Does grammar matter?

Jamie - posted on 03/05/2013

Is this the one? I dunno, I understood his language just fine. (But in a past life, I was the snowflake with junk in da trunk.) He definitely annoyed Georgy.

I definitely find it interesting that Rodman had what sounds like a genuine conversation with King Jong Un, not just a diplomatic receiving line. Seems a bit odd. But truth is stranger than fiction. When it comes down to it, Jong Un is just this young guy, you know, who probably likes basketball and possibly idolized DR a bit.

Oh, and he just happens to have threatened the US and has a hideous track record of human rights abuses. I don't know who Dennis Rodman is friends with, but being friends with a murderer, as George put it, didn't seem to phase him.

Janice - posted on 03/05/2013

Case in point, did anyone happen to see the Dennis Rodman, George Stephanopolis interview? Does anyone even know what the heck DR was saying? Learn the english language!

Jamie - posted on 03/05/2013

Of course! My Grammar always mattered to me, even when she got a bit loopy there at the end.

snicker

I harshly judge my own language and grammar and it bugs me to the point that I'll go edit my posts if I find unintended typos. I try not to judge others as harshly...unless they're getting paid to write then I feel free to judge away.

I have had jobs where I corrected my boss' memos because they were just pitiful. (Not exactly a great tack for making friends with the boss, that one. It was on the main bulletin board and I graded it in red ink.) I've seen especially unreadable stuff all over the internet.

I do have a hard time taking people seriously when they write like a third grader. There are times when I give up trying to make sense of the content. My pet peeve is one long paragraph with nearly no punctuation.

And English isn't everybody's first language. I'm sure I sound like an ass when I translate my words to another language, trusting that a program will parse my meanings accurately.

There has been a shift in the zeitgeist, however. People for the most part don't see language as a precise tool, they tend to use it like a shotgun. Texting doesn't promote spelling or grammar - it's all about speed and efficiency. If you get the point of what is intended (mostly) then most people feel that that's good enough. And who needs to spell when there's auto correct? lol

The best thing I can tell you is to teach your own children. If you can, teach someone else's children. Teach your children to teach other children. Don't worry about the future...do something about it.

Angela - posted on 08/07/2012

Yes, grammar matters. So does spelling, punctuation and syntax. A huge number of people don't know how to use apostrophes correctly.

I don't mind reading a long post (I often make long posts myself) but I hate a long post that hasn't been paragraphed!

Now it may be an informal kind of media, using Chat Forums on the Internet, but guess what? You're PUBLISHING your writings! They'll be there forever! And they represent YOU! This is the YOU that other people will "meet" online, they'll probably never meet you in person so this is what forms their impression of you. It's a bit like a clever, wise, well-qualified & experienced person going to a job interview without getting a shower and wearing old, shabby clothes instead of dressing smartly. You may have been the very best candidate for the job but all they will remember is the first impression - that you were scruffy and you stank!

Of course anyone can make a small error, either in typing or spelling etc ... I'm sure I make a few myself along the way. But regular posts that are full of errors all the time are very noticeable. Spelling or punctuation mistakes seem to jump out and do a dance - well that's what I find!!

Kristi - posted on 08/07/2012

Michelle--



Apparently, this problem has been tugging on you, as well. Otherwise, you wouldn't be on here criticizing people who still think grammar is important. If you are so offended by it, don't reply.

Michelle - posted on 08/06/2012

you mean, you people are still tugging on this grammar problem....oh no, I guess, i have a grammar problem. I didn't capitalize the first word and I didn't capitize " I "...

Vegemite - posted on 07/13/2012

hahah Yes, grammar matters.



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Beth - posted on 07/09/2012

Dear Shelley,

In case you have yet to notice, most people on blogs such as these are not members of Mensa. I frankly do not care if someone chooses to sound like an idiot. More often than not, I would choose to not read their post. Why do you expect more from people?

This: "I think yur rite. it bug me 2 c all duh bad spullers owt der. i tink we all knead more edukasion on how 2 tipe." cracks me up! Thanks Sarah, you brightened my day!

