Spelling and grammar.

[ArtificialOne]

I wanted to whine about something, but then I forgot..Oh yeah! I have to do laundry and typing on a laptop sucks.....lol

[Momento Mori]

Having never corrected anyone's spelling or grammar, I will have to agree with Humane that reading misspelled words is fingernails on the blackboard of my soul. There IS a difference between "jsut", "teh", or purposefully misspelled words, the obvious missed typo, and illiteracy.

Four inches. That is the distance between the home row of most keyboards to the F7 key. The one that will not replace an education, but as least call into question misspelled words. And if you are in the habit of misspelling words and then using leetspeek, keep in mind that some of us can also read Russian and 1337.

As far as this being/not being a literary site, keep in mind that just because no politician follows our Constitution, it doesn't excuse them from it.

I would post some of my poetry on the site, but frankly don't want people not to enjoy it.

[MotherofMercies]

Originally Posted by Tha Duckman

You know what pisses me off? When people nit pick about spelling and grammar where it's not needed. Now, if you were to hand in a news paper article or a thesis or what ever, then yeah, spelling, grammar and punctuation should all be correct, but on a forum? It really does not matter.
For the record, I'm obsessive compulsive, and one of those things I'm obsessive compulsive about is the issue of spelling. grammar and punctuation. BUT I do realise that some people are either shit at these things, or don't give a flying fuck at a rolling donut about it, so I leave them to their own devices. Just so long as mine is OK, so what. At least I know that I have the brains to put together a sentence properly.
My question is, why do people on here give so much of a crap? I know that this is, essentially, a literary forum, but I've been on furms where it's all about gaming, and there are people on it who haven't played video games since the Amstrad was obsolete. why on Earth does it matter so much?

Duckman you're my hero.

[MotherofMercies]

Originally Posted by killer_asian_Dax

So much for punctuation.



forums





Mwa ha haaaaa!!!!


Ok, I'm done.

I bet you got hard on from doing that. No. Really.

[655322]

I can wtrie a whole pagrarpah of melispst words but you sulhod be albe to raed it anyawy. Thsee makitses a'nert even phoeintc. Graammr mietksas are the ones taht cause cfounsion in undnaiernstdg.

I admit, I'm appalled at some of the spelling mistakes I see and make. But yea, to pick out a word in a paragraph that may be misspelt, and doesn't alter the readers ability to understand, seems a bit precocious. Unless it's a book, poem or thesis you are talking about.

[PersephoneX]

Ok, my bitch...People here care about spelling and grammar because text is the only form of communication on this site. Please just show some respect. If you have issues with it, then copy whatever you're typing into a Word window and spellcheck it before posting. Just try and make an effort. Some people here actually care.
I've asked you nicely.

[killer_asian_Dax]

Originally Posted by MotherofMercies

I bet you got hard on from doing that. No. Really.

Oh god! If ONLY I had a penis!.....If only! ^_^ mmmmm........

[Miss_Hazie_Lane]

I must say, in the end this entire thing is silly. In the end no one will sway anyone else, and nothing will change; people will still make stupid mistakes, other people will still make rude and asinine corrections, and I will still pretend that I'm above getting involved.

[Valerius]

That's why it's in the 'Whining' section. ^_^ Nothing ever gets solved by simply whining. Ever seen a protest actually work? /sarcasm/

[MotherofMercies]

Originally Posted by killer_asian_Dax

Oh god! If ONLY I had a penis!.....If only! ^_^ mmmmm........

Like I said. I bet you got a hard on. Could I be insinuating something? My fuck! I think I could be. And stop with the over used little faces, they irk me (and other people) more than bad spelling and grammar.

[LaBelleDameSansMerci]

I think that if a post is easily understandable, it's good. A couple typos don't matter, and a minor grammar error or two doesn't hurt.

Extremely archaic language or long words shouldn't be used unless there isn't a shorter/newer word that fits.

And, just as an aside because I feel like complaining: comma splices are the most irritating thing ever. They drive rough twigs into the writing area (whatever that is) of my brain.


