Am I the only one...

[fine wine]

I have a cousin who is a senior V.P. for a major oil company. Makes Millions. He has tried to retire twice, and they threw more money to keep him working. I e-mailed him and asked him if he gives his spelling any consideration. I gave him a little history about this thread. He e-mailed me back and said no, he doesn't have time for something as minor as grammer. That is why he has a lady how he pays to do that for him. Made perfect sence to me..................JR

[TnutsShave]

Sipenllg and gmaramr are skllis taht msut be deeevolpd. Noobdy is bron wtih the altiiby to sepll words crletcroy or plorprey stcruurte a stceenne. Smoe ppolee coshoe to dvoleep that slikeslt wilhe ohrtes do not. In a pnososaeifrl einonevmrnt, trhee is no ecusxe for mekstais like taht, in my oiniopn. Trehe are too mnay tolos aialblvae to ptoerct ploepe from tshevemels not to take aaadgtvne of tehm.

Wironkg wtih inuliiavdds to wihch Elinsgh is a scenod lnagague, I see it aeulolbsty beheurtcd eevry day. The hmuan barin is a prtety amnaizg tnhig, heovwer. Wuodln' t you aerge?

[The Kiwi]

FireFox includes a spell correction feature that warns you when you are about to proceed and leave a misspelled word in the wake of your typing. Add-on speller functions can be added to any browsers that do not have it as a native feature.

[BlackBard]

FireFox includes a spell correction feature that warns you when you are about to proceed and leave a misspelled word in the wake of your typing. Add-on speller functions can be added to any browsers that do not have it as a native feature.

True, but a spell checker will not help someone who does not know the difference between "their,'' "there" and "they're."
Or, "to," "two" and "too."

[thatsilverguy]

Score! I think I deserve a pint or two... or three... or until this happens

Sure, I'll buy you a punt. Next time you're in Potland

[Prof. Moriarty]

Sure, I'll buy you a punt. Next time you're in Potland

What does Amsterdam have anything to do with this? Don't really feel like getting a punt, but irregardless I am not allowed to drink in the US of A yet.

[Oblique Human]

I have a cousin who is a senior V.P. for a major oil company. Makes Millions. He has tried to retire twice, and they threw more money to keep him working. I e-mailed him and asked him if he gives his spelling any consideration. I gave him a little history about this thread. He e-mailed me back and said no, he doesn't have time for something as minor as grammer. That is why he has a lady how he pays to do that for him. Made perfect sence to me..................JR

That's a good anecdote. I think in this time and age, spelling and grammar have become moot courtesies, this society's sacrifice at the altars of tech and wealth. In an era when a man's worth is judged not by how well-read he is or how he cares for his fellow man but by how much fast wealth he has amassed and the number of his followers on twitter and facebook. I remember how Steve Jobs was recently remembered in an obituary, rather affectionately I might add, the way he summarily fired an employee during the course of a single, short elevator ride. You might admire his guts for that, but imagine it could've been you on that elevator with him and then the callousness of that act dawns a little brighter.

I have actually begun to notice now that committing a few deliberate mistakes here and there makes you fit right in and your peers fear you a bit less for it. Eloquence is not a prized trait anymore in leaders and a bit of dumb is equated with shrewdness now. They assassinated the best thinking Presidents of the United States and ours met the same fate including a hanging.

My advice, never correct anyone whether its a co-worker or a friend. You act just that teeny bit dumb enough, you'll appear normal. Ride the new train into the oblivious horizon.

[JellyFox]

That's a good anecdote. I think in this time and age, spelling and grammar have become moot courtesies, this society's sacrifice at the altars of tech and wealth.

How are you able to judge that? The majority of what was written prior to 1990 went through at least a copy-editor and a proofreader before anybody saw it. Just because that's changed doesn't mean standards have declined. Also, regarding second-language usage: 565 million people who use the internet do so in English, whereas only 400 million people speak English as a first language. That means even if every single native-speaker of English were using the internet, 30% of people who write in English on the internet use it as their second (or 3rd, etc.) language. In fact, less than 25% of people who speak English are native-speakers.

Sources:

http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats7.htm

http://web.archive.org/web/200704012...e/01_lec06.php

[Oblique Human]

I didn't specify English, I meant language in general. And yes, which ever way you see it, it has suffered.

[echotron]

Sellers on eBay using except incorrectly. Typical is "I except PayPal only."

So I message them and ask what do they accept, if not PayPal?

[JellyFox]

I didn't specify English, I meant language in general. And yes, which ever way you see it, it has suffered.

Just saying it doesn't make it so. People have been saying the same thing for hundreds of years, and what's happened? We can still communicate. We haven't been reduced to a vague system of grunts. Spelling errors may be a common sight in writing, but that's nothing new - there hasn't been a time in history when good writing skills were common. It's just never been necessary in most peoples' lives.

[Oblique Human]

Just saying it doesn't make it so. People have been saying the same thing for hundreds of years, and what's happened? We can still communicate. We haven't been reduced to a vague system of grunts. Spelling errors may be a common sight in writing, but that's nothing new - there hasn't been a time in history when good writing skills were common. It's just never been necessary in most peoples' lives.

Read between the lines, friend, and things will become clearer. I was merely pointing out the diminishing common courtesies that day-to-day speech afforded. Let's not argue for the sake of argument.