Maybe I'm just getting older and grumpy. But... How, in a world where every device and browser notes or even automatically corrects spelling errors, is it the case that every new member on this forum seems even less capable of correct (or at least somewhat reasonable) spelling, punctuation, and grammar than the last?
i dont understnad wut u me3n
I am definitely old and grumpy, and I agree with Jim.
One suggestion for the spelling-challenged: take advantage of this forum's Preview feature when composing your messages, which automatically flags possible spelling errors. Hitting the Preview button also can help avoid other problems, like mangled quotes.
Must be that education system in Pencilvania or is connitent wide?
Quote from: oscar on October 07, 2017, 12:56:57 PM
I am definitely old and grumpy, and I agree with Jim.
One suggestion for the spelling-challenged: take advantage of this forum's Preview feature when composing your messages, which automatically flags possible spelling errors. Hitting the Preview button also can help avoid other problems, like mangled quotes.
Preview flags possible spelling errors? I use the Preview feature in quite a lot of my posts, and I have never seen a possible spelling error message, not even a false positive.
Quote from: oscar on October 07, 2017, 12:56:57 PM
I am definitely old and grumpy, and I agree with Jim.
I am young and grumpy and also concur.
My android device helps *make* those spelling errors for me. Or thinks the tense of the word I'm using should be different. Happens way too often! I'm a fairly good speller...usually...I just type a word in wrong due to fat fingers and fail to look back at what I wrote before I send it.
Quote from: 1 on October 07, 2017, 01:14:42 PM
Preview flags possible spelling errors? I use the Preview feature in quite a lot of my posts, and I have never seen a possible spelling error message, not even a false positive.
Look for the red underlining under the supposedly misspelled word.
Quote from: oscar on October 07, 2017, 01:41:41 PM
Quote from: 1 on October 07, 2017, 01:14:42 PM
Preview flags possible spelling errors? I use the Preview feature in quite a lot of my posts, and I have never seen a possible spelling error message, not even a false positive.
Look for the red underlining under the supposedly misspelled word.
My computer does that automatically, immediately after I hit the spacebar after the word is typed. No preview button required. While I use a Mac, I assume the same is true with Windows.
And this still won't help with cities/towns under ~10000 people.
Cities/towns above 20000 in New England that aren't recognized by spellcheck (this list is complete):
Southington CT, 43K
Natick MA, 33K
North Attleborough MA, 29K
Agawam MA, 28K
Middleborough MA, 23K
It especially grates on this journalism major/former newspaper editor/current PR specialist. I'm not immune from spelling and grammatical errors, and especially not typos.
This tangentially relates to the announcement yesterday that AOL Instant Messenger is going bye-bye. I said years ago that IM-speak would be the death of the English language. Texting hasn't helped. Neither has Twitter. I fear we're going to end up with a generation of people who can't write in complete sentences.
Quote from: 1 on October 07, 2017, 01:44:15 PM
Quote from: oscar on October 07, 2017, 01:41:41 PM
Quote from: 1 on October 07, 2017, 01:14:42 PM
Preview flags possible spelling errors? I use the Preview feature in quite a lot of my posts, and I have never seen a possible spelling error message, not even a false positive.
Look for the red underlining under the supposedly misspelled word.
My computer does that automatically, immediately after I hit the spacebar after the word is typed. No preview button required. While I use a Mac, I assume the same is true with Windows.
And this still won't help with cities/towns under ~10000 people.
Cities/towns above 20000 in New England that aren't recognized by spellcheck (this list is complete):
Southington CT, 43K
Natick MA, 33K
North Attleborough MA, 29K
Agawam MA, 28K
Middleborough MA, 23K
Windham, CT, 25k
(I had to add it to the dictionary)
Totally agree with H.B. I head a payroll department and we don't yet have a self-service portal for employees, so I get a lot of e-mails from younger people who clearly have issues with the concept of coherently-written communication. Not just bad spelling, but bad grammar: "I John Doe is requesting..." And do you think maybe you could at least correctly spell the name of the company for which you work?
And don't even get me started on "less" vs. "fewer."
But on the flip side, too much reliance on auto-correct and spelling checkers leads to problems when these aids don't recognize a properly spelled word and so the writer changes it. Or a correctly-spelled word is incorrectly used, such as this extreme example:
Marry hat a lit tell lam;
Ids fleas was wide as now.
Or this:
The too of us are going two the store; do you want to come to?
And of course this reliance means people have less incentive and reason to know how to write correctly on their own. That's one of the problems I have with all the automatic features being installed in vehicles these days -- parking assist, backup cameras, blind spot detectors, etc. My mind boggles at the number of people driving monster SUVs who clearly have no idea how to maneuver them. Same thing with writing.
I'm not exactly the best at the English language - though I try my best with my abilities. Sometimes I'll have terrible memory lapses and incompetence with grammar - I don't think I'd say I'm ever that great with it anyway.
However, with that said, I take rigorous efforts to make my posts on here as coherent and meaningful as possible.
