Muppet grammar grinch creeps into class

[crazycanuck]

Umm hello..I'm here to whinge..

I'd like to be a grammar grinch plus a spelling witch today & complain about both round here.

Can we learn to spell and check grammar please?

Please please do before i pop into small maple leafs, kiwis & kangaroos. I can assure you tis not a pretty sight & quite messy to clean up.

Muppet grammar grinch off & away..

[Crankin]

Thank you.

[spotlightmama]

Do I get to edit your post? I see some typos... :p

(Sorry, I'm a writer by trade and DH is an English teacher; I have to tease. I hope you know I'm trying to be funny, not mean.) :D

[uforgot]

Do I get to edit your post? I see some typos... :p

(Sorry, I'm a writer by trade and DH is an English teacher; I have to tease. I hope you know I'm trying to be funny, not mean.) :D

Do you really see typos? I'll be darned if I can find any.

[Zen]

Do you really see typos? I'll be darned if I can find any.

An incomplete ellipses and incorrect plural?

[bmccasland]

Umm hello..I'm here to whinge..

..

Whine has a "g" in it? Or is that a south of the equator spelling? I know, I know, we misspell "color." Apparently some people think it's spelled "colour"

Frankly if I misspelled anything in the past day or so it's because my eyes are giving me fits. They hate me. I've had to go to computer settings and increase the size of the font I see on the screen. I really really (meant to say that twice) don't like not being able to see clearly. Don't like the pain either.:(

[KnottedYet]

lack of commas and incorrect capitalization of the word "I" :D

Thanks CC, that was a funny joke! Made my evening (just spent some looooong minutes talking to the phone company, so your joke really cheered me up!)
Gimme a hint, what other grammar and spelling boo-boos did you put in there?

Edit to add: oooh! I found another one! No apostrophe in the contraction " 'tis" (short for "it is") Cool! Don't give me any hints after all, this is more fun!

Edit again to add: Oh, oh, and no apostrophe for " 'round" (short for "around"). this is awesome! Thanks, I needed this!

Edit again again to add: are the ampersands considered a grammar no-no?

Edit again again again to add: no infinitive with "check". ("to spell and to check grammar") That one was subtle, good one!

[kat_h]

Can we learn to spell and check grammar please?

No.

I'm not going to launch word just so I can spellcheck posts for here. I'm not going to pull out a dictionary just to post here. I admit that writing isn't my strong suit and if that bothers you then that's what the ignore list is for. I have people proofread any formal writing I do, but a forum isn't formal writing.

[singletrackmind]

Then can I compliment everyone for the generally decent posts? After reading a few of the youngster's posts on a few of the truck boards this site is a relief for my sore brain! Text-speak creeps in and what little is regular stuff runs together in crazy not even sentences conglomerations.

(now I'm all self-conscious...)

[Veronica]

Pull up Word... why?

Google Spellcheck on the toolbar.

Poor grammar and spelling makes some writing hard to comprehend.

V.

[kat_h]

I'm not going to install a toolbar just to post on forums either. The ignore user option is nice and handy if that bothers you.

A post like this will not change the spelling habits of established users. The only end that it may achieve is to make newer users feel unwelcome and discourage them from posting. If you don't want to read their posts then just don't read them, instead of trying to push the posters away.

[Veronica]

I'm not going to install a toolbar just to post on forums either. The ignore user option is nice and handy if that bothers you.


Thank you. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

V.

[Irulan]

Pull up Word... why?

Google Spellcheck on the toolbar.

Poor grammar and spelling makes some writing hard to comprehend.

V.


Mozilla Firefox has a built in spell checker. Really now ladies, illiterate posts here are pretty much a non-issue. Or so I thought.

[Trek420]

Mozilla Firefox has a built in spell checker.

So I thought, until I ran my last review past Knott. :rolleyes: There's no built in punctuation reminder. Maybe that's only on Vista. ;)

It's so nice to have an English major in the house. Well, not in the house till two weeks from now. :rolleyes:

I don't ignore poor spelling and grammar from TE'ers. I may read those less often but won't put on ignore. The level of literacy here is amazing. Most of of our TE'ers who I know to live in non-English speaking countries write in English very well. Thank you all for that.

