Spelling on Forums
- Thread starter Bill.L
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I also agree with Bill.L but I see so many university graduates who can't either spell or construct a sentence properly that the irritation has become chronic for me. I just can't believe the standards of English I see around me every day and it is immensely frustrating when I have to completely rewrite someone else's work before it could possibly be sent to a Client of ours. It ##$%^'s me to tears - a complete and unnecessary waste of my time and our Client's money. These are meant to be highly paid professionals FFS!
To get off my soapbox and back to the point though, on this forum I can understand the odd mistake as we all make them but I draw the line on what is plainly evident laziness as it is often not just reflected in the form of the post but also the content. The two seem to go hand in hand, which is worth pointing out.
I do however make an exception for GR as his property related posts often do have content that makes it very worthwhile struggling through the mind bending (lack of) grammar. After all, I am here to learn more about property investing from the experience of others, not learn about grammar and syntax, so I will happily put up with poor English IF I am still learning something...
To get off my soapbox and back to the point though, on this forum I can understand the odd mistake as we all make them but I draw the line on what is plainly evident laziness as it is often not just reflected in the form of the post but also the content. The two seem to go hand in hand, which is worth pointing out.
I do however make an exception for GR as his property related posts often do have content that makes it very worthwhile struggling through the mind bending (lack of) grammar. After all, I am here to learn more about property investing from the experience of others, not learn about grammar and syntax, so I will happily put up with poor English IF I am still learning something...
I can handle most errors but for some reason this annoys the heck out of me;
"highly SORT after location"
i see it in top end house advertising all the time. And if anyone is unsure:
http://www.beedictionary.com/common-errors/sort_after_vs_sought_after
"highly SORT after location"
i see it in top end house advertising all the time. And if anyone is unsure:
http://www.beedictionary.com/common-errors/sort_after_vs_sought_after
I've grown accustomed to poor spelling and grammar, and try hard to focus on the message.
Some of the most successful people I know are dyslexic or nesb migrants.
I also refuse to spell words out on a bloody mobile device. Hate tapping away on those things.
Anyway, I also appreciate when people spell well. Says a lot about their general education.
I have to say Dazz is one of the best communicators on the forum. spelling, grammar, stick to the point, concise, entertaining, informative. and what would a forum be without good sarcasm.
High Equity also communicates really well, except about money creation
Perp is also an excellent writer, as is Kristine.
Several others too but the above are the standouts.
I am aware I often string several clauses together and the meaning becomes muddled....and sometimes I am muddled without long clauses....esp when writing at 2am.
Some of the most successful people I know are dyslexic or nesb migrants.
I also refuse to spell words out on a bloody mobile device. Hate tapping away on those things.
Anyway, I also appreciate when people spell well. Says a lot about their general education.
I have to say Dazz is one of the best communicators on the forum. spelling, grammar, stick to the point, concise, entertaining, informative. and what would a forum be without good sarcasm.
High Equity also communicates really well, except about money creation
Perp is also an excellent writer, as is Kristine.
Several others too but the above are the standouts.
I am aware I often string several clauses together and the meaning becomes muddled....and sometimes I am muddled without long clauses....esp when writing at 2am.
Echoing others' posts...grossreal has become the exception for me too. Once I actaully took the time to read his post, I laughed a lot at his often witty cynicism & insightful observations.
For others though, the bad spelling is just the forerunner to their 'bad' communication skills & I find it hard to take their queries seriously. I think it holds someone back in life when they're unable to express themselves clearly.
I know spelling/grammar is not everyones' forte, but I cringe to think what our beautiful & expressive language is going to mutate into over the next ten years. It's as though everything is getting 'dumbed' down. Why? It's not like this 'near enough' approach works when calculating investment figures. I'm sure the bank would care if I left a zero off my repayment sums.
For others though, the bad spelling is just the forerunner to their 'bad' communication skills & I find it hard to take their queries seriously. I think it holds someone back in life when they're unable to express themselves clearly.