If any of you remember the disastrous time several months ago when my OCD had reached its peak in severity (exacerbated by the situational stress of Junior Year of High School), when a lot of my posts said (-input coming-), the reasons for which are too many to list. But the main reasons were that my stupid OCD made me check and obsess over every single last word. Take that sentence I just said for example - I would have delusions that I don't know how to spell anything, and my OCD would make me look up the definition of almost every single word I typed - even if it is elementary stuff I, and most people, know incredibly well, such as the words check, obsess, single, last, and word. I'd have to look up the definition for every single damn one of those words, or else I'd have debilitating anxiety - but the other huge reasons that I produced so many posts that temporarily said (-input coming-) and nothing else is that that same OCD demon would force me to post specific posts at specific times, with no exceptions - it would say I would have to post "this post at 11:59," "this post at 11:11," "this post at 11:47," "this post at 7:23," and etc. That is why I was even willing to post posts that (temporarily) had no actual material, because I mentally had no choice. After that catastrophe, I took a break from the forum because my OCD absolutely would not let me function and contribute on it. In my opinion, there is honestly absolutely nothing in the entire world that is more boring than OCD compulsions, and this is no exception. Looking up the definition to every last word, most of which are simple words I already know like the back of my hand, is a snoooooooozer. With the anxiety and the monotony and the misery and much more, it's no wonder I didn't have motivation to fix those posts quickly enough (especially since I generally have low motivation levels anyway due to Major Depression).
:sleep: :sleep: :sleep:
Now things are significantly better, and I still rigorously make sure my posts are decently correct grammatically, with the mediocre knowledge I have of the English Language. But I have long been sick and tired of worrying about the "grammar" of every single word in my post that I already know (due to severe OCD), and now I primarily focus on the important thing of my posts that matters mostly - the content and what I say and how I contribute, now that I have mentally recovered somewhat. Grammar is still secondary, and still important, though, of course, and I recommend that mindset for others, and that spelling is not completely discarded.
By the day, I think I am continually getting better with my skills of speaking and writing effectively, and my understanding and application of the English Language, and my ability to learn and spell (and remember) new words. Though I'm still not exactly the best at explaining things...at all. :-/
But the biggest thing I wanted to get to in contributing to this thread, is that with everything I have just said, I rigorously proofread all of my posts. I usually type everything and then post it, and then, after being already posted and a part of the thread, I proofread my entire post carefully (though no longer so compulsively like several months ago, thankfully), with the knowledge that I will be able to edit and modify my post if there are in fact any mistakes, or something I forgot to say, or didn't explain the best way or say it the way I thought it in my mind. So I will usually post, and then proofread, and then edit if needed. That is actually probably why I think the large majority of my posts are modified (even if it wasn't a huge edit, which is the case most of the time). If somebody quotes my post, and there was a mistake in it or something that need clarification or I didn't say it right, then I will create a new post to clarify it most likely, since the original post is already preserved in a quote in its original form. Rather than modify the original post, I personally usually create a new supplemental post to clarify it. I do not think I have ever used the Preview feature before, or anything else of the sort, because while I may have seen the button before, I never really realized what it was or what it did. Perhaps I should use it more often now, since I usually proofread each entire post of mine after it is already publicly posted on the forum.
Sorry if this post itself is long and tedious, I guess I just had a lot to say on the subject. Basically, I definitely emphasize proofreading one's post and making it as grammatically decent as possible as one can with their abilities.
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on October 07, 2017, 01:34:11 PM
Quote from: oscar on October 07, 2017, 12:56:57 PM
I am definitely old and grumpy, and I agree with Jim.
I am young and grumpy and also concur.
I concur with your concurrence (does that make sense?) :colorful:
I almost wonder if it's on purpose sometimes. In this post (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=21235.0), the title says
Ierland, but the post says
ireland.
To adventurernumber1, I think your spelling and grammar are great! I would suggest the preview button. I always use it, since typing on my tablet leads to typos.
Quote from: 7/8 on October 07, 2017, 04:14:30 PM
To adventurernumber1, I think your spelling and grammar is great! I would suggest the preview button. I always use it, since typing on my tablet leads to typos.
Well, thank you very much. I guess thinking objectively, my grammar and spelling is in fact above average (at least the average of people my age and younger), I guess I'm just pessimistic and don't think very highly of myself and my abilities. :pan:
So thanks, that does mean a lot, and I think I will indeed start using the preview button a lot more in the future, now that I know more about it.
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fweknowmemes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2014%2F07%2Fi-see-you-have-disabled-autocorrect.jpg&hash=4338030b0c24770bab981384fadf8c790b9f9dfc)
adventurernumber1, I also don't recall any of your posts being ones that led me to start this topic!
Oh boy! This subject has pissed me off for years. My son & daughter have the spelling skills of a piss ant. And who do I blame for this? The education system.
Let's take a trip in the ol' WAYBAC machine shall we? Let's go back to my years in elementary school here at Simsboro School. Kindergarten ('79-'80 school year) had me learning how to read "Run Spot Run". First grade had me reading at a slightly higher level. But the most important lesson we were taught this year involved learning how to spell. Mrs. Nelda Howell started teaching us phonics. These were the most important lessons we ever needed for spelling words correctly.
Then came grades 2-6. McGraw-Hill had spelling books for each of these grades named "Basic Goals in Spelling". They were 36 chapters long, a chapter for each week of school (we had 6 six-week grading periods then). Each chapter had a list of 20 words, the last word or two would be called "snurk" words (highlighted in red with a little snake in a red triangle next to the word) that were just a bit of a challenge to spell. Toward the end of the books was a whole list of snurk words that really tested your spelling skills.