And writing to me is thinking or indicates how we think. We're one smrt thoughtful group! :D

[Bruno28]

are the ampersands considered a grammar no-no?



Yes they are!!!! Although anyone under 35 at my work seems to think that it's perfectly acceptable to include ampersands in formal reports. Grrrrrrr:mad:

Now, where did I put my revolver......

[uforgot]

Whine has a "g" in it? Or is that a south of the equator spelling?



whinge


Pronunciation:
\ˈhwinj, ˈwinj\
Function:
intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s):
whinged; whing·ing or whinge·ing
Etymology:
Middle English *whingen, from Old English hwinsian; akin to Old High German winsōn to moan
Date:
12th century

British : to complain fretfully : whine
— whinge noun British

[uforgot]

An incomplete ellipses and incorrect plural?

X²/a² + Y²/b² = 1?

[Crankin]

I know this is not really important in the total scheme of things.

Words that end in "s" do not necessarily require an apostrophe.

I am an English teacher, so please, allow me this one complaint.

[OakLeaf]

One thing that was forcefully driven home to me, when I put myself through college typing other people's papers, is that the ability vel non to spell is not correlated with the writer's intelligence or with the cogency of her arguments. Not in the slightest. sentence fragment

So I read what people say and ignore how they spell (or punctuate) it. Just as in conversation, I listen to what people say and disregard variations in accent or grammar.

A perfectly spelled, rude and intolerant post is far more offensive to me than a post that's thoughtful and helpful, but riddled with spelling and punctuation errors.

I'm just sayin'. slang

[spotlightmama]

lack of commas and incorrect capitalization of the word "I" :D

Thanks CC, that was a funny joke! Made my evening (just spent some looooong minutes talking to the phone company, so your joke really cheered me up!)
Gimme a hint, what other grammar and spelling boo-boos did you put in there?

Edit to add: oooh! I found another one! No apostrophe in the contraction " 'tis" (short for "it is") Cool! Don't give me any hints after all, this is more fun!

Edit again to add: Oh, oh, and no apostrophe for " 'round" (short for "around"). this is awesome! Thanks, I needed this!

Edit again again to add: are the ampersands considered a grammar no-no?

Edit again again again to add: no infinitive with "check". ("to spell and to check grammar") That one was subtle, good one!

Leafs instead of leaves (unless you are planning on becoming a pro hockey player, in which case Maple Leafs should be capitalized to indicate a proper noun).

I’m also not sure about the use of plus in “plus a spelling witch,” as plus indicates an asset or a sum. Existentially, I suppose you are the sum of both things, but I’m not sure that was the intention. :p

There is a missing comma between “please please” and also before please in “check grammar please.”

Okay, I think that’s all I can find. :D And I absolutely have to agree with the PPs that there are some smart ladies on here! I was just commenting to DH yesterday about what a smart group cyclists must be because of the great posts on this board! :D

Also, I wholeheartedly agree with you, OakLeaf!

[crazycanuck]

:o :o :o

It's a good thing you're paying attention! I'm also happy I can provide entertainment for the masses :p

[Duck on Wheels]

“plus a spelling witch”? :confused::confused::confused:

There are spelling witches? Do witches also have other specialisations? Or is it only witch doctors that have those (e.g. witch pediatricians, witch gerontologists, witch radiologists etc.)?

[Tuckervill]

X²/a² + Y²/b² = 1?

Holy crap, now I have to do algebra, too?!

That's just going too darn far!!!! :eek::mad::D:o:(:confused:

Karen

[Tuckervill]

I'm not an unintelligent doofus, even though I make typing errors. It is to my great horror that I do, because I was once a medical transcriptionist, and before that, I was in charge of all the word processing at my company. (Anyone remember WordPerfect 4.2?)

It's just that I am now over 40 and I have been losing my GOSH DARN EYESIGHT for the last 6 years!

