The legacy of spellcheckers. (or: The obligatory grammatical errors flame)

[Meresa]

I have been watching this for so long on so many forums, that I can no longer sit by quietly without commenting on it.

With increasing frequency, people are mixing up similar words. Since the word itself is spelled correctly it is missed by the spellchecker. It's the context that is incorrect.


Examples:

1. your and you're

your: second person possesive
you're: contraction of 'you are'

incorrect: I think your nice.
correct: I think you're nice.


2. breathe and breath

breathe: (verb) to circulate air, as in the lungs
breath: (noun) a volume of air taken into the lungs

incorrect: It is hard to breath through my nose when I have allergies.
correct: It is hard to breathe through my nose when I have allergies.


3. its and it's

its: third person neutral possesive
it's: contraction of "it is"

incorrect: Its really hot today.
correct: It's really hot today.



If I had a dime for everytime someone mixed up just those three alone, I'd be a freakin' millionaire. Sadly, there are plenty more where they came from.

[Meresa]

For more info check out Strong Bad's Rhythm N' Grammar (http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail89.html) at the end of the Flash presentation. (Click on the bicep)

[Billie Q.]

Meresa:
To what do you attribute this "mixing" as you refer to it, of distinctly different words?

I will take a step here and attribute it to laziness: laziness brought on by reading the Internet vs. sitting down and reading a dictionary or an encycolopedia.

The laziness of SOME teachers to teach proper grammar, contributes as well. The cowardice of teachers afraid to fail and keep illiterates back, plays a large part.

When I went back to the university, at close to 40 years of age, I was appalled by what passes for composition these days.

I was shown Regents' Essay Examinations (required to exit college in Georgia), and what I saw written on some of them was laughable. I thought they were written by special-education students, not college graduates.:mad:

[Meresa]

oh yeah almost forgot this one. Number four:

4. there and their

there: adverb
their: third person plural possesive

incorrect: Is everyone happy with there results?
correct: Is everyone happy with their results?

Just saw an example of this one on another post. I won't name names, but you know who you are.

[Andi]

Thank you Billie Q for posting this, and thanks to Meresa for starting the thread that led to you posting this.

A lot of what you posted is exactly what I was thinking of when I posted about the lowering of educational standards in this country (United States).

You mentioned laziness. Yes, it is so much easier, and so much faster, to just watch the video of something as opposed to reading the book. (Personally, I like to read books, but that's just me) And you're also right about teachers being afraid to fail a student regardless of how poorly the student performs. The teacher is afraid of being sued out of a career, and so, the teacher lets the student go on to become someone else's problem. And we are all made to pay in the long run.

Andi


Originally posted by Billie Q.
Meresa:
To what do you attribute this "mixing" as you refer to it, of distinctly different words?

I will take a step here and attribute it to laziness: laziness brought on by reading the Internet vs. sitting down and reading a dictionary or an encycolopedia.

The laziness of SOME teachers to teach proper grammar, contributes as well. The cowardice of teachers afraid to fail and keep illiterates back, plays a large part.

When I went back to the university, at close to 40 years of age, I was appalled by what passes for composition these days.

I was shown Regents' Essay Examinations (required to exit college in Georgia), and what I saw written on some of them was laughable. I thought they were written by special-education students, not college graduates.:mad:

[Billie Q.]

Andi:
Thanks for the support to my reply. Yes, the lowering of educational standards is but one symptom of a culture-wide "dumbing down" of the West.

If you'll notice, in my IQ poll thread, I did not list IQ's below 100. It was not so very long ago that many folks below 100 were considered retarded. But who is really retarded in the classic sense of the word, and who simply possesses a low IQ based on inherited traits?

This acceptance of cultural laziness/degradation gets into a whole political/sociological arena that I won't go into here. If you're interested, I saw a great article today entitled "The Politics of Retardation." Remember: "retarded" persons can now be let off the death penalty...

[Billie Q.]

Originally posted by Meresa
oh yeah almost forgot this one. Number four:
4. there and their
there: adverb
their: third person plural possesive

incorrect: Is everyone happy with there results?
correct: Is everyone happy with their results?

Just saw an example of this one on another post. I won't name names, but you know who you are.

Meresa, our own resident spell checker! Who needs to fiddle with cumbersome cutting & pasting -- we have you! But seriously, is it just me, or when you read grammatical/typographical/spelling errors, do you feel like someone just broke wind and neglected to excuse themselves?

Here's another:
5. woman and women
woman: singular noun
women: noun plural

Incorrect: I'd like to meet a beautiful women.

Correct: I'd like to meet a beautiful woman.

I've seen this one ad nauseum on a dating site...:mad:

[cougar9q]

Incorrect by society: I'd like to meet beautiful women.

[Billie Q.]

In every society on earth, since the beginning of recorded history, it's been considered perfectly correct to value beauty in all its various forms.

Anyone can play up their natural features to be aesthetically pleasing; beauty in the sense of perfectly-proportioned body measurements is extremely rare (watch the Desmond Morris series on public TV regarding sex & attraction for more on this subject).

A well-groomed, well cared-for body, spirit and mind speaks health to me, and that is VERY attractive.

The only thing I appreciate more than beauty is truth. Truth is beautiful.