Rhonda - posted on 07/03/2012

not at all!

Kristi - posted on 06/28/2012

Dora--

It did make a huge difference! But back then it drove us kids nuts! lol I can't tell you how many times I've thanked her since then though. I am now doing it to my daughter, who, incidentally, does it to her friends. I get a good giggle when I over hear her doing that!

Dora - posted on 06/27/2012

Kristi, It's interesting that your mother took part in your language training. It doesn't all happen in school. It came out in conversation that before I was born my parents had established a self-help system of correcting each other's speech so that they would provide good speech patterns for us, their children. Now I can see that it didn't just help us. Our children still have the advantage of our parents' work. Now the third and fourth generations are benefitting. Since my dad was my teacher one year in school I also got a good start with the academic aspect of knowing grammatical structure and the other aspects of communication.
We aren't perfect, but we and the following generations have a decent command of the language. Our home training superseded the training in school. When home and school work together good things happen.

Kristi - posted on 06/27/2012

I do find it hard to read the posts that don't have punctuation, poor structure or are from people who use ESL, but unless they are spiteful or are extremely long I will work my way through it. The comments that tend to boil my blood come from people who are judging and criticizing and condemning another person or group of people, inevitably said person/people will be referred to as ignorant. Meanwhile, this comment is full of ridiculous grammatical errors. I don't mean a couple of typos or an occasionally omitted word. I mean, "I-never-took-English-in-school-ever, grammatical errors. I can usually tell the difference between ESL errors and the Never-Went-to-School errors. I do have a hard time giving much credibility to other (anti-inflammatory) comments that are offering advice but are from seemingly, uneducated people. At which point, I usually realize I am now being a judgemental grammar snob.

I just believe that basic English is so important. I feel like it is a matter of pride, also. It takes me a great deal of thought and time to make a comment on here. It probably sounds ridiculous to most, but I spell check my words, I use my dictionary and I reread and rewrite a bunch before I post my comment. (of course, just like everyone, I still make mistakes, that's a given) I want my comment to sound articulate and to come across as well thought out as it truly was. I want to be taken seriously or I wouldn't be offering my opinions, thoughts, etc.

My mom constantly corrected our grammar, spelling counted on everything we did in school in all our classes, not just English. I don't remember what all the technical terms are and I don't have an elobrate vocabulary. I don't believe these are necessary to speak and write properly. I have hard time understanding why others were allowed to slip through the cracks at school without learning/successfully completing basic grammar skills and/or are too lazy and just don't care enough to use proper grammar and communication skills. But these are all just my opinions and ideas and everybody knows what they say about opinions...

Liz - posted on 06/23/2012

Valerie Steffes - posted on 06/03/2012
ironically enough, just this morning someone posted the following one Facebook: "One spelling mistake can ruin your whole life. A husband sent his wife an email while on vacation. The email said 'Having a great time, wish you were her'"

I love this!! lol REPLY: I almost missed it. (HER) Reading too fast.

Liz - posted on 06/23/2012

It doesn't bother me that much. But when something doesn't make sense I have to analyse it and break it into English. On Tuesday, June 19, 2012, I was listening to ABC World News with Diane Sawyer. The topic was Hebrew National Hot Dogs. The article went like this: "And now, Hebrew National, the company that makes the famous hot dog. Well famously advertising to that that answers to a higher authority now has to answer to a court. You may remember the old commercial "'The government say we can use artificial coloring. We don't. They say we can add non-meat fillers. We can't. We're Kosher.'" Well not so fast according to a class action suit filed in Minnesota. It says Hebrew National meats are not prepared according to the rigid rules required by the most observant Jews. To make them considered to be Kosher Hebew National says the law suit is competely without merit." Although she spoke this article, her pausing and punctuation was off, thus, threw off the meaning of the statement.

Shelly - posted on 06/21/2012

I came across a good quote the other day. It's talking about punctuation, but I think that it is quite applicable to at least making an effort with grammar, even in informal situations: "Punctuation is a courtesy designed to help readers to understand a story without stumbling."