That makes the smoke come out of my ears. If typos make the smoke come out of yours, pour some water on your head, because I just don't care. :D

Karen

[crazycanuck]

Snort..he heee..oh dear...Reminder to self: Do not start Muppet grammar grinch thread & eat whilst reading the replies..

heeeewwwww..breathe..hoooooo..ha ahaaaaa

Thanks for the Friday night laughs :D

[KnottedYet]

X²/a² + Y²/b² = 1?

I WORSHIP YOU!!!!!
I just laughed out loud here, all alone in my apartment, and scared my dog! CC made my evening with her post, you made my morning with yours!

My family background includes waaaaaay too many academics and wordsmiths.... which all lead to turning me into someone with a deep appreciation for creative spelling and wanton disregard of grammatical convention.

[mimitabby]

X²/a² + Y²/b² = 1?

oh, it's been SO LONG since I saw this equation!! how cool! thanks

while we're talking about spelling...

The one that cracks ME up the most is rode and road. And as often as I see the wrong word used here in a sentence, I catch myself doing it too!

Why she rode on the road on a road bike to get down the road I'll never know.
Why should that be so difficult?

I think Kat_H is a little hypersensitive. But as someone else pointed out, if you misspell a word, it's very likely that people who would have read your post or would have understood it, won't!! (and you want us to read it, don't you??)

Maybe it's a generational thing? No one's asking for perfect punctuation or grammar, but to communicate, it is helpful to use conventional spelling, so all can understand; if of course, that was your intent??

Is that unreasonable?

and Knot, GREAT job on the CC typo's!!

[SouthernBelle]

Misuse of words, like road or rode, does bug me. Spelling usually doesn't when I can attribute it to typos rather than ignorance. Sometimes I see a word that is so far off base that I mentally shout, "Look it up!"

[trickytiger]

I admit, I am one of those annoying spelling front-seat drivers.

Most minor spelling and grammar issues I can ignore, save one: the unnecessary apostrophe that gets thrown into words that are plural instead of a contraction or a possessive.

For example, "The road bike's are locked up outside" or "Should the doctor's know what to do?"

(Those are fictional examples). It is verbally jarring to read those sentences, because my brain automatically starts off thinking "bike is" or "something the doctor owns" instead of thinking "two bikes" or "two doctors", and then it doesn't fit with the rest of the sentence. It's minor, but sort of tiring to read.


Okay, rant over. (incomplete sentence)

[Bruno28]

Most minor spelling and grammar issues I can ignore, save one: the unnecessary apostrophe that gets thrown into words that are plural instead of a contraction or a possessive.



There are two types of people - those that know how to use apostrophe's and those that dont :D

[Veronica]

Pedal peddle petal...

[OakLeaf]

Two months ago I sent someone an email in which I accidentally wrote "to" when I meant "too." It was a pure typo, not an intentional misuse of the word, but I'm still embarrassed by it - even though I know the recipient knows that I know the difference.

[mimitabby]

Two months ago I sent someone an email in which I accidentally wrote "to" when I meant "too." It was a pure typo, not an intentional misuse of the word, but I'm still embarrassed by it - even though I know the recipient knows that I know the difference.

we all saw that, Oakleaf, your friend forwarded that email along to the Grammar Hall of Infamy. Maybe some day we'll all be able to forget it. :cool:

[uforgot]

Two months ago I sent someone an email in which I accidentally wrote "to" when I meant "too." It was a pure typo, not an intentional misuse of the word, but I'm still embarrassed by it - even though I know the recipient knows that I know the difference.


Wow Mimi, you saw it too? It made the rounds in Missouri several weeks ago!

[Crankin]

I really DO know that bad spelling and/or grammar is not a sign of poor intelligence. But the confusion of homophones here seems to be getting worse (rode/road, pedal/peddle). It does bug me. I admit it. I still read everything, though. I just wonder if some people write like that at work, or is it because this is a more casual usage situation. Some errors are so consistent over many posts, that I know they are not typos. I make many of those myself, but my browser (Safari) picks them up. Like I tell my students, "Those little red and green lines mean something!"