There were usually 4 groups of exercises for each chapter. Those exercises were our homework for Monday-Thursday nights, as well as writing all the spelling words 3-5 times each. You learned not only learned the correct spelling, but how to use some of the words in sentences. Spelling tests were on Wednesday. If you made a 100, a star was placed next to your name on a poster board on the wall, and you didn't have to take the retest on Friday. This process went on for 5 grades (2, 3, 4, 5, & 6).
In grades 3-6, we had dictation sentences to study. We had to write them 3 or more times each everyday until test day (usually Friday). The teacher would call them out no more than 2 times during the test. Spelling counted against you.
Let's go into high school now. Between book reports, typing classes (on real typewriters, not computers), history reports & English essays, misspelled words counted AGAINST you. Your grade would suffer if you couldn't spell worth a damn.
College....of course spelling words wrong cost you BIG TIME! As it should.
Time to come back to today and put the WAYBAC machine back in the garage. Kids don't even have their own textbooks. They are not allowed to bring them home. Forget about spelling textbooks...they no longer exist here. No such thing as spelling lists, tests, or snurk words. Phonics are a forgotten art. Spelling is NOT enforced...because the teachers are not allowed to. My daughter's teacher told us this last year. The damned Core Curriculum is (allegedly) to blame. I put the blame on the teachers for not pushing the students to do the right thing when it comes to spelling. We really are bringing up the most uneducated bunch of school children right now. It started with the kids who started school around 2000 IMO. I hope I am wrong. I hope this is just isolated to Louisiana, but from what I have seen so far it seems to be more widespread.
I just wonder if any of these text-speak-typers will ever send a cover letter along with a job application saying something like:
"I want to apply for a job with ur company. If u hire me..."
I'd throw that resume in the trash immediately.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 07, 2017, 09:10:40 PM
I just wonder if any of these text-speak-typers will ever send a cover letter along with a job application saying something like:
"I want to apply for a job with ur company, lol. If u hire me..."
I'd throw that resume in the trash immediately.
FTFY
Quote from: hbelkins on October 07, 2017, 09:10:40 PM
I just wonder if any of these text-speak-typers will ever send a cover letter along with a job application saying something like:
"I want to apply for a job with ur company. If u hire me..."
I'd throw that resume in the trash immediately.
Y? U Maaad, bro? Y u hatn'?
I'm somewhat surprised my spelling hasn't been thrown out of the window at this point. Grammar, however, needs work - considering the previous sentence was a run-on sentence.
It is true that today's kids don't know squat about how to type properly. It's as if it's some alien language that only other "aliens" can understand, and the language consists of cryptic phrases and/or acronyms.
Quote from: 1 on October 07, 2017, 01:44:15 PM
Quote from: oscar on October 07, 2017, 01:41:41 PM
Quote from: 1 on October 07, 2017, 01:14:42 PM
Preview flags possible spelling errors? I use the Preview feature in quite a lot of my posts, and I have never seen a possible spelling error message, not even a false positive.
Look for the red underlining under the supposedly misspelled word.
My computer does that automatically, immediately after I hit the spacebar after the word is typed. No preview button required. While I use a Mac, I assume the same is true with Windows.
And this still won't help with cities/towns under ~10000 people.
Cities/towns above 20000 in New England that aren't recognized by spellcheck (this list is complete):
Southington CT, 43K
Natick MA, 33K
North Attleborough MA, 29K
Agawam MA, 28K
Middleborough MA, 23K
YES!!!! Noww tht II kno tht meye toun isnt recugnised bye spellechek, II cen misspell ase meny wurdes ase II waunt.
Sorry guys. :-(
I am a little intrigued by all the suggestions upthread to use Preview. I find myself using it more, mainly to cut verbiage, but I never see red underlining. (Firefox 48 for Windows 7.)
As for whole-word autocorrect, Gboard and its ilk seem determined to make it hard to compose written communication in any register other than that of a bored Silicon Valley office drone.
Quote from: J N Winkler on October 20, 2017, 12:05:37 PM
I am a little intrigued by all the suggestions upthread to use Preview. I find myself using it more, mainly to cut verbiage, but I never see red underlining. (Firefox 48 for Windows 7.)
Red underlining has nothing to do with Preview. If a word is misspelled, red underlining occurs immediately after hitting the spacebar to begin the next word.
I figured that was the case. I still don't see red underlining even with words I intentionally misspell, such as "educashun."
Quote from: 1 on October 20, 2017, 12:56:02 PM
Quote from: J N Winkler on October 20, 2017, 12:05:37 PM
I am a little intrigued by all the suggestions upthread to use Preview. I find myself using it more, mainly to cut verbiage, but I never see red underlining. (Firefox 48 for Windows 7.)
Red underlining has nothing to do with Preview. If a word is misspelled, red underlining occurs immediately after hitting the spacebar to begin the next word.
Come to think of it, I think I do often see red underlining in the white space as I am typing my posts. It may not occur every time, but I think it does happen quite often.
It's easy to tolerate misspelled words here and there. Not everyone can be bothered to look up every word that might be misspelled, honest mistakes happen, and this isn't school anyway. But what really gets me is seeing obvious mistakes in a four-word post. How hard is it to look over a four-word post?