Michelle - posted on 06/20/2012

I use quite a lot of improper grammar, but I have found that the generation coming out of high school or in high school now I just can't stand to read most of their items on facebook or where ever I may come across it because it is just plain horrible! I actually had to unsubscribe from my own sisters posts as she would post such nonsence that it would give me a head ache. I wouldn't even consider it english anymore some of the things that end up being said. However if it is minor abbreviations, or grammatical errors I'm fine with it, capital letters I find hard to read when its all like that and will only read so far before I have to give up, but thats only because it seems to hurt my head.

Michelle - posted on 06/19/2012

I agree with Jeannie Carle.

Too many people want in my opinion..bully others and judge all because of the way someone writes, or mispells and word and etc. Speaking of which of someone writing in all capitalized letters...My mom writes everything in capitalized letters. She isn't screaming out to anyone. It is just the way she writes. When schooling is over...that is one thing about it...you can write the way you want to. Some people don't even write cursive in the same mannor. As I agree with Jeannie...you never know what you are missing, just because you don't want to read something in capitalized letters or because someone misspelled a word. You could be in need of reading what someone does write for it could save your life or someone else's. People do need to think about that. Like I had wrote in a previous post that I had wrote. What are you going to do..if someone walks up to you while you are in a store and hands you a note and tells you to read it. Well it is not wrote the way you expect it...so, you throw it away and all of a sudden a bomb goes off and half the people are killed, your family is hurt and here you could have saved many and your family wouldn't have been hurt at all, if only you would have read that note!...The note told you to get out because there was a bomb. But since you were too judgemental and thought you was so much better to not read someones note all because it didn't meet your specifications..you now have to deal with the idea of you family going through agony and pain and many around you are dead...You now have that whole thing implanted into your brain of the dead lying around you and your family screaming aloud needing help and you could have helped them.

See what I am saying...You could have not been so judgemental, you could have not been in the situation. I will not put someone down all because they don't write like me. For in my opinion there are much better things to worry about in this world then to worry about some misspelled word or capitalized spelling and oh...grammar just isn't right as many would call it. Guess what...alot of these schools helped people to get where they are...Poor grammar as you call it...So blame it on the schools. There are very little teachers out there that even takes the time to want to help the children...others just want to pass the children on...so they don't have to deal with it. My nefew is a very good example..He can't even read a lick and was just passed on from grade to grade and the teachers knew couldn't read at all and just didn't care.

Amy DuMont - posted on 06/18/2012

I am taking an online course and that was one of our topics of discussion. It does bother me, especially because the younger generation is so into texting that it seems they do not know how to write formally (correct spelling, capitalization, punctuation). It is difficult to read with all of the shortcuts, abbreviations, etc. I do try to read and understand what is being said, but it is very disturbing that so many either will not or do not know how to write correctly.

Jessica - posted on 06/18/2012

This is not an academic research paper, intelligence contest, or formal prose. Just as I don't judge people in casual settings that do not use correct grammar, I don't judge spelling errors. lazy typing, or disregard for lack of grammar on an online forum. Everything in context. Take it from an English major, and wife of a high school English teacher. Judge me if you like, check my text for errors, I don't care! It's always better to be in good practice and not take the lazy way out, but whatever you do is your choice!

Ellen - posted on 06/18/2012

Yes!!

Claire - posted on 06/16/2012

Yes, I do find it difficult to read something with horrible grammar & spelling. To me, "ur" looks more like "er" than "you are." So, I generally stop reading when someone's post is (to me) illegible.

Valerie - posted on 06/15/2012

Jenette hit the nail on the head!!!!

Laura - posted on 06/15/2012

It drives me crazy. I also understand that sometimes the person who posts may not speak english as their first language or perhaps they have a disability. What drives me crazy is how uneducated so many people sound. It's like no one cares anymore about spelling and grammar. People also don't care about manners either as much anymore these days. I find more and more that parents aren't stressing the importance of all these things in everyday life to their children. I don't mean to imply that all kids are rude, undeucated or have no manners but there is a trend. I heard they may not even be teaching cursive handwriting in school anymore. It's a shame. I will certainly teach my daughter all of these things.

