Poor english

[woodbloke]

Loads of interesting discussion on this one...as one who uses the Spell Checker before each post, it's a shame it has to be in American English...how many have been caught out by 'favorite' As this is primarily for folk wot reside in the UK, I wish it could be in English English and incidentally, no spelling error came up for 'wot' - Rob

 

[Smudger]

Perfectly good word, wot. From 'wit' - Old English, to know.

As in, "I wot not".

But, seriously, the major crime against English isn't spelling or grammar (though that's hardly rocket science), it's punctuation. Poor punctuation screws meaning.

That and using a restricted vocabulary. English is a precise, delicate, accurate language in which it is possible to express so much. And some people chuck that away with the chant that to speak or write carefully is 'snobbish'. The archaeologist's use (3 times) of 'lol' is an example of that. Despicable (to quote Daffy Duck, himself a master of irony).

 

[Smudger]

........ instead of getting high and mighty and rebuking the poster and possibly putting them off posting again.

There have been very few examples of this, surely? The OP was giving an example of what I took to be an oral communication anyway, which then led to a few "pet peeves" being aired. Unfortunately, in this thread, this seems impossible to do without polarising attitudes and being less than polite in some cases.

Ray.

Quite. This is what always happens on forums - there are more people shouting 'elitism' and 'snobbery' than those complaining about grammar.

Though why good English shouldn't be high on anyone's agenda escapes me completely.

 

[dennis]

Ray says that there have been very few cases of people being pulled up for poor grammar, but I think that there should be none,a polite explanation is all that is neccessary without resorting to statements such as, "It drives me mad when it is misspelled"

**** says that it is hardly rocket science,but to some of us it might as well be. I personally find punctuation the hardest part but do not let it worry me, as I have said before I have got through life perfectly well up to now with the abilities that I have and as correct grammar is not high on my list of priorities will continue to do so.

Also as I have said before this is a WOODWORKING FORUM and I wonder if the majority of members would prefer to see a post that is perfectly scripted explaining a project that is as rough as ars@@oles or one that is poorly scripted explaining one that is brilliantly executed.I know which one that I would go for every time.

Dennis

 

[Tusses]

I does seem that some who 'aspire' to be the best they can be with the English language, cant understand that some of us couldn't give a stuff.

I for one have far to many things I AM interested in to worry about something that I am not !

I do aspire to be the best I can be in many things - and indeed, I have reached the top in many things, then I get bored and move on to something else.

I have NEVER seen any point in the average person needing to use perfect language.

I mean - should we all learn Latin ? some may argue that , to get on in life anywhere in the world, it is a must - and in some fields it maybe

 

[Gill]

Loads of interesting discussion on this one...as one who uses the Spell Checker before each post, it's a shame it has to be in American English...how many have been caught out by 'favorite' As this is primarily for folk wot reside in the UK, I wish it could be in English English and incidentally, no spelling error came up for 'wot' - Rob

Which internet browser do you use, Rob? Most have a dictionary plug-in that can be added. I've got the old version of Firefox and there's a 'British English' dictionary plug-in which I've installed. Every time I type something which appears to be misspelled, the browser underlines it faintly in red. It's still not a perfect solution, but it's jolly helpful.

Gill

 

[dennis]

I agree with Tusses, I wouldnt go as far as saying I couldnt give a stuff, but I think that the majority of us have other things that we would rather invest our time on.As I have said before as long as we understand the intended meaning of a post perfect grammar is unnecessary,and I stress PERFECT GRAMMAR.

Dennis

 

[Smudger]

I does seem that some who 'aspire' to be the best they can be with the English language, cant understand that some of us couldn't give a stuff.

True.

I try to do everything well, don't succeed, but I don't give up before I start.

 

[Digit]

Nice philosophy that Smudger, I'd go with that.

Roy.

 

[Mark68]

Quite. This is what always happens on forums - there are more people shouting 'elitism' and 'snobbery' than those complaining about grammar.

I would say, of course this is going to happen when a topic such as this gets brought up,,ok,If not snobberby, how about "victimisation".
How many people who are brilliant at woodwork,etc, will be put off of posting because their spelling/grammar is not up to other peoples standards?

