Horrendous spelling on ATS... a sign of the times?

Well Even the smartest with high IQ could have Ex, Dyslexia or adhd...but thing is...people with high enough IQ understand those things...

Originally posted by Diplomat

Sorry that you don't like it.

Don't apologize.
And don't show pity.
Should some of our peers choose to wallow in their own ignorance, let them.
Although, I'm tired of people standing up for those who wholly subscribe to the philosophy of "it's everyone else's fault but mine."
It disgusts me and I weep for the future of our country...nay...our planet.

Spell check has been my friend. I remember a year ago or so reading a thread on ATS regarding the average age of ATS users and it led me to believe a large majority here are quite young. It's great that so many young people are willing to get in here and take some hits that might otherwise be soft-balled if the one doing the hitting knew how young that person was.

Having a gender neutral name is interesting too, especially being female because I think people are rougher, more abrasive and combative if they think I am a man and I actually appreciate that and find it educational. At the same time I tend to think less of posters with sexy fantasy figures as avatars..., sorry and I know it's prejudicial but I just can't help it.

If it weren't for spell check I'd have had at least three spelling errors above. Cheers.

I think it's a sign of a lot of things but you're right. I've been noticing that too.

I think what's not helping is, the lack of NEEDING to spell (or remembering phone numbers anymore) now a days.
People don't HAVE to learn to spell, spell-check does that for 'em!
(eye roll)

Also, when people text or write emails, they're tapping out words in an almost cryptic-like short hand. So again...the art of spelling is ancient now as was, the art of writing by hand (another, eye roll)

Society is living in a: fast paced, instantaneously rewarding, self gratifying computerized era now and....it'll probably only get worse because soon, they'll be able to upload their own brain!!

reply to post by ChrisCrikey


I'm not going to lie, I use spell check as well.
However, at least you make a conscious effort to improve rather than blaming others for your failings, I respect that.
Those who just give up and allow themselves to hold others responsible for their failings...well...I find that unforgivable. I am quite fond of this site, and I would assume my peers are as well. Everything posted here is out in the open and archived for posterity. What would successive generations begin to think should they see how vapid their predecessors were? Progress would come to a grinding halt, and the path to illumination would be forever roadblocked. As I've stated previously, words precede thought...without learning (and being able to adequately express) a multitude of words, then you would be unable to articulate thoughts in a concise manner. Education is of the utmost importance and those who take it for granted, or shirk it altogether succeed in nothing more than raising my ire. I can not respect people like that. I'm not obligated to, so therefore, I will not.

There are several things which currently contribute heavily tobad spelling and grammar, I believe.

First is a lack of reading in printed form. People who read books are able to spell better because they see how words are spelled properly and with repetition that reinforces the information in your brain. How many people today actually read books? Not nearly as many as in the past.

Second, the internet actually reinforces bad spelling. People see someone mispell a word and, if they do not know the correct spelling, automatically assume that it is spelled correctly. Commonly mispelled words on ATS include 'possible' when they mean 'possibly', 'bias' when they mean 'biased', etc. If you don't have the knowledge to know the difference, you will likely assume that it is correct. Also, many ATSer's are outraged at the "spelling Nazi's", yet if someone corrected these people in the thread, they might actually learn something new. When it comes to spelling, many would rather embrace ignorance.

Third, lately I see a lot of articles from newspapers and magazines with spelling errors and bad grammar. These people should all have English-related degrees, and yet even they have gotten worse.

Last, no one should be able to graduate from high school without a decent vocabulary and spelling. Today's jobs require good English skills more than ever before. For college graduates, there is even less excuse.

There are more reasons, I am sure, but these are most glaring to me.

I have an IQ of 145 but the one subject I am bad at is English, and its only one part of an English class, grammar. I had tutors until 6th grade and the only reason my grades were low in English, or history, was due to my grammar. Why exactly they counted grammar in history class I have no clue.

Just saying bad grammar isn't necessarily a sign of humans dumbing down. It could just mean that younger people are getting on this website. How would that be a bad thing. Young people have great imaginations, which is not something people should not take fore-granted.

My two cents,

Pajjikor

reply to post by Diplomat


Would you find it offensive if I said your avatar is creeping the crap out of me? It's very disturbing but then again, you probably know that, right?

Hope I spelled everything correctly because I'd hate to have your avatar scold me. Because if that happened, I would need to seek aggressive therapy for many years!

