It annoys me, probably the English major in me, that people cannot spell correctly when they type. Do they not read what they write before hitting submit? What are your thoughts?
119149
First of all, as an English major, you probably know that writing on the computer is not the same as writing on paper.\n\nSecondly, spelling is external to our language system in our minds.  If you try to represent the knowledge of a word that you have in your mind, it sometimes comes out "incorrect".  I put quotes around that because the reason we say a word is spelled correctly or incorrectly is only because we have agreed on a spelling.  This only happened a few hundred years ago for English; for example, during Shakespeare's time, spelling conventions were much more fluid.  Shakespeare himself spelled his name in different ways.\n\nThirdly, everyone makes mistakes once in a while.  Don't you sometimes have to check the spellings of words?
413857
I agree. Keystroke errors and minor misspellings are common place in this the 21st century. How do they feel about text messages with there obvious abbreviations and misspelled words?
30918
The people on here drive me nuts! The misspelled word that is bothering me the most today is becoz, it is harder to type it incorrectly than to spell it how it is supposed to be spelled. It is so annoying!!!!!
606738
I totally hate it when people can't be bothered to type a few extra letters. I think it makes people appear stupid. So I don't know if I am talking to an uneducated adult, a lazy adult, a child, or all of the above.\n\nttfn,\nme
132864
dessert. as for misspelled words, I think almost everyone on yahoo answers skipped english/spelling class every day. that or they failed it miserably. i mean, they DO have a spell check on here!
633998
I'm sure a majority are non-native english speaking.  I find that in the gaming community as well.\n\nOne girl (I answered her question not to her liking) e-mailed me a long, rude and profane message and  informed me it's slang these days and perfectly acceptable to have poor grammer, spelling and sentence structure.  She knew how to spell and if she wanted to spell it that way she would.  If so, I wonder why they bother to put spell check available here?\n\nI hope I'm dead by the time they all take over the country.....
199194
People are lazy and indifferent. Chatrooms certainly don't help.\n\nI'm from England, and I think it's ridiculous that I'm tested on English by a bunch of Americans (the SAT, the Regents, the GRE). I'm also sick of professors correcting me when I spell "defence" with a "c" or "speciality" with an "i."\n\nThose words are SUPPOSED to be spelled that way, you dumb college professors!\n\nI don't have a problem with Americans spelling "speciality" without an "i" or "colour" without a "u," but don't expect me to do the same.
215412
Galin, you are so right!! I am a stickler for correct spelling,punctuation,etc. Makes you wonder sometimes how much these people actually listen and retain what they hear in school. I am proud that you {a smart person} are on answers. Keep the comments coming!!
501549
It drives me insane, particularly on here. There is a thing called spell check that people seem to have difficulty finding. When chatting it is a little more acceptable, not much but a little, because there isn't the convenience of spell check. What's worse is when you correct someone or mention they utilize the spell checker in any context the person asking the question becomes highly offended. For anyone offended by my response now I am going to show you how easy it was to make sure everything was spelled accurately because I had left a few mistakes intentionally. Now watch. Wow, took me 10 seconds to fix all of my mistakes.
226190
I agree! It's amazing how many people can't, or won't spell or write correctly, especially here in Yahoo! Answers. The excuse I always get is "Well, this is the Internet, you're SUPPOSED to misspell!". Please! It's no wonder our country is falling behind so many other countries in literacy and other areas of knowledge. We, as a society have become lazy in such basic things as spelling, grammar, math and science.