What used to irk me was the spelling Nazi once used to have a near artery burst when I misused the tense of caption when describing either a video or street view image. Now yes it is bad grammar, but if we here at the forum know what a person means and its obvious "who the hell cares?" If its like I misspelled the word cat or a simple word constantly or even minuet is iffy as NE2 would be more than his usual self when I used the famous dance instead which was not purposely done at all. Sometimes I stumble on simple things as I have personal issues myself that I am slowly learning to correct.
Some of us if we want to help others correct themselves let us do so in a nice manner instead of starting harsh outbursts like one person raised the roof when another user misspelled a city in the US here. Then one person on here corrected my misspelling of Colbie Cailat, the singer, as I spelled it as Colby (Good Grief) like a simple mistake there like I hurt the girl's feelings or that this site is the result of a final exam or something.
I think we need not be anal over petty little things here. No other forum have I seen such critical responses over little things like here. Its to be a simple place to talk about roads and things, but at times I see flame wars over silly things especially in Fictional Highways where many jump on one's fantasy as if that user was an engineer really planning to build that highway suggested.
Quote from: J N Winkler on October 20, 2017, 01:31:06 PM
I figured that was the case. I still don't see red underlining even with words I intentionally misspell, such as "educashun."
That's probably a browser-dependent function. In your example, the misspelling of education is flagged with red underlining in my browser that I use to post to the forum. I'm using Chrome on a Mac.
Quote from: adventurernumber1 on October 20, 2017, 02:03:45 PM
Quote from: 1 on October 20, 2017, 12:56:02 PM
Quote from: J N Winkler on October 20, 2017, 12:05:37 PM
I am a little intrigued by all the suggestions upthread to use Preview. I find myself using it more, mainly to cut verbiage, but I never see red underlining. (Firefox 48 for Windows 7.)
Red underlining has nothing to do with Preview. If a word is misspelled, red underlining occurs immediately after hitting the spacebar to begin the next word.
Come to think of it, I think I do often see red underlining in the white space as I am typing my posts. It may not occur every time, but I think it does happen quite often.
This is a function of your web browser, not the web site. In Firefox it comes in in text forms more than 1 line long, unless you have turned it off or there's no language file installed.
Quote from: kphoger on October 20, 2017, 02:04:50 PM
It's easy to tolerate misspelled words here and there. Not everyone can be bothered to look up every word that might be misspelled, honest mistakes happen, and this isn't school anyway. But what really gets me is seeing obvious mistakes in a four-word post. How hard is it to look over a four-word post?
As long as I can tell what the post is saying, I don't care about spelling or grammer.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 21, 2017, 02:37:16 PM
Quote from: kphoger on October 20, 2017, 02:04:50 PM
It's easy to tolerate misspelled words here and there. Not everyone can be bothered to look up every word that might be misspelled, honest mistakes happen, and this isn't school anyway. But what really gets me is seeing obvious mistakes in a four-word post. How hard is it to look over a four-word post?
As long as I can tell what the post is saying, I don't care about spelling or grammer.
But that doesn't mean others can tell what it's saying. I had no idea what "RIP YA Title" meant, and I wasn't the only one.
Quote from: 1 on October 21, 2017, 02:42:54 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 21, 2017, 02:37:16 PM
Quote from: kphoger on October 20, 2017, 02:04:50 PM
It's easy to tolerate misspelled words here and there. Not everyone can be bothered to look up every word that might be misspelled, honest mistakes happen, and this isn't school anyway. But what really gets me is seeing obvious mistakes in a four-word post. How hard is it to look over a four-word post?
As long as I can tell what the post is saying, I don't care about spelling or grammer.
But that doesn't mean others can tell what it's saying. I had no idea what "RIP YA Title" meant, and I wasn't the only one.
YA Title is a real person and I spelled his name right.
I think to many people it boils down to the difference between the occasional typo versus an obvious inattention to what you're typing. Everyone makes typos and they're usually no big deal. It happens. Similarly, sometimes you just don't know how to spell a word and you take your best guess. That's normal. There's no reason to pick on every last little mistake as though a typo is a big deal, although of course funny typos are worth noting, and of course we also know there are certain posters who seem to exhibit various sorts of obsessive-compulsive behavior or other conditions that suggest maybe they're unable to control themselves when it comes to noting others' mistakes (I'm not going to name any usernames and I doubt I need to do so).
But some people clearly make no effort to spell correctly or to use proper grammar, capitalization, punctuation, etc., and that's annoying because it's a distraction and because it takes away from the poster's credibility. This isn't a chat room (where comments scroll by quite quickly), nor is it a text message or Twitter (where you have a character limit). You're not in first grade anymore and, for example, you should understand the difference between "should
of" (wrong) and "should
've" (contraction of "should
have"). There's no reason not to make an effort to try to write properly. If you don't at least try, then your comment comes across as indicating you don't care about what you're saying. That in turn raises the question that if you don't care about what you're saying, why should anyone else care about it, much less make the effort to read it and to try to understand the point?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 21, 2017, 02:53:45 PM
Quote from: 1 on October 21, 2017, 02:42:54 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 21, 2017, 02:37:16 PM
Quote from: kphoger on October 20, 2017, 02:04:50 PM
It's easy to tolerate misspelled words here and there. Not everyone can be bothered to look up every word that might be misspelled, honest mistakes happen, and this isn't school anyway. But what really gets me is seeing obvious mistakes in a four-word post. How hard is it to look over a four-word post?