Smile~

Now that I'm quite old, I've noticed that I'm repeating the spelling mistakes of my childhood, which is interesting to me and in the process brings a lot of childhood memories back, which I find interesting and enjoyable also

Most of all though, I'm just less anal these days, generally

Used to be that I couldn't stand the house to be untidy, couldn't stand for the lawn to be overgrown, couldn't stand for clothing to fit incorrectly. So I used up quite large amounts of my life in rectifying those things. And by the same token, I would scrabble for a dictionary if I felt unsure of the spelling of a word, even within my ATS posts

These days, if a word seems 'wrong' to me (and even simple. three letter words can appear 'wrong' sometimes, lol) then I substitute another word and keep on typing

I'm just more relaxed about a lot of things these days. And I don't mind that. Not as if an incorrectly spelled word can't be understood

...i think i'll be politically improper on this deal and say the reason why some folks cant spell worth a hoot is because those folks are MALES of the LAZY species...


...seriously, have you ever checked out the demographics of ats?... its largely male (not to be confused with males that are large - totally different species)...


...back in the 80s, i worked with my ex-husband and ALL DAY LONG he constantly asked me how to spell one word after another... he has a 4yr college education... one day he ask me how to spell something and i shot him... just kiddin', lmao... what really happened is that my usually sunny disposition disappeared and i told him he was lazy and that if he wanted to keep his family jewels purty, we needed a new deal... i gave him two choices: he could run over to walgreens and buy a pocket dictionary OR he could start paying me 5 bucks cash for every word i spelled for him... he went to walgreens...

reply to post by Pajjikor


Not intending to sound rude (but I'm going to anyway), no one really cares what your IQ is...this isn't a competition.
The intelligence quotient system is not only poorly structured and administered, but it only measures what you've already learned, not what you are capable of learning...not to mention you have a 1 in 4 chance to get a right answer when you don't even understand the question...all in all...pretty good odds.
Grammar is important in a history class because you're communicating via a written medium. History teaches us where we went wrong, if it is recorded improperly, it leaves room for misinterpretation.
So, at the risk of baiting you (with your 145 IQ)...what does "fore-granted" mean?

Give me a break, I have horrendous spelling, and just enough pride to use spell check and had College level skills in the 6th grade. yada yada yada big deal...

What's really bad is the news I heard today 1 in 5 fourth graders in my home state is at grade reading level and 1 in 3 in the country is at grade level reading. The degeneration among the youth is a most foreboding sign. And they are not stupid, just untrained...

[edit on 25-3-2010 by DChenO]

haha yeaha im alwayas making typos haha

The changing vernacular has always been a fascinating topic for me.

Both my teenagers seem to feel there is nothing wrong with interchanging the words 'then' and 'than'.

They both cannot grasp the variations of 'where', 'were' and 'we're'.

I won't even go into the which, witch conundrum.

Too and to is also a bugbear of mine.......

BUT.....maybe it is a sign of the times because if I want technical help they are the first people I go to.

My 13 year old just taught me how to operate my new microwave.

He also showed me how to activate bluetooth on my mobile.

My 17 year old recently taught a bunch of baby boomers how to use and put songs on an ipod........

For my generation (X), I feel there was more importance put on language as we were going through the school system.

For our kids - well, there are way too many distractions, especially technologically, to even consider precise language a priority. Now that texting has taken off, more non-real words are becoming words for the kids of today.

eg; my 17 year old teen actually said 'lol' out loud, when she found a joke particularly funny......and out of the two of them, she's the avid reader!

My two cents, cheers.

reply to post by TwoPhish


Of course it's offensive, because the actual reality of what it represents is itself offensive. The truth hurts.

reply to post by Diplomat



Edited

One of my children spells a lot as alot

When she was quite young, it was cute and of course I tried to persuade her to separate

Nevertheless, it continues to this day. And I've seen many others of her generation using the same spelling. I'm not entirely sure now that they weren't taught to spell ' a lot ' as alot



.


[edit on 25-3-2010 by Dock9]

reply to post by Dock9


You just quoted me where I was talking about my avatar, not the subject of this thread.

reply to post by Diplomat


Oh, I see

Ok

And yes, I can see what you mean (if I imagine the context)

I'll delete the above post

I take pride in my ability to communicate intelligently, including spleling correctly and,grammatically, knowing who I'm speaking to. Also being able to laugh at myself!!

Seriously....Einstein was an awful speller. Perhaps it's not the spelling or the grammar...it's the editing!! Are we just lazy?.....in a hurry?.....


Jason

reply to post by hthjason


Agreed. It's the editing in many instances, I think. And the speed element

For example, how often have you written and Sent a post, only to discover when the page refreshes that your post contained spelling (and other) mistakes which you simply did not see when you gave it quick perusal prior to Sending ?