A cool set of rules to follow from George Orwell's Politics and the English Language (good read, by the way. I recommend to all):

1. Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

These rules are especially good for formal writing.

[cradle]

Originally Posted by Super Spright

...is that part of the joke? Where you spell pulchritudinous wrong?

Partly. I know, it was a bad joke, I'll admit that.

[DarkHeartedDemoness]

I don't think it does anyone any good to flame people for spelling or grammar, unless your intent is to drive the person away... And then it only works if they actually give a fuck what people tell them on the internet. I generally only resort to flaming if a.) I already have a beef with that person and it's part of my rant or b.) if I've kindly corrected them and they refuse to make any effort whatsoever.

Correcting people, however, is totally ok. Many of the people here are aspiring authors, and raising our post-quality expectations can help them learn to write properly. If someone wants me to read their posts, and to respect them, they ought to put effort into their posts. If they sincerely don't know how to spell certain words, that's fine. If English isn't their first language, that's also fine. If they're dyslexic or have some other (valid) learning disorder, that's fine. But if they're just being lazy, I don't have any reason to read their post and be respectful of it. They're not being respectful of me.

This site may not be as literary as it was, and the literary aspect seems to just keep getting further and further away, but it seems to me like it's just general politeness that would inspire someone to put some thought into what they write. It's rude and it's disrespectful to just haphazardly write whatever the fuck you want in a stream-of-consciousness style. Especially on a forum, where you're interacting with other people.

[Shyantra]

Go DHD! I totally get what your saying, and totally I agree in it. Somethings are just bothersome to others, while spelling is bothersome to the rest. Like for example:

When I read a book, I am constantly picking out grammatical errors, spelling corrections, and wrong usage of words just out of habit.

So maybe Duck you can give some of our brains a break, please?

[Panther]

Originally Posted by HumanePain

It would return to a literary site if everyone did their best to compose well written posts.

No, the only way it would 'return to a literary site' would be if we talked about literature more than anything else. As things are, we don't, so essentially we're not a literary site in anything but name.

However, my sig does say a lot about my preferences, though I don't usually flame, since I'm a horrible typer myself.

[Shyantra]

Originally Posted by Panther

However, my sig does say a lot about my preferences, though I don't usually flame, since I'm a horrible typer myself.

But the posts you do make are not sloppily written, even though they do have abbreviated words.

[HumanePain]

Originally Posted by Panther

No, the only way it would 'return to a literary site' would be if we talked about literature more than anything else. As things are, we don't, so essentially we're not a literary site in anything but name.

Agreed. I have voiced my fear of this in other posts.

[Panther]

Why fear it? The board is what it is. It wasn't a literary boards when I joined, which was a long time ago. So it's not exactly a change.

I'm not trying to be mean, but why does that make you fear?

[Mir]

Thats fair enough. Myself, It took me a week or so to realize the same thing. It wasn't really a Literary forum and it still isn't. So what? Not many care really. People are too busy posting to everything but the Literature threads.

[HumanePain]

(looks at banner ad of Spiderman Action Figure at top of page).

(sigh) Perhaps fear is the wrong word.

I envision this place as not only better than VF, but also better than fictionpress, fanfiction and other places where writers can post their stories, mainly because we not only like to write and read "dark" compositions, but we have a wonderful camaraderie superior to those aforementioned places. I see the place we can become.
But my vision is not anyone else's vision, I understand this, and so thank you Panther for reminding me that "the board is what it is".

"Frustration" might be a better word.

[Mir]

*Locks you in a bear hug to help you accept things the way they are and move on*

[HumanePain]

(smiles while being hugged, sits tall at keyboard with chin upright, and blogs onward...)

[MollyMac]

That list reminded me of what my old Lit prof used to say...

"Never use a large word when a diminuitive one will suffice"

[Shyantra]

Diminutive is a fancier way of saying small.

[Panther]

Sarcasm doesn't work too well when it's typed out. I think that's why smilies were first used.

Or, yano, laziness.