As long as I can tell what the post is saying, I don't care about spelling or grammer.
But that doesn't mean others can tell what it's saying. I had no idea what "RIP YA Title" meant, and I wasn't the only one.
YA Title is a real person and I spelled his name right.
His name was Y.A. Tittle, not "Title." I couldn't care less about omitting the periods and I don't regard that as an error, but you misspelled his last name.
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 21, 2017, 02:57:12 PM
I think to many people it boils down to the difference between the occasional typo versus an obvious inattention to what you're typing. Everyone makes typos and they're usually no big deal. It happens. Similarly, sometimes you just don't know how to spell a word and you take your best guess. That's normal. There's no reason to pick on every last little mistake as though a typo is a big deal, although of course funny typos are worth noting, and of course we also know there are certain posters who seem to exhibit various sorts of obsessive-compulsive behavior or other conditions that suggest maybe they're unable to control themselves when it comes to noting others' mistakes (I'm not going to name any usernames and I doubt I need to do so).
But some people clearly make no effort to spell correctly or to use proper grammar, capitalization, punctuation, etc., and that's annoying because it's a distraction and because it takes away from the poster's credibility. This isn't a chat room (where comments scroll by quite quickly), nor is it a text message or Twitter (where you have a character limit). You're not in first grade anymore and, for example, you should understand the difference between "should of" (wrong) and "should've" (contraction of "should have"). There's no reason not to make an effort to try to write properly. If you don't at least try, then your comment comes across as indicating you don't care about what you're saying. That in turn raises the question that if you don't care about what you're saying, why should anyone else care about it, much less make the effort to read it and to try to understand the point?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 21, 2017, 02:53:45 PM
Quote from: 1 on October 21, 2017, 02:42:54 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 21, 2017, 02:37:16 PM
Quote from: kphoger on October 20, 2017, 02:04:50 PM
It's easy to tolerate misspelled words here and there. Not everyone can be bothered to look up every word that might be misspelled, honest mistakes happen, and this isn't school anyway. But what really gets me is seeing obvious mistakes in a four-word post. How hard is it to look over a four-word post?
As long as I can tell what the post is saying, I don't care about spelling or grammer.
But that doesn't mean others can tell what it's saying. I had no idea what "RIP YA Title" meant, and I wasn't the only one.
YA Title is a real person and I spelled his name right.
His name was Y.A. Tittle, not "Title." I couldn't care less about omitting the periods and I don't regard that as an error, but you misspelled his last name.
You learn something new everyday..................... so sorry guys.
Heh, I actually looked online to find out whether he had ever been nicknamed "YA Title" (pronounced with a long "i") before I commented!
Rip YA Title...
That's what the NCAA is going to do with the championship banner that Louisville won while Rick Pitino was coaching, using players lured to U of L with hookers and strippers.
:-D :-D :-D
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 21, 2017, 02:37:16 PM
Quote from: kphoger on October 20, 2017, 02:04:50 PM
It's easy to tolerate misspelled words here and there. Not everyone can be bothered to look up every word that might be misspelled, honest mistakes happen, and this isn't school anyway. But what really gets me is seeing obvious mistakes in a four-word post. How hard is it to look over a four-word post?
As long as I can tell what the post is saying, I don't care about spelling or grammer.
"Grammar."
You may not care, but if you let that sloppiness become a habit, you'll care one of these days. Say, when you're writing a college application letter or filling out a job application/writing a resume or cover letter/any of a myriad of other real-life functions where your spelling and grammar will be judged -- or more precisely, where you will be judged by your spelling and grammar.
Quote from: hbelkins on October 21, 2017, 11:59:06 PM
You may not care, but if you let that sloppiness become a habit, you'll care one of these days. Say, when you're writing a college application letter or filling out a job application/writing a resume or cover letter/any of a myriad of other real-life functions where your spelling and grammar will be judged -- or more precisely, where you will be judged by your spelling and grammar.
This was a subject of some disagreement between me and a couple coworkers a few years back, when we were looking to hire an intern for the summer. The one candidate who appeared to be the best qualified based on his listed experience had unfortunately sent in a CV with a couple typos on it. I argued that on account of this we shouldn't even give him a call. I got outvoted.
I am a person that "auto-corrects" while reading a post. :bigass:
I try not to harp on others' faults of spelling or grammar because I recognize I am fortunate both come easily to me (four English degrees in my three-person family of readers). But in an employment context, simple errors in an application dossier represent a missed opportunity to telegraph attention to detail. On a forum such as this, at best they are silently tolerated rather than accepted as normal.
Quote from: Duke87 on October 22, 2017, 12:38:43 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 21, 2017, 11:59:06 PM
You may not care, but if you let that sloppiness become a habit, you'll care one of these days. Say, when you're writing a college application letter or filling out a job application/writing a resume or cover letter/any of a myriad of other real-life functions where your spelling and grammar will be judged -- or more precisely, where you will be judged by your spelling and grammar.
