duz reely pore spelign mak yoy luk stoopid?

It does not only make you look utterly uneducated, but also it scares people away, people who actually can spell and who probably could help you. It's really, really sad to see the horrible spelling of today's youth (I'm one of them actually, but I'm an exception to the rule, it seems).

I guess being anal about spelling comes with being a prog snob?

Many of us are using emoticons... most people I know who hate poor spelling dislike the use of emoticons just as much. The emoticons come hand in hand with the 'MSN spelling' thing (kewl, lol, Im gr8, etc.).

Is it possible that you're all just being a bunch of hypocrites?

I forget who mentioned it in this thread, but someone said something like 'Improper spelling doesnt give an air of respectability or trustworthiness or something like that' and asked 'what would someone think of a resume or essay filled with spelling and grammatical errors?' Well, these are two completely different situations. Sorry, but spelling errors in formal writing is one thing, but on an internet forum? As long as the writing is coherent, who cares?

Another thing mentioned is the decline of reading books... While it is unfortunate that a lot of people are missing out on some great books, its not like there is nothing else out there... not EVERY television program is trash (even though it seems really trendy today to say so). Computer/Video games, despite being regularly dismissed as time consuming trash that rot children's minds and force them to commit violent acts, can be much more than just mindless 'shoot em up games'. There are many games that can stimulate the imagination just as much as many books do.

How come no one talks about trashy books? There are just as many TERRIBLE books as there are video games and TV shows. Just because something is printed means it's automatically more mentally stimulating than watching an episode of  Survivor?

I tend to be sloppy at times.

The Miracle wrote: z0mg j00 r sooooo kewl i got theh pwnt omgomgomgomgomgomgomg i t3h sux0rrrrr

!

R U SAYNG TAHT PEOPLE TAHT TYPE LIEK THES R STUPID?!??!! OMG WTF LOL I DONT AGRE WIT TAHT AT AL!1111 OMG

The Miracle wrote: Reading is way old fashioned now, and it saddens

That's another gripe of mine; the use of cool words like "way".

There is no need for "way" in that sentence.

However, it could be worse:

Man, reading is like totally way old fashioned!


Edited by Geck0 - September 07 2006 at 19:55

Peter Rideout wrote: Like it or not, consistently poor spelling (not a mere typo here and there) creates a negative impression in most readers. (Though I think that concern for spelling is diminishing among the young, thanks to the hurried mode of communication on the web, and the seeming decline in reading as a past-time, in favour of computers and TV.) Imagine a piece of advertising, a resume, or a newspaper that was full of basic spelling errors -- it would hardly lend an air of trustworthyness, attention to detail or credibility to the source!

That I totally agree with - at least because I watch my 10 year old sister spend hours in front of TV watching dumb teen comedies that look like they were designed for retards - no thought required and no knowledge or moral to it. Video and PC games are another big concern: I never cared for them at all and that's one of my main difference from my peers who seem to only care for World Of Warcraft. The thing is, bad spelling is usually caused by the hurry people type on IM because otherwise normal conversation speed is impossible. Forums are another story, but many people keep their 'style', even perfect spellers in real life. It also depends on how seriously one takes his presence in a web community - check my really old posts in the MC, you'll see some major capitalization problems So of course it's usually the "n00bs" with the most spelling mistakes.

Reading is way old fashioned now, and it saddens

Peter Rideout wrote: It's sort of like habitual swearing, manners and dress, I think -- it makes an impression, like it or not.

Sort of... though swearing is culture-wide, age-independent phenomenon, at least here in the US. The f and s words pretty much lost their offensive value thanks to very common use

Pneubauer wrote: I would vote 'No' but it seems that this poll was only created to poke fun at people who screw up their spelling and, therefore, no such answer exists.

Edited by Peter Rideout - September 07 2006 at 19:08

I would vote 'No' but it seems that this poll was only created to poke fun at people who screw up their spelling and, therefore, no such answer exists. 

The Miracle wrote: After all this time on the Internet, I learned to ignore - sometimes very nice people type like that.