81614
I have the same concerns and not just here in Yahoo Answers.  Certainly we all make mistakes in spelling from time to time. We sometimes transpose words and letters.  Some here obviously do not have a familiarity with English due to culture or age.  I do not believe that it is just a matter of this being an informal format.  Part of being in this Yahoo Answers is to communication with others.  \n\nThe numbers of questions which I have seen asked that are simply not clear is astounding.  It’s not a matter of just misspelling or using the shorthand methodology of writing, these are bad enough on their own, but the inability to structure a clear sentence is as startling as a bright sunset.  To me this represents either a lack of education or a disrespect for the people who attempt to read these questions.  More over, the answers often follow the same pattern of inability to communicate.  \n\nIf we were all together in a room we would have additional tools to facilitate clear communication, such as tonal inflection, facial expression, body language, the context of a specific subject under discussion and possibly even knowledge of those speaking.  All of this contributes to clear communication. \n\nHere in Yahoo Answers (as with nearly all internet exchanges) we are limited to the written language.  Maybe the use of the term “limited” is in error because the English language is a strong and vigorous tool to accomplish communication, if and when we use it.\n\nNothing is unusual with groups who develop a language variation centered around their association.  Those in the computer field do it as do those in the medical field or the police field or those in mathematics or those of specific geographical areas and many other fields, but when they talk with or write for the general public they use standard English. \n\nOf course it maybe simply a matter of education.  I believe few learn the art of parsing a sentence or the ability to comprehend the reading of classical literature, or any literature for that matter and that seems to extend into comprehending current writings.  For all of the technical advances in our times literacy seems to be decreasing and comprehension seems to be dropping along with it.  In the source link here one can find the Eighth Grade Graduation Test for Salinas, Kansas 1895.  I think even today’s teachers would find it challenging.  For fun, go there and try only the Grammar section.
120133
As I study the Queens English, I would find it most embarrassing to make a grammatical error! I use the spell check simply to confirm that which I already know: I have made no spelling errors. Unfortunately, there is no grammar check on here.
95537
Hi there- being that I have OCD (obsessive/compulsive disorder), I can empathize with how you are bothered by the poor grammar and spelling of other users. Actually, it doesn't bother me at all- which is uncanny. Since I am obsessive-compulsive, it seems counter-intuitive that I would not be bothered by people's mistakes in writing. Of course, I make an occasional faux pas myself. I love the English language...poetry, books, etc. But I do understand that there are other people who may not have an affinity for the written word. I believe that in some instances, the individual may be in a rush, and as a result, they are negligent when it comes to constructing their sentences. Some people may be very young people, or may be people who have recently started using the English language, and don't yet have the same proficiency as some native speakers/writers. From that vantage point, I think that many people, even highly intelligent ones, may have some degree of difficulty assimilating. Ostensibly, English is a difficult language to learn for speakers of other languages. There may be mulitiple reasons for this- such as idiomatic expressions, sarcasm, internet/chat terminology, et cetera. \n\nAt all events, I do understand your concern. I have heard of people with OCD who are greatly perturbed by poor grammar, or using incorrect numbers, and so forth. It stands to reason that there are people who do not have OCD who will also have this sort of pet peeve. I used to correct people when they failed to speak properly- for example, if someone were to say "Where is the car at"? I would chastise them for using a preposition at the end of a sentence. I don't know what aspects about me have changed since that time, but I don't normally try to correct people anymore. Please be assured that there are still people out here that love proper writing, as I am one of them. :)
345027
Maybe all of the above.  I don't understand it, either, and most of the sloppy typing I see here gives me a headache.  Either people don't pay attention in school anymore or standards have become lax.  It's also more than likely a lazy way of typing.  Some people think that to type quickly, one must use many abbreviations and short-cuts.  It isn't so.  I can type and text message perfect sentences with perfect spelling faster than my cousin can with the shortcuts.  (I type 75 wpm with 0 errors.)\n\nIncorrect spelling, puncutation and grammar does seem to be "in", but I hope you, like me, will not decide to get up with the times.  It was nice to be able to answer a question I could actually read.
102612
type....whats that? I never learned how to type, I just use 2 fingers and thank god for spell check...lol
648117
YEAH, WE ALL MAKE MISTAKES AND PERSONALLY I KNOW THIS IS TRUE.  THAT IS WHY I GO BACK AND READ MY ANSWER TO INSURE THAT MY TYPING IS AS ACCURATE AS I CAN MAKE IT.  SPELLING IS A PET PEEVE WITH ME.\nSOME PEOPLE ARE JUST QUICK TO MAKE FUN OF OTHERS SHORT COMINGS.
72391
You are right !\n\nI use it , but the spell checker can't find everything, so I think your example wouldn't fail the test.\nWell, my English is really bad, I know this, and so it bothers me , if somebody uses letters instead of words. For example : How R U ?