This was a subject of some disagreement between me and a couple coworkers a few years back, when we were looking to hire an intern for the summer. The one candidate who appeared to be the best qualified based on his listed experience had unfortunately sent in a CV with a couple typos on it. I argued that on account of this we shouldn't even give him a call. I got outvoted.
I would do the same. I don't care what you list as your experience. If you're not attuned to detail enough to get the most important document of your professional career right, how well are you going to be able to serve my company?
I remember a particularly hilarious typo I saw when looking at resumes for an intern. It said "Car was POS" (under experience). Needless to say, this person didn't get an interview. We were tempted to reply wishing him good luck on his job search so he could get a "not POS" car.
Quote from: vdeane on October 22, 2017, 04:22:39 PM
I remember a particularly hilarious typo I saw when looking at resumes for an intern. It said "Car was POS" (under experience). Needless to say, this person didn't get an interview. We were tempted to reply wishing him good luck on his job search so he could get a "not POS" car.
Any idea what it had been intended to say?
Quote from: Alps on October 22, 2017, 03:51:14 PM
Quote from: Duke87 on October 22, 2017, 12:38:43 AM
Quote from: hbelkins on October 21, 2017, 11:59:06 PM
You may not care, but if you let that sloppiness become a habit, you'll care one of these days. Say, when you're writing a college application letter or filling out a job application/writing a resume or cover letter/any of a myriad of other real-life functions where your spelling and grammar will be judged -- or more precisely, where you will be judged by your spelling and grammar.
This was a subject of some disagreement between me and a couple coworkers a few years back, when we were looking to hire an intern for the summer. The one candidate who appeared to be the best qualified based on his listed experience had unfortunately sent in a CV with a couple typos on it. I argued that on account of this we shouldn't even give him a call. I got outvoted.
I would do the same. I don't care what you list as your experience. If you're not attuned to detail enough to get the most important document of your professional career right, how well are you going to be able to serve my company?
It would probably depend on the type of job. If he was looking for work as an welder or heavy equipment operator, I'll forgo it. If the person will be assisting with writing up reports and detailed engineering analysis where a decimal point or a forgotten 0 could mean a lot, then he cost himself a job.
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 22, 2017, 04:42:46 PM
Quote from: vdeane on October 22, 2017, 04:22:39 PM
I remember a particularly hilarious typo I saw when looking at resumes for an intern. It said "Car was POS" (under experience). Needless to say, this person didn't get an interview. We were tempted to reply wishing him good luck on his job search so he could get a "not POS" car.
Any idea what it had been intended to say?
I'm guessing it was supposed to say "Car wash POS", with POS in this context meaning "Point Of Sale" - i.e., he worked at the cash register.
Quote from: Duke87 on October 22, 2017, 05:05:26 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 22, 2017, 04:42:46 PM
Quote from: vdeane on October 22, 2017, 04:22:39 PM
I remember a particularly hilarious typo I saw when looking at resumes for an intern. It said "Car was POS" (under experience). Needless to say, this person didn't get an interview. We were tempted to reply wishing him good luck on his job search so he could get a "not POS" car.
Any idea what it had been intended to say?
I'm guessing it was supposed to say "Car wash POS", with POS in this context meaning "Point Of Sale" - i.e., he worked at the cash register.
Exactly. All of the guy's experience was in part time retail jobs.
Quote from: vdeane on October 22, 2017, 04:22:39 PM
I remember a particularly hilarious typo I saw when looking at resumes for an intern. It said "Car was POS" (under experience). Needless to say, this person didn't get an interview. We were tempted to reply wishing him good luck on his job search so he could get a "not POS" car.
Wow, how bad was his car :-D :-D :-D?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 23, 2017, 08:58:03 AM
Quote from: vdeane on October 22, 2017, 04:22:39 PM
I remember a particularly hilarious typo I saw when looking at resumes for an intern. It said "Car was POS" (under experience). Needless to say, this person didn't get an interview. We were tempted to reply wishing him good luck on his job search so he could get a "not POS" car.
Wow, how bad was his car :-D :-D :-D?
Your lack of driving experience really shows here. It is absolutely not difficult, at all, to find a super-cheap, POS car that functions just enough for short day-to-day transport, which is sometimes all that people can afford.
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on October 23, 2017, 09:03:42 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 23, 2017, 08:58:03 AM
Quote from: vdeane on October 22, 2017, 04:22:39 PM
I remember a particularly hilarious typo I saw when looking at resumes for an intern. It said "Car was POS" (under experience). Needless to say, this person didn't get an interview. We were tempted to reply wishing him good luck on his job search so he could get a "not POS" car.
Wow, how bad was his car :-D :-D :-D?
Your lack of driving experience really shows here. It is absolutely not difficult, at all, to find a super-cheap, POS car that functions just enough for short day-to-day transport, which is sometimes all that people can afford.
Depends on your definition of POS.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 23, 2017, 09:12:25 AM
Depends on your definition of POS.
In that context, there only is one:
piece
of
shit.
Quote from: MNHighwayMan on October 23, 2017, 09:14:06 AM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 23, 2017, 09:12:25 AM
Depends on your definition of POS.
In that context, there only is one: piece of shit.
No, how POS the car really is.