Brittany - posted on 06/14/2012

It really depends on what errors. I know I make some, and in this type of setting I don't care as long as I understand the content of the post. I do find chat speak to be an eye sore and just plain annoying to decipher. Short hand doesn't bother me though. So, things like LOL or OMG don't really bug me; but ur, y, etc. drives me nuts.

In the end I just don't answer to the posts where they over use chat speak and I have no idea what they are getting to.

Margaret - posted on 06/14/2012

It drives me crazy and makes me wonder if they even teach spelling and grammar in school anymore.

Jane - posted on 06/13/2012

I'm getting more and more forgiving of internet posts these days but it drives me crazy when newspapers, e-books and professionally printed books make what are obviously either stupid or careless mistakes. I blame spell and grammar checkers. It's obvious some of this stuff was never reviewed by a human editor after it left the author's word processor. If it's not important enough for the professionals to get it right, why should someone who's really only interested in getting the point across to other members of an online site?

Jaymi - posted on 06/12/2012

I will admit that I find it a little annoying, but I don't think any less of the person posting. I just don't want to have to work to figure out what is being said! LOL. I get more irritated by the typos at work. Here we don't have to be professional.

Melinda - posted on 06/12/2012

Yes, but I am happy to live to hear people speak their mind!

Martha - posted on 06/12/2012

Yes it does! I was a teacher's aide for over 12 years in an elementary school. I had to impress upon the children how important it was to learn their spelling and write the letters correctly. In the English class, I was teaching the correct structure of sentences, with commas, and other punctuation marks in their proper places.
Nowadays, it makes me shudder to read some of the post or emails I get. Sometimes, people do not even capitalize the first letter of the first word of any sentences they write. Even proper names do not get capitals. Nor do they put punctuation marks at the ends of their sentences. That makes it very hard to read and determine one thought from another, let alone one sentence from another.
I always hope they DO KNOW how to write properly and do all the correct rudiments that go along with writing properly.

Jacqueline - posted on 06/12/2012

I TOTALLY agree with you! As a primary school teacher I am very concerned with the grammar I see in (or omitted from) people's posts. My concern is that if parents are using incorrect spelling, grammar, punctuation etc then they may not be setting an example for and/or correcting their children when they write or speak. Children write what they hear so if they say "I SEEN a dog yesterday" that's what they'll write. If there's one suggestion I can make to parents, it's PLEASE correct your child's speech! It will make their introduction to writing so much smoother.

Jewel - posted on 06/12/2012

Oh yes!!!!! My son tells me to stop being a teacher on FB. I can't help it. And, I know the difference between ESL posts or predictive text mistakes........ I completely lose meaning when I read such posts. I hate to read........ New YearS, ValentiMes day, childrenS, "in" for "and"..... It seems petty, but it bothers me.

Ronda - posted on 06/12/2012

Yes!! I find it so difficult to read. It sometimes takes two or three tries to get through a post before I can understand what the person is trying to communicate. I take the questions people write seriously though because it takes courage and effort to try to reach others.

Katie - posted on 06/12/2012

This is not true. I don't think I'm better than anyone, by any means! I think it boils down to how you were taught as a kid. I was hammered. Between my teachers and mother, there was no getting around it by being sloppy. If it was misspelled or grammatically incorrect then I got it wrong or got chewed out by my mother. Now that it's no longer graded, it's become a matter of knowing the difference between "like" words and having it be hard to read when they're misused. Misspelled words are less bothersome than misused words, such as, they're - their - there or you're - your. My slow brain has to decipher the intent of writer rather than breezing through the words. That's my complaint about it. It's "my" problem but if you want to be understood, do it right and I won't ignore your post for the irritation of deciphering.

Michelle - posted on 06/12/2012

Jenni,
No offense at all. I have wrote some mispelled words, just like anyone else. We all do in some time or another. Even a genious has. But there are so many people whom seems to want to criticize someone else all because of a mispelled word and so on.As if they are a perfect somebody. There isn't noone who is perfect at all.

