The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread [Merged] | PUNT ROAD END | Richmond Tigers Forum
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The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread [Merged]

Re: The Spelling Thread

LeeToRainesToRoach said:
3) Nobody's getting excited, it's more of a chance for people to air their grievances - for some, spelling and grammatical clangers are akin to the sound of fingernails scraping on a blackboard, but they have to grin and bear it as it's poor form to point out such errors if the speaker/writer's intention is clear.

No-one should be offended if it is pointed out to them that they have spelt a word wrong. Why be satisfied with poor spelling and grammar when it takes little effort to learn the correct way?

Mobile phones and texting are ruining the English language.
 
Re: The Spelling Thread

Freezer said:
No-one should be offended if it is pointed out to them that they have spelt a word wrong. Why be satisfied with poor spelling and grammar when it takes little effort to learn the correct way?

Mobile phones and texting are ruining the English language.

Many of us nit-pickers on this thread would agree with you. However, it is abundantly clear that the pointing out of spelling/grammatical errors is a no-no on the main boards.

P.S. Anyone else become hyper-aware of their own spelling/grammar when posting on this particular thread ;D?
 
Re: The Spelling Thread

Panthera tigris FC said:
P.S. Anyone else become hyper-aware of their own spelling/grammar when posting on this particular thread ;D?

Definitely. I re-read each post about 6 times.

Big Brother is watching! ;D
 
Re: The Spelling Thread

Freezer said:
No-one should be offended if it is pointed out to them that they have spelt a word wrong. Why be satisfied with poor spelling and grammar when it takes little effort to learn the correct way?

Depends how it's pointed out though Freezer. I find this thread interesting because it's about spelling and grammar in general rather than it being made personal. Some PREnders have been quite offended when their spelling and grammar has been highlighted on the forum and fair enough. Not everyone has the same education opportunities and learning abilities and some tolerance is surely better than losing posters.

I've asked a couple of serial offenders to pm the person if they think it's their lot in life to play school teacher but they still persist in making a public deal about it. It's sad really that they obviously think more of an error than what the person actually has to say, and sadder still that they feel the need to single them out publicly for it. It’s interesting how they single out people whose posts they don’t agree with but never highlight their friends' errors.

I am queen of the typos, and I'm sure my spelling and grammar are far from perfect into the bargain, but I should still be able to post here without being made feel I'm a lesser person because of it. Everyone deserves that consideration. :)
 
Re: The Spelling Thread

Panthera tigris FC said:
However, it is abundantly clear that the pointing out of spelling/grammatical errors is a no-no on the main boards.

Bearing in mind that a couple of people actually left the forum because they felt humiliated when their spelling handicap was singled out, do you think it adds anything to the discussion to publicly point out the errors Panthera? Everyone makes mistakes, even the grammar :police: , but imo the forum wouldn't be much fun to read if they were all highlighted.
 
Re: The Spelling Thread

rosy23 said:
Bearing in mind that a couple of people actually left the forum because they felt humiliated when their spelling handicap was singled out, do you think it adds anything to the discussion to publicly point out the errors Panthera? Everyone makes mistakes, even the grammar :police: , but imo the forum wouldn't be much fun to read if they were all highlighted.

I am in 100% agreement with you on this issue Rosy. Play the ball, not the man, so to speak.

That is why this thread is good....it is nothing personal, just a place to air grammar-grievances ;D.
 
Re: The Spelling Thread

I never intended this to be a thread where every single spelling/grammar mistake was pointed out in an effort to publicly humiliate posters.

There are several words that are spelt incorrectly time and time again by loads of posters - I simply wanted a thread where these words could be highlighted. No mention of a poster's name need ever be seen on here.

For example, the use of the words to, too and two.

Clearly, 'two' is the number 2.

A good way of remembering the difference between the others is to exaggerate their use.

'Too' is used when something is tooooo big, tooooo hot, tooooo small, tooooo hard, tooooo far, etc.

'To' is generally used for all the leftovers.

If there are exeptions to this, I'd be glad to hear them. And if no-one gives a toss, then fine. But if it helps one person improve their grammar, then great.

(Apologies for any offence caused!)
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

Freezer, firstly, massive kudos to you for the thread. I AM an English teacher and internet forums are absolutely the bane of my existence. Some "errors" are just laughable, but I used to put most of them down to laziness, (which I don't mind as I know how lazy I am) but now I'm not so sure. Text messaging, email, forums, lack of reading, etc...are contributing to an ever growing malaise. I don't mind that in certain medias a style or genre of English develops and is used. However my fear is that these styles are creeping over into general use. Many many young people simply don't know any better when it comes to spelling and grammar. Or is it some sort of competition to prove who is the stupidest, and therefore the coolest? This is not just limited to English. I live in Japan and Japanese students grasp of grammar and the all important kanji knowledge is plummeting. Many young people in Japan don't even use words or characters in text messages anymore, only emoticons and symbols. In a way this is fascinating. A completely new language is born virtually overnight. But at what cost?
Language IS supposed to change and be dynamic, but the speed at which it is changing at the moment is frightening, confusing and often utterly cringeworthy. And why the hell does CRINGEWORTHY have a red spell checker line underneath it as I type! Freaking Americans no doubt!
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

Surely an English Teacher would use more paragraphs to make his post easier to read. ;D
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

Surely an English teacher wouldn't use brackets after a comma.
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

Isn't commencing a sentence with "But" or "And" also a no no?
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

jb03 said:
Isn't commencing a sentence with "But" or "And" also a no no?

Correct! These words are conjunctions and should not be used to begin a sentence.
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

And shouldn't it be ....

"Japanese students' grasp of grammar" ?

(note the apostrophe after the s in students - possessive plural).
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

My pet hate is the Americans refusal to use the suffix 'ly'

As in "I'm hurt real bad."
 
Re: The Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation Thread

Not strictly on the subject but still annoying is the superfluous phrase "going forward" being added into or at the end of sentences.

It seems to have become the latest jargon of high flying corporate wannabes like Eddie McGuire. Examples include "We at Collingwood would be prepared to play some of our away games on the Gold Coast in the future going forward".

Do a Google search of eddie mcguire going forward and have a look.

The funny thing is that Channel 9 only seemed to go backwards when Eddie was trying to run it.