I know spelling/grammar is not everyones' forte, but I cringe to think what our beautiful & expressive language is going to mutate into over the next ten years. It's as though everything is getting 'dumbed' down. Why? It's not like this 'near enough' approach works when calculating investment figures. I'm sure the bank would care if I left a zero off my repayment sums.
i think it's more a case of people not reading thru their posts before hitting submit. as if what they have to say is soooooo important it cannot wait 30seconds more.
er - i am guilty of not using capitals. does that make me an evil person? i will claim that it is because junior spill a glass of orange juice in my keyboard which seized up the shift on one side.
er - i am guilty of not using capitals. does that make me an evil person? i will claim that it is because junior spill a glass of orange juice in my keyboard which seized up the shift on one side.
i avoid capitulation on purpose.
i use paragraphs to highlight my points and make it easier to read.
i don think that this warrants capitulation and makes my typing faster.
missing a letter here and there or forgetting a full stop isn't exactly a sin, though.
i also think using colloquials like "sorta" and "gonna" etc are perfectly acceptable because people should write / type how they speak.
i use paragraphs to highlight my points and make it easier to read.
i don think that this warrants capitulation and makes my typing faster.
missing a letter here and there or forgetting a full stop isn't exactly a sin, though.
i also think using colloquials like "sorta" and "gonna" etc are perfectly acceptable because people should write / type how they speak.
The other one is "here, here" as opposed to the correct "hear, hear" (short for "hear him, hear him").
Despite the difficulty, I still make sure I read most grossreal and also willair posts.
Geoff,
I have to disagree with this, especially as this comment was aimed at me, as I am the guilty party in "correcting" spelling in a recent thread.
In 2 threads recently there have been spelling mistakes in the title of the new thread. Both of them changed the meaning of the thread and the spelling mistakes made the words other real words. Both mistakes were not due to the poster being dyslexic, or a new immigrant, or anything else other than laziness or carelessness. They were/are asking forumites to spend time and effort answering their request for information when they could not bother getting the heading correct.
In the first occurrence, now deleted, I merely gave the correct spelling for all the words misspelt, no comments, no criticism. The OP in that thread naturally took issue, but found no difficulty in spelling his profanities correctly.
Spending time on getting posts correct in the first place helps greatly with communication. If the standards are allowed to lapse and lapse, eventually you get to the point when people lose the ability to communicate with each other. Taking the stance of "it's OK, because that's the way the world's heading", is to me a cop-out. This forum is about communication. The common language we use is English, not gobbledigook.
bye
I have to disagree with this, especially as this comment was aimed at me, as I am the guilty party in "correcting" spelling in a recent thread.
In 2 threads recently there have been spelling mistakes in the title of the new thread. Both of them changed the meaning of the thread and the spelling mistakes made the words other real words. Both mistakes were not due to the poster being dyslexic, or a new immigrant, or anything else other than laziness or carelessness. They were/are asking forumites to spend time and effort answering their request for information when they could not bother getting the heading correct.
In the first occurrence, now deleted, I merely gave the correct spelling for all the words misspelt, no comments, no criticism. The OP in that thread naturally took issue, but found no difficulty in spelling his profanities correctly.
Spending time on getting posts correct in the first place helps greatly with communication. If the standards are allowed to lapse and lapse, eventually you get to the point when people lose the ability to communicate with each other. Taking the stance of "it's OK, because that's the way the world's heading", is to me a cop-out. This forum is about communication. The common language we use is English, not gobbledigook.
bye
I agree, Bill.L. It not only makes the poster look lazy, but also makes me think "well, if this is typical of how they communicate with PMs and tenants, and indicative of the level of professionalism with which they approach investing, it's not surprising they're in this mess!". Harsh? Possibly. But it is often my gut response.
Bill
Not everybody has had the chance to have been educated well. Not everybody who has had an education has done well at it. Not everybody speaks English as their first language.
It may be that some people are lazy. But it may also be that people have difficulty with the written language.
It seems that many have a double standard here. Some people criticise the spelling of others- except for certain posters.