People needs to look at some of these people actually went to school and wasn't taught like they should have. Heck, one of my relatives went to school and was passed all the way into high school and cannot read worth a lick. So, some of the problems comes with schooling.. But then others want to judge. Little stupid, I think. They want to say that they can't stand it and it is uncalled for, maybe some of these schools out there needs to be addressed because they are alot of the cause.

Angela - posted on 06/12/2012

I edit everything I read simply out of habit. I can't stand grammatical errors. I won't use slang even in my texting. It is very hard for me to write a word incorrectly. I do make mistakes though, just like everyone else. I am human. How much is human and how much is laziness though?
I teach my kids that if it's worth writing down, it's worth writing correctly. They hate when I check their homework.

Angela - posted on 06/12/2012

It does not bother me. Sometimes people are just in a hurry. I think it is a silly thing to worry about. This is just like a casual chit-chat between girlfriends. No need to take it personal or to be offended. I think if you want to "grade papers" you might be here for the wrong reason.

Jenni - posted on 06/12/2012

Michelle, just a helpful suggestion. I hope you don't take any offense. If you use Firefox or Google Chrome there is a built in spell check.

Michelle - posted on 06/12/2012

I guess Katherine Mitchell I so called flawless. Oh maybe I spelled another word wrong...Parden me...I don't have your scolarship..

That's what I mean...People likes to criticize a mispelled word and so on...thinking they are better than others.

Dora - posted on 06/12/2012

I bought a novel directly from the writer. The story line was good. I would guess that the types of mistakes that you mentioned (there, their; to, too) averaged about one per page. I marked all of them, and thought that if I were to see her again I just might give the book to her and mention that it would have had much more impact if she had edited it. So far that hasn't happened. In spite of its story line, reading that book was a chore. Those constant interruptions to the flow of thought were maddening.

Katherine - posted on 06/11/2012

To illustrate the word fully, Michelle L, the word is nitpick, not nickpick. :D

Denikka - posted on 06/11/2012

Most things, I can pass on. The occasional misspelled word, missed capitalization, sentence structure, that sort of thing. I frequently type how I would speak. So it doesn't really bother me all that much. In a relaxed setting, it just doesn't seem to matter.

Misused words (to, too, two etc.) usually give me pause when I'm reading something. It takes my brain a moment to figure out that it's not MY problem comprehending what was written, but rather an error on the part of the writer.

Walls of text bother me sometimes. Especially when coupled with a complete lack of punctuation. Depending on the topic, I MAY try to muddle through if I'm interested enough.



I can remember a point in time in high school. Grade 12 English. As occurs in most English classes at the beginning of the semester, someone asked if spelling counted. I was SHOCKED when the teacher replied *no*. Not for notes, but for hand-in work. Essays, book reports, whatever else we did that year. In an English class. And spelling didn't count.

At the end of the year, when we were preparing for our final exams, there came a point where we had to proofread and mark other students essays. One of the essays I got was so horrendous, I actually could not read it. It was beyond text speak. It was pure and utter laziness with the written word. Spelling the same word 3 different ways with a single page. Spelling sure as shur, believe as baleev, people as peepl.

Those are the types of posts that I don't even bother with. It's hard enough to read l33t speak or text speak, but there comes a point where it's just pure laziness, people can't be bothered. Sometimes I wonder if they purposefully go out of their way to misspell everything (and I have seen posts where EVERY word with more than 2 or 3 letters was spelled wrong). You would think that it would take a whole lot more effort to spell things SOOOOO wrong than to at least make an attempt at spelling something correctly.



My uncle grew up on phonetics. He was a bit slow when it came to school and *book smarts* and dropped out of school early. So he would spell things as they sounded. Phone was fone, that sort of thing. But even he made an effort. And that, for me, is the main thing. You can usually tell when someone has made some kind of effort towards making their writing understandable. But, as I mentioned earlier, there are also those who are exceptionally lazy speller who don't care and those who, I would swear, do everything in their power to make SURE every word is spelled wrong. :p

Michelle - posted on 06/11/2012

I think people needs to get a better life than to nickpick little things..Like grammar, spelling and punctuations. If you don't like how someone writes...don't read it. It is your loss of what someone writes, if you don't want to read it all because it doesn't meet your specs. There are other things in life that is more worthwhile, than picking on someone who just don't meet to your qualifications. Who knows that person may be the one who might get ahead in life compared to judgemental people who criticizes grammar.

