(sp?): The Phantom Menace

[HerenIstarion]

ez indikated ebav, in faiv irz it ol wud not meter

[HerenIstarion]

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

ceehiro

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

You forgot to put '(sp?)' at the end of that, Heren. How will people be able to tell now that you know that you might have made a mistake?

As that post demonstrates very effectively, it is possible to understand mis-spelled words, but only for experienced users of the language and only if one's words contain the right letters. Since poor spelling has been described as the Internet equivalent of bad breath, though, it's best to avoid it anyway. Brush your teeth, you Georgian delinquent!

[HerenIstarion]

Having no brush on me, I'm forced to stick to chewing gum, than. It's easy, what with gums being generally sticky anyway.

you Georgian delinquent

Now, do you intend to imply I am of beheaded king's party? It was not me, I was set up, never ever been near the place at all...



PS (sp)

[Mad Baggins]

For heaven's sake, I have people in my tenth-grade class that have the spelling/grammar abilities of sixth-graders. Literally. It frightens me and it makes me wonder if everyone but me has been taken over by brain-sucking extra-terrestrials with poor literary skills.

Getting back on topic now...

I don't like it when people use chatspeak on here. It bothers me. Greatly. Yes, I'll admit that I used to say "lol!" or whatever, but the people that bother me are the ones who say, "Ya i wuz liek noo frodo'z liek sooooo hott." Although I do remember this one time...

[Saraphim]

For heaven's sake, I have people in my tenth-grade class that have the spelling/grammar abilities of sixth-graders. Literally. It frightens me and it makes me wonder if everyone but me has been taken over by brain-sucking extra-terrestrials with poor literary skills.

I've been there, Mad Baggins. Many, many times. Too many times.

What has happened to the intellegence of humanity? Are there so few people in the world who can put a sentence together without butchering and shortening every word? I have become convinced that the only sane people are either on here, incapable of coming on here, or are not (although this is a stretch) interested in coming on here for very, very good reasons.

And the people on here who do participate in the heinous crime of word-butchery will either catch on or plague us with thier...*shudder*...antics.

[Niluial]

Another depressing thing is people no longer have an understanding of words. It worries me when I use simple words (such as optimistic, surreal, nobility etc) when talking to my fellow students and they then ask me to speak English. Surely even nine year olds should have an understanding of those simple words?

My step mom and I like to experiment a lot so we came up with this idea to read to my brothers and cousins this year and only let them watch half an hour of television a day. We have read great classics such as The Hobbit, Alice in Wonderland and Black Beauty to them and intend on reading more. Their English has improved immensely and they do not use as much slang as they used to. I can ask them the meanings of optimistic, surreal & nobility and they can tell me the meanings of these words in an instant. Please note that these are young four, five, seven and eight year olds I am talking about. This shows what television is doing to our knowledge of literature and spelling. Instead of increasing our knowledge of literature and spelling television is increasing our knowledge on slang. But should we be surprised?

Then Imladris pointed out another factor in her Xanga Blog the other day. For example people use the wonderful word ‘hate’ excessively when we really do not mean it. We use hate instead of dislike constantly. Is this human race too lazy to say dislike when it is only two more letters than hate? Of course I can not judge for I am a victim of using ‘hate’ excessively too (though I am trying to kick the habit).