(Untitled)

[laynamarya]

I've come to realize that I don't trust people who can't spell. When I was doing the internet dating thing (which I highly recommend, incidentally, even though I ultimately married a guy I met on the street), I weeded out all the lousy spellers. And every time I made an exception, I regretted it five minutes into the date. Granted, not all the

Comments

[jilsynchro]

I work with someone who I know for a fact is quite intelligent and thoughtful, and yet every time he texts us (typically regarding lunch), I am like...why can't you spell the words, dude? It's occasionally so far from standard English that we have to work as a group to decipher what he is saying. It really caught me off guard the first time. I think it's that he's a computer person and "they" often speak in abbreviations?

[skimtony]

I don't think that's a good excuse. A technical vocation doesn't excuse someone's disregard for communication. A lot of people used to think abbreviated expressions were cool, though. I think it's more a cultural (or lack thereof) phenomenon among youth than technical people.

[skimtony]

I have a sort of sliding scale. If you confuse a few homonyms or misuse commas, I will probably let that slide if your post has good content. Likewise, I've picked up a knack for spotting English written with foreign grammar. But if you are deliberately being difficult, I probably won't make the effort to decipher what you meant.

The profanity is rough, though. Bad punctuation is one thing, but as soon as you start throwing curses, your argument looks weak. Use facts, not swears!

[skimtony]

So, I realized something related to this issue while installing windows** at my parents' house: I am more likely to overlook spelling mistakes, and especially random profanity, from someone whose field of expertise involves swinging a hammer, as opposed to e.g. sociological debate. For example, if someone is describing were ranting about lazy people that don't install proper supports or insulation, I'll overlook the spelling and the cursing, but a rant about lazy people collecting unemployment insurance had better be precise or i won't bother taking it seriously.

**Pella windows, not Microsoft Windows. That distinction lead to some confusion in a previous conversation.

[chantie_zuljin]

I think your post brings up an important realization which is good for everyone to remember. I get easily irritated by spelling errors, yet I also make spelling errors when I'm typing fast. I was looking at a cook book today and felt completely insulted that there were numerous spelling errors; so offended was I, that I almost felt like the book wasn't worth the money. Yet, the misspellings didn't change the fact that I could still identify what the ingredients were or that the recipe was still delicious. I had to set aside my elitist mindset and realize that I'd already purchased the book and that the recipes were still worthwhile even if they apparently didn't use spellcheck prior to publishing.

[skimtony]

I'm not sure correctness is too much to ask for in a published cookbook. If they're sloppy with spelling, did the editors miss any errors in units (T vs. t)? I recognize that the work may still have some value, but like brown M&M's, spelling errors in recipes and instructions are a warning to look for other errors.