Ok..lets put another angle to this,,if i started another topic saying "because i white i'm a better person than all other races" , that would be racist and righty so.
So by saying "i'm better than someone who is not as good at spelling as me "" while not being racist as the example above,,must be along similar lines, or a case of elitism..

What we should do, is accept people for who they are, not ridicule them because of something like this....

 

[Smudger]

That is ridiculous. If I could remind you of the original post:

"Am I the only one who is irritated by the misuse of "myself" & "yourself", when people mean me or you.

There is a prevalence of how people usually those who speak to customers saying "yourself" because they seem to think that "you" is somehow too assertive.

Drives me mad!!!"

Where is the victimisation in that? In fact, as always, a few people claim that they are being victimised - when they are not - and that using English correctly is somehow wrong, geeky or elitist - which it isn't - as I said before, it isn't rocket science. What some posters are telling us is that they can't be bothered. OK, that's up to them. Just as it's up to other people to gather impressions...

 

[Digit]

Here Here! (and is that the correct here, hear?)

Roy.

 

[Tusses]

"Poor English"


personally - I put it down to the credit crunch

 

[Smudger]

That's the wrong here, there. This is the right hear here.

 

[Argee]

Where has all this "You think you're better than me" nonsense coming from? "Better educated" does not mean "better than you" and loads of examples of that have already been given.

I'm disappointed that those who have angrily expressed their opinion don't concede the right of others to have an alternate opinion.

Ray

 

[Digit]

And I add here here to that as well.

Roy,

 

[Mark68]

" EAR EAR"" :lol:

Yes, i know how the topic started,,but read down a few posts,and it has soon changed into about grammar and spelling..(not going to quote people now).

Yes, again,,i know that words such as elitism, racism and victimisation are words that are bounded about too much these days,,maybe explains why this country is in a way like it is,,but thats another topic..

Of course everyone is intitled to their opinion,, but its way too easy to hide behind forums like this and express their views,,would you tell the local builder,mechanic,bank manager etc to their face,that their spelling /grammar etc was terrible and that they should get their act together??

Anyway,you have your views, i've got mine,, plus it's a lovely sunny afternoon and we are sat here in front computers,,,something is certainly wrong..

 

[Digit]

Well Mark I have repeatedly stated in this article that spelling etc can be important, and you asked would we tell a builder etc etc etc.
I worked for a period on nights at Vauxhall motors, and each evening the crew had to check in the book what info the charge hand on days had left.
The man's command of English was appalling and frequently it to the whole crew together to try and establish what he had planned for us.
It reached a head one night when we had to admit defeat and take the book to the dept head.
He couldn't believe it! neither could he decipher it, nor could anyone else.
I marked it in blue pencil, gave him 2 out of 10 and said, 'try harder in the future'.
Not surprisingly he was furious.
And we never did find out what he had planned for us!
On another occasion, years later, a senior manager informed me that he was going to give me a written warning for insubordination, when I burst out laughing!
'What's so funny about that?' he asked.
'You couldn't spell the word!'
I was correct, he gave up and nothing happened! Boom Boom!

Roy.

 

[RogerS]

......
On another occasion, years later, a senior manager informed me that he was going to give me a written warning for insubordination, when I burst out laughing!
'What's so funny about that?' he asked.
'You couldn't spell the word!'
I was correct, he gave up and nothing happened! Boom Boom!

Roy.

Bet he could spell 'stroppy bugger'

A close friend of ours, with 30 years plus teaching English, is very depressed that our wonderful education system can turn out a high percentage of kids that can neither read nor write. And they're not dyslexic either as these days at least schools are a bit more enlightened in this respect.

 

[Digit]

Probably not, but I could! :lol:
The insubordination that I was supposedly guilty of was having been requested to attend on the Work's Manager I presented my self at his office.
The door was wide open and the 'gentleman' was studying some paperwork
I stepped inside, tapped on the door, and he never even looked up, just continued turning the pages and totally ignoring my presence.
I waited for some seconds then turned and walked out! What would you have done Rog?

Roy.