Sorry, I know I shouldn't let it get to me but...

[Over The Hill]

You said Bill Haley not Big Joe Turner, I think you're being a bit Flip Flop and Fly!

I would come up with an amusing response if I understood!

 

[Sam Kennedy]

I should of read this before I made my other post

 

[Slowgrind]

Still getting to you then?

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Yes - but we are allowed to get annoyed and pedantic at Rap

Rap artistes tend to be very good with language and have their own rigidly enforced linguistic rules. John Humphries - of all people - is good on this very subject in one of his books.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Unfortunately Debian you seem to be in a minority here. The technique commonly used by people who are happy to stand by and watch standards eroded is to ridicule the person upholding those standards as old-fashioned and fuddy-duddy. The same technique is used to shame and bully people who try to uphold standards in all aspects of life and society so that in the end they just shut up and despair quietly.

As an aside, good clear English has an important commercial value. My job involves export selling a complex product to people for whom English is not their first language and for 30 years now I've watched commercial misunderstandings arising because one or both parties didn't express themselves clearly. Bad communication affects relationships and can cost companies a lot of money, as any lawyer will tell you.

Agreed. Trouble is, I'm not as good a pedant as I should like. Having said that, I don't mind having my errors pointed-out, as it's the only way to improve. There is a precision in the English language that if properly used serves us very well indeed. What is scary is how many foreigners that I communicate regularly with, have a far better grasp over our own language than most people I work with.

 

[Fnaar]

What is scary is how many foreigners that I communicate regularly with, have a far better grasp over our own language than most people I work with.

Innit, though!

 

[Andy in Sig]

Agreed. Trouble is, I'm not as good a pedant as I should like. Having said that, I don't mind having my errors pointed-out, as it's the only way to improve. There is a precision in the English language that if properly used serves us very well indeed. What is scary is how many foreigners that I communicate regularly with, have a far better grasp over our own language than most people I work with.

All languages are capable of great precision although the means of achieving precision might lie in different parts of different languages e.g. you can be monumentally efficient and precise in English with our verbs which although structurally pretty complex, enable us to place events very precisely in time.

Other languages manage to achieve precision in other ways.

 

[Rhythm Thief]

Sure I'm one of the culprits but who cares it's only a forum,not a letter or job application.
Just like the more frequent spelling mistakes. loose for lose etc,you just learn to ignore it.
I tend to type how I speak,it's just easier.

It may well be easier for you to type, but it's harder for us to read. Why should we put more effort in when you can't be bothered?

 

[Debian]

Sure I'm one of the culprits but who cares it's only a forum,not a letter or job application.
Just like the more frequent spelling mistakes. loose for lose etc,you just learn to ignore it.
I tend to type how I speak,it's just easier.

It may well be easier for you to type, but it's harder for us to read. Why should we put more effort in when you can't be bothered?

Quite. It's just laziness and lack of consideration for others. Anyway, isn't it more difficult to remember to write differently in different situations than simply to adopt one style and stick with it? Why not just write correctly in the first place? After all it's no more difficult to type lose than loose. Or to type 've rather than [space]of.

I'd also like to repeat a comment I made earlier. Some contributors pointed out that others may be dyslexic, may not be primary English speakers, etc and then use this as an excuse for all and sundry to write incorrectly. Well surely if we are writing with the needs of those who are, for whatever reason less able in mind then we should make every effort to be precise and accurate so that our posts are more easily understood by all?

 

[mr_hippo]

Quite. It's just laziness and lack of consideration for others. Anyway, isn't it more difficult to remember to write differently in different situations than simply to adopt one style and stick with it? Why not just write correctly in the first place? After all it's no more difficult to type lose than loose. Or to type 've rather than [space]of.

I'd also like to repeat a comment I made earlier. Some contributors pointed out that others may be dyslexic, may not be primary English speakers, etc and then use this as an excuse for all and sundry to write incorrectly. Well surely if we are writing with the needs of those who are, for whatever reason less able then we should make every effort to be precise and accurate so that our posts are more easily understood by all?

Whilst agreeing that some posters may be dyslexic, others are using it as an excuse and if you check their other posts you will find that there is nothing wrong with them. Has there been a great increase in dyslexia since my schooldays? I think not.
One poster using 'of' instead of 'have' claims that it was a typo but most of his posts contain the same mistake!
"It's only a forum, it doesn't matter!" Oh, but it does. Translate that to other areas of you life. You've been overcharged by £5 - "It's only a fiver, it doesn't matter!" The LBS forgot to tighten your QR lever - "It's only a lever, it doesn't matter!" Your wife forgets your birthday - "It's only a birthday, it doesn't matter!"
"I was pushed for time!" So am I so why should I waste my time to decipher your post?"
"You know what I mean." Do I?

 

[Andy in Sig]

Mr Hippo,

have you been away? I thought of you last night while clearing my desk and I came across the certificate from C+ days which was given to those of us who participated in your three (or not) ducks thread.

 

[swee'pea99]

Page 11? Yegods! If you like 'discussing' this kind of nonsense, you ought to check out the BBC Messageboards - they love it!

 

[steve52]

i suspect its grumpy pld man syndrome, i have it too, but jumping to the colclusion that the writer is a bit thick is not on, they may have english as a second language, like me they may be poorly taught, but the one i loath is the term texted, i though it sould be text as in i have text you , i will text you but never mind cycle you blues away

 

[snapper_37]

I tend to type how I speak,it's just easier.

I've never quite got that. If I typed how I spoke, it would be a lot harder as it would include a lot of ay, yow, dow, bab and yam yam.

Assuming you speak English, why shouldn't you type in English?

 

[potsy]

I've never quite got that. If I typed how I spoke, it would be a lot harder as it would include a lot of ay, yow, dow, bab and yam yam.

Assuming you speak English, why shouldn't you type in English?

Are you telling me that's not English?