don't mind too much. More so if english isn't their primary language. This language has some bizarre if not outright stupid rules afterall.
@ctrymuziklvr (11057)
• United States
4 Nov 07
This has always been a pet peeve of mine on mylot. I especially hate the way some people have to abbreviate everything when they have all of this space to write it out. I know there are a lot of people who are new to the English language but you can always tell when it's their native tongue and they are just too lazy to spell a word right.
@laurika (4532)
• United States
5 Nov 07
I am sure it bothers you, since I am very proper in my language too.But here are many people who don't have english as a first langauge and tell you the truth I am proud of myself I can speak and write in english even it is not proper.I know 3 more languages and I don't speak perfect, but I am at least trying.So why we are here, even if we make so many mistakes?To leanr english better and probably becuase there are not the same forum in my language like this one. I am sure it bothers you, but it will be poor without other people here.
@funk00shark (15)
• Philippines
5 Nov 07
English isn't my first language. In fact, I hardly speak it, but I try to get the message through.
Maybe it's because I'm from the other side of the fence, but one has to consider that some people aren't using the language properly because they are currently still learning it.
I also personally think what matters is the message people are trying to convey. As long as whatever they post is relevant to the topic, lapses in spelling, subject-verb agreement, etc. don't bother me. You can add a comment and say "Thank you for the response". Excellent grammar, yes? But also a total waste of space.