[mimitabby]

I really DO know that bad spelling and/or grammar is not a sign of poor intelligence. But the confusion of homophones here seems to be getting worse (rode/road, pedal/peddle). It does bug me. I admit it. I still read everything, though. I just wonder if some people write like that at work, or is it because this is a more casual usage situation. Some errors are so consistent over many posts, that I know they are not typos. I make many of those myself, but my browser (Safari) picks them up. Like I tell my students, "Those little red and green lines mean something!"

ah, the spell checker.
Someone I know wrote a short story about someone named Smitty. It's dramatic and sad. Well, somehow the spell checker kicked in and changed some of the Smittys to Smutty. I couldn't help but laugh out loud, as he fixed some of them but not others....

[trickytiger]

ah, the spell checker.
Someone I know wrote a short story about someone named Smitty. It's dramatic and sad. Well, somehow the spell checker kicked in and changed some of the Smittys to Smutty. I couldn't help but laugh out loud, as he fixed some of them but not others....

Oh, you mean like the time I wrote a paper about relative plate motions for a geology class in college, and the dang spell-checker changed every "subduction zone" to "seduction zone" and "orogeny" to "erogeny" (which I failed to notice)? (Gives a new meaning to "thrust fault!")

My prof got a good laugh out of that. :)

[OakLeaf]

Wow Mimi, you saw it too? It made the rounds in Missouri several weeks ago!

Oh no! ;):D:p

[Possegal]

One of my fellow grad school folks left a paper she was working on for her advisor open on a lab computer and went to dinner. We always warned folks to not leave things open on a group computer. In true 12-yr old fasion, my friend and I went through the document randomly inserting words like "boobies". Nothing too graphic, but definitely things to embarrass her.

Ah, I miss acting like a 12 yr old. :)

And yes, she caught it before turning it in, but cursed us for her having to go through it and check for them, as of course spell check didn't catch most of them.

[mimitabby]

Oh, you mean like the time I wrote a paper about relative plate motions for a geology class in college, and the dang spell-checker changed every "subduction zone" to "seduction zone" and "orogeny" to "erogeny" (which I failed to notice)? (Gives a new meaning to "thrust fault!")

My prof got a good laugh out of that. :)

this is way better than Smutty.

and Possegal, I used to put odd things in work reports I wrote to make sure my lead was reading them. :) :D
If he didn't catch them the first time I would tell him he'd better check again.

[Trek420]

That's it. I can know longer post to TE from work. There's know Mozilla hear. ;)

[GLC1968]

I admit that I cannot spell. I have always been missing that gene so I apologize ahead of time for my mistakes as they are bound to happen (spell check or not). That said, I do my best.

I will say that I find things like road/rode and peddle/pedal actually highly distracting when I'm reading a post. I also bristle at the use of 'alot'. Of course, neither of these things really compare to my utter hatred for the non-word 'prolly'. I actually used to work with people who honestly thought that prolly was a word. These were people with advanced degrees in engineering, no less. Ugh.

[mimitabby]

. Of course, neither of these things really compare to my utter hatred for the non-word 'prolly'. I actually used to work with people who honestly thought that prolly was a word. These were people with advanced degrees in engineering, no less. Ugh.

Speaking of non-words, how about welp? Is that like a dog ?
Where did it come from?

[Crankin]

When we first moved back to Massachusetts one of my sons, who was 8, came home and insisted that the word drawer (like dresser drawer) was spelled draw. I was furious, because I knew he had picked this up at school, most likely from a teacher (she had sent something home with this spelling). I had worked so hard to lose all traces of my accent when I moved away and I made sure my kids kept their flat little midwest accents that they got from being born in AZ. I mean, I check every single piece of paper or e mail that goes out to parents. So, I think that some people really *do* think that things like "prolly" and "draw" are real. It depends where you live. I have parents, not much younger than me send me notes with "u" for you. People really don't see what's wrong with this.
We are a dying breed.

