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Thread ID: 48489 2004-08-24 20:00:00 spelling errors, Earnie Moore (5918) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
265042 2004-08-28 11:57:00 :^O

oh you are funny......

cereally now.:p

beetle 		beetle (243)
265043 2004-08-28 11:58:00 I was determined to resist adding my tuppenceworth to this thread.

(This former journalist has been tempted into pedantry often enough for the time being.)

But I've just found the most wonderful quote from the entertaining political journalist Simon Hoggart in *The Guardian*.

And Oh, how I wish I'd written it myself...

After describing the dismal grammatical efforts of one MP, he wrote:
*And the English language slunk through its own back door and drew the curtains.* 		Laura (43)
265044 2004-08-28 12:06:00 thanks for the quote Laura, Google turned up this (politics.guardian.co.uk) article - I'm only part way through reading it and can't hold back the laughter so thought I would share it with the rest of PF1. andrew93 (249)
265045 2004-08-28 12:29:00 People with spelling errors deserve the ! (www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk) KingWave (5517)
265046 2004-08-28 12:31:00 > > > .... Then I came to realize that it is not all that
> crucial, the very most important thing is that people
> understand what others are saying.
I agree there in one sense. Communication is really important. Lack of communication leads to misunderstandings for one thing. Lack of communication has, and normally will, lead to a breakup of a marriage or other relationships. The english language will evolve in the course of events.

For example the word "Computer" was not about when Shakespeare wrote therefore I would not expect anything written by "The Bard of Avon" to include this word.


> Hmm... I neither understand what many younger
> people are actually trying to say, nor do I
> understand what it is they are trying to write,
> especially on this forum. :)

I can accept typos like "Teh" for "The" from time to time. Why not? I have done that myself. When, however, we get every "the" in a post as "teh" it means that the person posting has a problem or wants to make a point maybe.

The English language in my humble opinion changes to the point where words which were used when I was at school to mean one thing have an entirely different meaning today.

For example the word "gay" in books written by P.G.Wodehouse have an entirely different meaning to the meaning assigned today.
>
> One should not have to struggle and strain to try to
> decipher almost unintelligible spelling and
> grammatical construction.
Probably true.

> Unfortunately the present school system seems to be
> based on the premise that anything goes just as long
> as one can be understood more or less, and
> that it is now in the too hard basket to expect
> children to have spelling and sentence construction
> skills beyond that of a 6 or 7 year old of say 50
> years ago.
>
> When you add to that the widespread
> mispronunciation of vowel sounds, and I do
> not mean not accent, eg cheer and chair, pin and
> pen, Ellis and Alice etc, then for many young New
> zealanders to be understood by the rest of the
> English speaking world, must rank as the Eigth Wonder
> :D
Did you mean "Eigtht Wonder" I wonder?

Once upon a time this was called comprehension. Sadly this does not seem to be taught in schools any more. We used to get given a piece of prose and were told to read it. Later we were asked questions to see if we actually received the message the Author was giving.

Interpretation is another thing as well is it not? There is a whole industry called lawyers who interpret what Parliament actually meant when a new set of laws are drafted. What Parliament means and what actually happens after Judges and Magistrates rule in Court may be two or more different things. 		Elephant (599)
265047 2004-08-28 15:02:00 >
> Once upon a time this was called comprehension . Sadly
> this does not seem to be taught in schools any more .
> We used to get given a piece of prose and were told
> to read it . Later we were asked questions to see if
> we actually received the message the Author was
> giving .
>
> Interpretation is another thing as well is it not?
> There is a whole industry called lawyers who
> interpret what Parliament actually meant when a new
> set of laws are drafted . What Parliament means and
> what actually happens after Judges and Magistrates
> rule in Court may be two or more different things .

There was also another called punctuation . Young lady in our extended family recently graduated law With “Hons” complained bitterly at dinner the other night about the low standard of: Grammar Spelling and Punctuation in Wellington Govt Dept’s .

Why is this relevant, where the: Comma, Full stop, or Colon is placed can make or break a case . Loosing ones liberty to bad: Punctuation, Spelling, or even Grammar is not funny . 		drb1 (4492)
265048 2004-08-28 15:35:00 My post from another thread:

The point of language is to communicate, and whilst I agree that poor spelling is an annoyance it really isn't very important just as long as the meaning is conveyed:

"Aoccdrnig to rseearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a total mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."

Getting obsessive compulsive about spelling is a waste of energy.

"The pedant in his pidgeonhole playing tiddly-winks with footnotes." 		zqwerty (97)
265049 2004-08-28 23:23:00 :) :) > > > Did you mean "Eigtht Wonder" I wonder?

No Jumbo, I didnt , I meant Eighth Wonder .



> People with spelling errors deserve the
> ! ( . richard . clark32 . btinternet . co . uk/fsqua" target="_blank">www . richard . clark32 . btinternet . co . uk
> 5 . jpg)

I like that, that's what they do to the messenger when he can neither speak nor write intelligibly :)

Now pin back your lugholes and listen to this, or rather, read this selective quote from Mondays Dominion Post:

"The British Home Office has decided that New Zealanders need to prove sufficient English language knowledge before they can get a British passport .
. . . . . . . . Margaret Maclagan, senior lecturer in the Department of Communication Disorders at Canterbury University, says New Zealand English is further from the mother tongue than comparable dialects such as Australian . She says youing New Zealanders fail to distinguish between cheer and chair, beer and bear, ear and air . " 		Terry Porritt (14)
265050 2004-08-28 23:26:00 I hypocritically hate spelling mistakes in posts - but I make them alot myself. On purpose, ofcourse.

As far the standard of education these days - it sux. 		Growly (6)
265051 2004-08-28 23:27:00 Oh dear, quoting KingWave didnt work, lets try again:

> People with spelling errors deserve the ! (www.richard.clark32.btinternet.co.uk) 		Terry Porritt (14)
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