Rebecca - posted on 06/11/2012

Heck yes, I agree.

Shawna - posted on 06/11/2012

Language is a key indicator of social class and can help place people in terms of their physical geography, age, etc. Sometimes it can be hard to read, but I think it helps give an idea of where the poster is coming from.

Barbara - posted on 06/11/2012

I find myself reading a reply, an article, or whatever and upon encountering a basic grammatical error (they're, there, their; to, too, two) it simply invalidates the whole argument. That's where my mind goes immediately. Spelling, I'm a bit more lenient, but grammar mistakes drive me nuts, especially when coming from seemingly educated folks or those in the process of being educated and trying to sound smart. My 89 year old dad STILL corrects me in public and in front of my kids, so I'm sure that's where it comes from. (I know, I just ended that sentence with a preposition. ugh.)

Anne - posted on 06/11/2012

Totally. I'm a real spelling snob. I'm NOT a native English speaker so I had to learn to speak, read and write in English, which is perhaps why I care about spelling and punctuation. As soon as I spot spelling mistakes I immediately make rather unflattering assumptions about the level of education of the person writing.... I'm not proud of that, but I do feel English is a beautiful language and worth taking care over!

Amanda - posted on 06/11/2012

It bothers me to no end!! What really bothers me is that kids think that is the proper way to speak and spell!! It makes me want to scream!! I have serious issues when someone that I know is college educated posts in a manner to make a reasonable person think they might possibly have never made it passed the 6th grade. I have gone so far as to confront then and say, "You know, I know you have a bachelor's degree. I also know you didn't get it writing and speaking in that manner. Act like you have the education you are still paying for." We have to set the example for our children!!

Kimberly - posted on 06/11/2012

Shelley,
It does, indeed, bother me! :) I am a professional proofreader, so everything I read goes through the filter in my brain. I'm glad I'm not the only one who cares about this kind of thing!

Keep in touch!
Kim Huther

Zoe - posted on 06/11/2012

For me personally, no it does not bother me, and I think that people who reply to these posts, texting or proper grammar used, I do take seriously, proberly because I am one who uses texting, one of the reasons I do use texting is because I have so much to say that when I start typing and so many thoughts running around my head, it takes so long for me to type it all down that I lose my line of thought,

I did a reply once, on another site, with all texting and to be honest hardly anyone understood what I had written, much to my gullible amazement. I thought that because I understood it, so did everyone else.

I still use texting to some extent, but not as much as I did, purely for the other readers to understand what I type.

But in saying all of that, it is better to use English. Especially our younger generation as, the obvious reason, it will help them at school, college, university etc.

One other thing, I use my iPad for a lot of my postings, and it's got predictive wording on there and sometimes it automatically puts words up there and all you need to do to exept that word is press space. So you think you've typed what you want to, but if you don't double check it, it might of swapped your wording around. That might/could be a reason for grammar mistakes.

Elizabeth - posted on 06/10/2012

Yes, it does bother me to see so many people either too busy or just not caring when they respond to questions. I am a college student and it is amazing to see how many textbooks have significant errors in them. At least the publishers are usually willing to reward the first student or instructor to notify them of their error, but that is a sad statement to make when the book intended to teach is already marked by errors and corrections.

I know that I frequently have to correct my own adult daughters' spelling or grammar errors when asked to proofread for them. I wish that the educational system would put more emphasis upon spelling and grammar in all the courses, not just an English or Humanities class.

When people can't be bothered to write clear and comprehensible messages or notes then I do have trouble taking them seriously or use my time to try to understand what the message was suppose to be saying, because my interpretation might be wrong and most people have already heard about 'assume' and the result.

I feel it is a personal choice to be grammatically correct and therefore become more understandable to a larger audience.