It depends not just on the mechanical condition of the car, but also the car owner's approach toward managing the risk of being stranded by mechanical failure. I have a 1994 Saturn SL2 that I use as a daily driver but would not hesitate to take on a long-distance roadtrip, though I generally don't nowadays because I have access to a newer and more comfortable vehicle. But before I took the Saturn on a 7,000-mile Washington/California roadtrip in 2014, I had to sit down and compile a condition inventory that ran to over 25 identifiable defects, and work through that one by one. I ended up replacing spark plugs, the engine coolant temperature sensor, the thermostat, one of the engine mounts, and the water pump before the trip. Since then I have carried out other repairs and major maintenance such as two ATF drains and fills, battery replacement, removal of alternator and reinstallation after rebuilding, air filter replacement, etc.
There are several reasons for my sang froid. First, I have actually had to have cars repaired on the road, and it is really not the catastrophe it is made out to be if you have Internet access and can vet shops before you limp to one. Aside from life-threatening injury, the real worst-case scenario is a disabling fault in the middle of nowhere that gives rise to an expensive towing bill, and this is just as likely to happen with a newer or more reliable vehicle if the cause is a deer collision. Extended tows can also be covered by insurance, though this costs. Second, as a male alone on the side of the road, I am significantly less likely to be sexually assaulted. Third, I am in a financially privileged position to the extent that a few days or a few hundred dollars more than projected for an out-of-town trip will not lose me a job or send me running to payday lenders.
I have known mechanically adept women who happily drive late-nineties vehicles in city settings but rent for long-distance roadtrips out of town, as well as middle-aged men in positions of real financial constraint (not enough money coming in and not enough support from other family members to do what is required to escape paycheck-to-paycheck living) who are very uncomfortable risking out-of-town trips.
Saw a sign today on the front of a restaurant, obviously custom made to order:
"Biger is better"
Has anyone else misspelled a word so badly that even spell check couldnt figure out what I was trying to spell?
Quote from: allniter89 on October 23, 2017, 05:30:24 PM
Has anyone else misspelled a word so badly that even spell check couldnt figure out what I was trying to spell?
I have.
Quote from: kkt on October 23, 2017, 04:59:25 PM
Saw a sign today on the front of a restaurant, obviously custom made to order:
"Biger is better"
Note the awning in this image. It's been that way for years. The other signs on the building are spelled correctly.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8403518,-77.063215,3a,75y,121.42h,77.42t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_KtYYFd1NdP8D1ZxByLhbg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 23, 2017, 05:40:04 PM
Quote from: kkt on October 23, 2017, 04:59:25 PM
Saw a sign today on the front of a restaurant, obviously custom made to order:
"Biger is better"
Note the awning in this image. It's been that way for years. The other signs on the building are spelled correctly.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8403518,-77.063215,3a,75y,121.42h,77.42t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_KtYYFd1NdP8D1ZxByLhbg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
I wonder what the owners response is when someone points out the error? Maybe "do u want a damn waffle or not"?
Quote from: allniter89 on October 23, 2017, 05:44:26 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 23, 2017, 05:40:04 PM
Quote from: kkt on October 23, 2017, 04:59:25 PM
Saw a sign today on the front of a restaurant, obviously custom made to order:
"Biger is better"
Note the awning in this image. It's been that way for years. The other signs on the building are spelled correctly.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8403518,-77.063215,3a,75y,121.42h,77.42t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_KtYYFd1NdP8D1ZxByLhbg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
I wonder what the owners response is when someone points out the error? Maybe "dow uw waunt u dam wafflle owr nyot"?
ftfy
Quote from: allniter89 on October 23, 2017, 05:44:26 PM
Quote from: 1995hoo on October 23, 2017, 05:40:04 PM
Quote from: kkt on October 23, 2017, 04:59:25 PM
Saw a sign today on the front of a restaurant, obviously custom made to order:
"Biger is better"
Note the awning in this image. It's been that way for years. The other signs on the building are spelled correctly.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8403518,-77.063215,3a,75y,121.42h,77.42t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s_KtYYFd1NdP8D1ZxByLhbg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
I wonder what the owners response is when someone points out the error? Maybe "do u want a damn waffle or not"?
Beats me, but apparently a few years ago they were going to correct the spelling when they replaced the awnings and then changed their minds because people wanted them to keep the error.
Quote from: allniter89 on October 23, 2017, 05:30:24 PM
Has anyone else misspelled a word so badly that even spell check couldnt figure out what I was trying to spell?
That has happened to me; blame on-screen keyboards on mobile devices. I grew up with physical keyboards, and I will forever be more comfortable typing on something where I can feel the keys and know where they are and that they're big enough to hold my finger.
I try to use proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar, but sometimes typos sneak through, especially when on a mobile device; I know I don't use 100% Queen's English either, that's for sure. Forums in general are a pretty informal place, and so is texting, so while I always capitalize and make sure meaning can be gathered from my posts, sometimes I'll use an abbreviation or use an emoticon as ending punctuation. I'd be shocked to find a single person who speaks 100% grammatically correct English when talking to their friends or when texting or on a forum.
Admittedly, I misspell words...usually, my browser catches the former, though sometimes auto-correcting software makes unusual substitutions that I will miss. After a while, you can sort of tell if one was a human error or predictive text created the other, because it seems too odd to be a typo.