[Jules]

I myself have type of motor dyslexia and I’m not even sure I spelled that right. I can read just fine but I reverse letters and vowels with out even knowing it when I write. It also effects my ability to remember numbers and put them in proper order. In high school I had to have all kinds of tests and doctors notes proving my condition to my teachers so that I would not fail English. I always was many grades behind other students in the grammar department. Trying to spell correctly even today is a big struggle for me. If it were not for the spell checker I would be doomed in college. Often times I only have a very short time to post on this site. I myself use incorrect words often, but only because I didn’t have the time at that time to proof read my post. Often, I don’t spot my own mistakes until the next day when I have more time to read my post, by then the time limit to edit my posts has expired. Maybe Betsy can give me more time to edit my posts, maybe not.
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Billy Q said: I will take a step here and attribute it to laziness: laziness brought on by reading the Internet vs. sitting down and reading a dictionary or an encycolopedia.
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That is not a fair statement.

MANY PEOPLE HAVE PROBLEMS WITH SPELLING AND GRAMMER AND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH LAZYNESS. NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS CAN EFFECT SOMEONES GRAMMER. IF YOUR LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET TEACHERS AND FAMILY WHO CARE ENOUGH ABOUT YOU TO HELP IMPROVE THE PROBLEM, THEN THIS PROBLEM CAN BE ADRESSED. OFTEN TIMES THOUGH THESE PEOPLE FALL THROUGH THE CRACKS. I DON'T THINK FAILING STUDENTS IS THE ANSWER
HYPERACTIVITY IS ANOTHER PROBLEM THAT CAN EFFECT GRAMMER. A.D.D. OR A.D.H.D. CAN EFFECT GRAMMER TOO. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TYPE OF CONDITIONS PEOPLE WHO POST WITH SUFFER WITH?



If your really bothered by the bad grammer on this site then I think you have to much time on your hands. Yes, I think that good grammer is much more pleasing to read the bad grammer but think of the forum your posting on. A intersexed forum the spelling OR 'GRAMMER' might be related to BEING intersexed, and what kind of support are yu realy giving here ;)

[Dana Gold]

Judgments, correction, and misunderstanding does not seem to be confined to the people who look upon IS as an "other". Now it seems that phenomena is occuring here, necessitating some BLO members to be "on the defensive" . Some may wonder why a BLO member may feel that their "faces got slapped" when being questioned about their own intersex "condition" or admonished for incorrect grammar, syntax and/or spelling. I think that such infighting and squabbling occurs everywhere. The subject of judgmental attitudes has surfaced in the past here on BLO (when I was not here). But, it sems to be part of human nature to compare/classify and produce a conclusion based upon the observer's "standards".
Having less of an IQ, less of grammar and spelling knowledge or ability, or a perceived "marginal" IS condition does not lessen the pain and isolation that's experienced by those who are being reminded of their "lack of qualifications" within the social group from the "better lot"; AND not to mention the shit they get from the "normals". So What!! I used the "n" word again... :mad: that's a helluva lot better than what some of them call us.

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

[Peter]

Hi Jules,

I too had some dyslexia as a child. I remember that one teacher had the idea that dyslexia was related to walking "Pigeon Toed", which is walking with my toes slightly pointed outward. So, as a treatment for my condition, I was made to walk back and forth across the classroom, while trying to keep my feet perfectly parallel to each other as I walked. This was in addition to one leg being slightly shorter than the other. Talk about humiliation. There I was walking back and forth in my Buster Brown shoes, thinking that this was one of the stupidest things that I ever had to do.

I was banned from the Cub Scouts because of who I was. I remember my dad saying that if the Cub Scouts would not let me join, he would help me start another club that I could belong to. So, after some research, my dad found an organization called the "Indian Guides". He decided to start a club for me. He helped me make a costume and a warrior shield. Of course, when the first meeting was to take place, no other kids showed up. I remember that my dad was very kind and took me for a walk along the beach to try to make me feel better. I still remember that night.

I like to think of the right to post on this forum as similar to the right to vote. One does not have to take a grammar or IQ test before voting. I am usually impressed with the high quality and thoughtfulness of the posts. Sure, the spelling is not always perfect and grammar may sometimes have its problems, but that does not stop the basic message of intersex empowerment from getting through.

Peter

[Meresa]

Hey, I wasn't condemning anyone here, OK?

I was just pointing out certain english language errors that are becoming increasingly common on the internet. Not just here. I made the post as a commentary of a sign of the times. It was not a judgement of anyone's character, education. or anything else. And I was not condemning the content of anyone's posts here in any way.

On the contrary I very much believe in what you have to say. I won't take what you say any less seriously because of such errors, but other less tolerant people might.

I was just trying to be constructive here. Don't confuse it for being 'intolerant' or 'judgemental'.

[Jules]

A perceived "marginal" IS condition does not lessen the pain and isolation that's experienced by those who are being reminded of their "lack of qualifications" within the social group from the "better lot"; AND not to mention the shit they get from the "normals". So What!! I used the "n" word again... :mad: that's a helluva lot better than what some of them call us.

The end of the human race will be that it will eventually die of civilization.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882) [/B][/QUOTE]

I agree, and thanks for seeing things the way that they are.

[Betsy]

I think out of consideration for everyone on this thread, which I had hoped would fade into "old thread land" I'm going to lock this thread. It's not something that helps our little community for a number of reasons which I don't particularly feel like getting into. I also don't want it to inadvertantly turn into a flame war.

I'm pretty sure that no one meant for the thread or posts to be directed at anyone in particular.

(LOL...unlike another community that I participate in and had one person convinced I was mentally ill based upon a very bizarre reason and spent the day trying to convince herself that I was--it was a politically oriented comment I made that started it all)

However, I also look at strife as being things we can learn from and will leave the locked thread intact for archival purposes.

If anyone has a compelling reason why that shouldn't happen, please let me know via a PM or email.

Betsy