When somebody comes on the forum asking for help I don't really think it's an appropriate first response to ignore their request but to instead challenge their spelling.
Edit: A suggestion. If the title of the thread has not been spelt correctly, and it detracts from the message, report the post and ask for the thread title to be corrected.
Not everybody has had the chance to have been educated well. Not everybody who has had an education has done well at it. Not everybody speaks English as their first language.
It may be that some people are lazy. But it may also be that people have difficulty with the written language.
It seems that many have a double standard here. Some people criticise the spelling of others- except for certain posters.
When somebody comes on the forum asking for help I don't really think it's an appropriate first response to ignore their request but to instead challenge their spelling.
Edit: A suggestion. If the title of the thread has not been spelt correctly, and it detracts from the message, report the post and ask for the thread title to be corrected.
My biggest grievance with vBulletin is how it does not allow the original poster to fix the initial title of a thread. Only an administrator can do this.
I guess the reason for this is that it prevents some types of abuse. But it also means that badly spelt or poorly titled threads hang around forever.
Perhaps a compromise could be found where the OP and/or a wider selection of trusted moderators can edit the title for some number of hours after posting.
I guess the reason for this is that it prevents some types of abuse. But it also means that badly spelt or poorly titled threads hang around forever.
Perhaps a compromise could be found where the OP and/or a wider selection of trusted moderators can edit the title for some number of hours after posting.
Hi,
I shall tell a story
In one of the businesses I used to manage I had employed a guy for 3 years, I went crook at him for not making the correct number of components on a factory run order. He said " It is alright for you to go off, but I am flat out writing my own name "
Made me stop and think, sometimes in Oz we assume that everyone has the same abilities as we have ourselves, not so!!
Maybe repeat offenders deserve a reminder, but some folk are just doing their best
I shall tell a story
In one of the businesses I used to manage I had employed a guy for 3 years, I went crook at him for not making the correct number of components on a factory run order. He said " It is alright for you to go off, but I am flat out writing my own name "
Made me stop and think, sometimes in Oz we assume that everyone has the same abilities as we have ourselves, not so!!
Maybe repeat offenders deserve a reminder, but some folk are just doing their best
if we are to believe the advertising, then one in six australian's can't read or write. that's kinda scary.
Absolutely evil
sigh - if only i could find someone worthy of giving me a "good slapping".
While we're in the mood for bedtime stories ;
In one of the firms I used to work in, one of the men in charge of delivering all of the chemicals necessary for a downhole cement job on an oilwell completely stuffed up one day, mixed the wrong chemicals, and instead of adding retarder to the slurry to give the slurry time to be pumped down the required 10,000 feet where it was need, he added accelerator, which flash set and hence junked an entire well worth about 8m. Rig had to start again.
Big hoo-hah investigation. Out of the wash and alot of finger pointing and @$$ covering came that this guy, who had been employed doing the same job for 8 years straight, couldn't read what was on the label of the chemical bags. Turns out he simply went by the size of the bag and the colour of the label. All went fine until the cement company changed supplier....who had different coloured labels and different sized bags. Whoops.
He was too embarrassed to put his hand up and declare he couldn't read nor write, had kept his little secret hidden for 8 years and thought may as well carry on. Instead of taking the opportunity to avail himself of company resources, he took the lazy option instead, costing the operator of the Lease 8m and 40 days of delayed production, along with getting the entire cement company run off. Needless to say, an unmitgated disaster. The big bosses, after all of the dust settled ;
- redistributed all the other workers to other districts where they had other contracts to work
- fought a rear guard action against the insurance company who refused to pay out the operator company, hence they turned around and sued the cement company for the loss
- he got run off
Everyone was not very happy. Some people even suggested, given his role and the chemicals involved, that the company got off lightly, as he could of easily blown everyone sky-high.
Fortunately, the worst that can happen here on Somersoft, is someone twists and contorts your words to another meaning. Small beer.
There's this plugin available which allows the spellchecker in vBulletin to work.
http://www.iespell.com/download.php
G.