Other times, I'll make fragmented sentences which don't make much sense; I may edit something, add/remove a statement or sentence, substitute one word for another...and make it even worse!
There's a few members who make repeated errors which can be caught by web browsers. There's a part of me that gets a bit annoyed with incorrectly-spelled words which are integral to the thread title. On the other hand, if we know you misspelled Youghiogheny or put an extra "s" in Mississippi...let it go, my people. There's better battles to fight.
One odd thing is that, on Linux at least, Chrome's spellcheck is now this bluish gray that's rather hard to see instead of the more obvious red.
Quote from: formulanone on October 23, 2017, 07:29:13 PM
Admittedly, I misspell words...usually, my browser catches the former, though sometimes auto-correcting software makes unusual substitutions that I will miss. After a while, you can sort of tell if one was a human error or predictive text created the other, because it seems too odd to be a typo.
Other times, I'll make fragmented sentences which don't make much sense; I may edit something, add/remove a statement or sentence, substitute one word for another...and make it even worse!
There's a few members who make repeated errors which can be caught by web browsers. There's a part of me that gets a bit annoyed with incorrectly-spelled words which are integral to the thread title. On the other hand, if we know you misspelled Youghiogheny or put an extra "s" in Mississippi...let it go, my people. There's better battles to fight.
Yes. If nothing else, someone searching for the thread about Mississippi isn't going to find it if it's misspelled Mississipi.
Quote from: formulanone on October 23, 2017, 07:29:13 PM
Admittedly, I misspell words...usually, my browser catches the former, though sometimes auto-correcting software makes unusual substitutions that I will miss. After a while, you can sort of tell if one was a human error or predictive text created the other, because it seems too odd to be a typo.
Other times, I'll make fragmented sentences which don't make much sense; I may edit something, add/remove a statement or sentence, substitute one word for another...and make it even worse!
There's a few members who make repeated errors which can be caught by web browsers. There's a part of me that gets a bit annoyed with incorrectly-spelled words which are integral to the thread title. On the other hand, if we know you misspelled Youghiogheny or put an extra "s" in Mississippi...let it go, my people. There's better battles to fight.
I sometimes am in a rush and don't want to spend time correcting every error. I have been trying to fix my spelling more lately.
Quote from: kkt on October 24, 2017, 01:48:47 PM
Quote from: formulanone on October 23, 2017, 07:29:13 PM
Admittedly, I misspell words...usually, my browser catches the former, though sometimes auto-correcting software makes unusual substitutions that I will miss. After a while, you can sort of tell if one was a human error or predictive text created the other, because it seems too odd to be a typo.
Other times, I'll make fragmented sentences which don't make much sense; I may edit something, add/remove a statement or sentence, substitute one word for another...and make it even worse!
There's a few members who make repeated errors which can be caught by web browsers. There's a part of me that gets a bit annoyed with incorrectly-spelled words which are integral to the thread title. On the other hand, if we know you misspelled Youghiogheny or put an extra "s" in Mississippi...let it go, my people. There's better battles to fight.
Yes. If nothing else, someone searching for the thread about Mississippi isn't going to find it if it's misspelled Mississipi.
Nope, found it.
Copper comes from Arizona
Peaches come from Georgia
And lobsters come from Maine
The wheat fields are the sweet fields of Nebraska
And Kansas gets bonanzas from the grain
Old whiskey comes from old Kentucky
Ain't the country lucky
New Jersey gives us glue
And you, you come from Rhode Island
and little old Rhode Island is famous for you
Cotton comes from Lou-siana
Gophers from Montana
And spuds from Idaho
They plow land in the cow land of Missour-a
Where most beef meant for roast beef seems to grow
Grand canyons come from Colorad-a
Gold comes from Nevada
Divorces also do
And you, you come from Rhode Island
Little old Rhode Island is famous for you
Pencils come from Pennsylvania
Vest from Vest Virginia
and Tents from Tent-esee
They know mink where they grow mink in Wyo-mink
A camp chair in New Hamp-chair, that's for me
And minnows come Minnesota
Coats come from Dakota
But why should you be blue?
For you, you come from Rhode Island
Don't let them ride Rhode Island
It's famous for you
Songwriters: Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz
New earworm I picked up from a series of novels by Bruce DeSilva that is set in Providence: "Row Dyelin" is "Rhode Island" pronounced in the local accent.
Quote from: webny99 on October 25, 2017, 12:01:02 AM
I think you have. Pencilvaynia comes to mind.
spell check corrects that.
I really want a bridge to be built from near Newhaven (emphasis on the first syllable) Conneticut to Lawn Guyland.
Quote from: jp the roadgeek on October 25, 2017, 05:16:20 PM
I really want a bridge to be built from near Newhaven (emphasis on the first syllable) Conneticut to Lawn Guyland.
aye tyink tat dat wood bee u grate idear.
Quote from: webny99 on October 25, 2017, 09:48:20 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on October 25, 2017, 08:15:56 PM
idear.
That's how it sounds when Australians say it. East coasters, too, but Australia is much worse.
My brother pronounces it like that.
I think this thread has joined the rest of those ruined by pointless conversation - Roadgeekteen, stop derailing threads with your trolling!