[solobiker]

Hi there. I know I can not spell very well, never have been very good at that. I work with someone who always makes up words or shortens them. For example, if you ask her a question she often states " noneya" which means none of your business. She has several words she likes to use.

[redrhodie]

We are a dying breed.

I think we are an evolving breed, and IMing is having a huge impact on both language and culture. My friend, who just taught a college level class, told me kids think email is for old people. It seems a simplification of our language is already occuring, and the complexities of spelling will "prolly" be eliminated by a phonetic and abbreviated new English. IMHO.

Remember when we learned to write cursive. Do kids learn that anymore?

[michelem]

Just read this and thought it appropriate for this thread. Enjoy! :p

Typo on Diplomas Embarrasses Ohio Principal

A Cleveland-area principal says he's embarrassed his students got proof of their "educaiton" on their high school diplomas.

Westlake High School officials misspelled "education" on the diplomas distributed last weekend. It's been the subject of mockery on local radio.

Principal Timothy Freeman says he sent back the diplomas once to correct another error. When the diplomas came back, no one bothered to check things they thought were right the first time.

The publisher has reprinted the diplomas a second time and sent them to the 330 graduates.

[kelownagirl]

Just read this and thought it appropriate for this thread. Enjoy! :p

Typo on Diplomas Embarrasses Ohio Principal

A Cleveland-area principal says he's embarrassed his students got proof of their "educaiton" on their high school diplomas.

Westlake High School officials misspelled "education" on the diplomas distributed last weekend. It's been the subject of mockery on local radio.

Principal Timothy Freeman says he sent back the diplomas once to correct another error. When the diplomas came back, no one bothered to check things they thought were right the first time.

The publisher has reprinted the diplomas a second time and sent them to the 330 graduates.


LOL!!!

Our principal once wrote an blurb in the school news letter about lice that said something along the lines of "students would be checked by the pubic health nurse." And this was a pretty straight-laced principal...

[Veronica]

Remember when we learned to write cursive. Do kids learn that anymore?

Yes.


V.

[kelownagirl]

Yes.


V.

I teach it in grade 3.

[OakLeaf]

Well, English was written for some 800 years before spelling was standardized, so it may be that standardized spelling is (was?) just a passing fad. Perhaps something intended all along to stratify society, or provide evidence of a writer's social class to a reader who might not be acquainted with him (since in those days it would've been almost exclusively "him").

I wonder about the text messaging though. Most of us are probably part of that "fastest-growing demographic" :D and most of us have probably been taught by our younger relatives how to use the predictive spelling feature. While kids four or five years ago might've used abbreviations and numbers to substitute for word sounds, nowadays it's quicker most of the time to key in the actual words.

I read a science fiction story a couple of years back - I can't even remember the plot, but there'd been some kind of disaster so the computers weren't accessible, and the thing about it was that everyone in the community knew how to read, but no one knew how to write. Interesting thought. I very, very rarely write any more, as in marking characters on a fiber-based storage medium. The closest I come to it is entering Graffiti! characters on my Palm.

[spotlightmama]

I think we are an evolving breed, and IMing is having a huge impact on both language and culture. My friend, who just taught a college level class, told me kids think email is for old people. It seems a simplification of our language is already occuring, and the complexities of spelling will "prolly" be eliminated by a phonetic and abbreviated new English. IMHO.

Remember when we learned to write cursive. Do kids learn that anymore?

Agreed. The English language is constantly evolving. What we speak today would horrify past "sticklers." Think of "goodbye," which originated from "God be with you." That doesn't seem to be so different from prolly.

But I do hate the word "prolly"; maybe because it makes think of Proles, which makes me thing of 1984, which always makes me a little sick. :p

[KnottedYet]

I remember something from one of my Shakespeare classes about how many different ways Shakespeare spelled his own name.

There was a bit of discussion about how some folks thought this was proof that there were several people writing under the nom de plume "Shakespeare", but the upshot was that at that time creative spelling was the norm, even for one's own name.