what happened to the spelling ability of most people?
822872
You'll find it's mostly Americans who can't spell. Our educational system has gone down the crapper. As far as that goes our society as a whole is quickly turning into mush. It's a scary thought that these people will someday be running our country. Both the parents and the teachers simply don't care enough to make sure our kids learn how to do anything. I think the spelling talents are just the tip of the iceberg. It's just the most obvious. \nThe parents don't care. So the kids don't care. They say things like, "why do I need to know how to spell?" "You knew what I meant!". "It's never bothered me, why should it bother you?". It's not only pitiful but it's sad. America, the land of the free blithering idiots.\n.
961738
Keep in mind, there are a lot of young kids and teenagers on here that mostly have the spelling errors and the weird slang. That's probably what you are seeing on here lately. You are right, though, it's hard to answer a question when somebody messes up most of their spelling or they use nothing but slang. It's nothing against anybody, and I like giving advice, but if people are serious about getting answers to  their questions, they would at least respect other fellow answerer's by using the "Check Spelling" option.
494517
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.
628913
I think that there is an increased tolerance for poor grammar and spelling in our junior high schools and high schools. I think that students have gotten lazy using the computer with spell check and no longer take the time to be certain that their language usage is correct.\n\nI also think that text messaging and chat rooms help the notion that poor spelling and typing skills are okay. In fact I think that their peers encourage poor writing skills with the use of "u" or "dat" in online communication.\n\nI also think that our children don't read enough and that schools don't do enough to encourage reading as a pleasureable passtime and to instill a love of learning, language, and literature into children.
72065
For some, its education. For others, its being to lazy to go back and correct the spelling. For others, They think "Its Cool"
202552
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.
33044
pleaded and speeded became the norm when uneducated people became icons for children. people who never learned correct grammar and spelling make up most of the young people of today's icons. it is so sad. people who made it past 5th  grade (if not earlier)should know the difference.
218427
The true answer to this question may make you just as sad as I am.  We are getting more lazy and as a result less intelligent as a country.  Because we can substitute single letters, numbers and symbols as real words, we are starting to take shortcuts.\n\nIt would not surprise me if in 20 years we have completely eliminated certain words because they are too complicated to remember.  This makes me think of the book "1984" and "new-speak."
337585
An ability to spell correctly.
11394
My view is that the internet is opening more avenues of communication to teenagers and people with poor education, and both groups (with some exceptions) tend to spell poorly. \n\nIt's not that anyone's grammar is getting worse, but rather that we're being exposed more and more to the already existing bad grammar.
43861
Because many people come back to their roots to teach and revert to talking like those around them. It's not too hard to learn the right ways of doing things and to actually do them. It's even easier to just run a spelling/grammar check and fix everything Word tells you is wrong. And, finally, most people have better (ie, more correct) grammar when writing than speaking.
1026614
Good question. Language useage may be perceived to reflect differences in education and ethnicity, lack of personal discipline and caring, and whether rightly or wrongly, the perception of intelligence. These factors have long been used to "segregate" people and to create social class differences.\n\nThough language tends to evolve and the spelling of words may shift over time, those who can't communicate clearly will be at a disadvantage socially and economically, which in turn may have an effect on society. \n\nOn an individual basis, people may be very intelligent, but if they can't speak or write clearly, they will have to work harder to prove their credibility and trust. Just my thought!
439193
YES! as a teacher I completely agree with you, although i must say I am guilty of doing it myself when using the internet. I abbreviate most words when typing on the net because it is easier, but unlike children I know the correct way of typing as well. There are many examples I have seen at school where the internet has caused a decline in grammar and spelling ability! Text messaging on phones does the same thing. Often I will mark stories that include words such as 'da, cos, ya,' and so on.  I was reading the kids a book the other day, it said "....the cheetah laughed out loud" one of the kids put their hands up and said "that's LOL" I questioned them and then realised what they meant. On the internet typing LOL means laugh out loud. It is a real worry. I see kids who can't spell or write properly but can chat on the internet using perfect 'net language'!!
1151719
languages change depending on usage and when new spellings or meanings become more commonly used than the original, language changes to accommodate these trends.\ni'm sure that in the future we will see things like YOU being spelt U just as OLDE no longer has the extra E at the end.
579772
Dyslexic people often have high IQ's but the brain does not work properly when decoding text or numbers.  Before dyslexia became so widely recognised there used to be a lot of stigma attached to it. Pupils who struggled with reading and spelling were written off and deemed as thick. This was the case thrity years ago when I was growing up.\n\nAccording to the dyslexia institute: Dyslexia affects all kinds of people regardless of intelligence, race or social class. The effects of dyslexia can largely be overcome by skilled specialist teaching and the use of compensatory strategies.  The earlier the intervention the better the outcome.
530379
Language is constantly evolving. Sometimes the accepted spelling changes, sometimes so rapidly that it actually occurs between your typing and the words reaching the screen. \nSometimes, however, it's more a matter of an evil computer who awoke on the wrong side of the bed that day.
554033
First of all, it has nothing to do with laziness nor even "efficiency"!  It was a conscious, reasoned decision.\n\nThis particular change in spelling is one of the reforms in American spelling suggested by the early American teacher NOAH Webster (NOT the politician Daniel Webster!)  It is found in the dictionary he published in 1826.\n\nWebster actually suggested many spelling reforms, and only some of them ended up being accepted.  Changing -our endings to -or was one of these.\nFor a list see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling_reform#Successes_in_spelling_simplification\ncompare:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences\n\n\nThe u, of course, does not affect the pronunciation at all.  That was Webster's reason for omitting it.  In fact, the u in most if not all of the -our words is derived from French  (forms ending in -eur, e.g., honneur, valeur) or were influened by Norman forms.   Thus these are MIDDLE English words (after the Norman Conquest) and not OLD English.     But note that the Latin ORIGINAL of "colour" is, in fact, "color".    Not such a crazy innovation!\nhttp://www.thefreedictionary.com/color\n\nIn fact, I believe SOME of his changes were accepted by the British (perhaps at other's suggestion not his own), e.g., "music" instead of the older "musick". Incidentally, one important thing to keep in mind in all of this spelling discussion is that when Webster began his work in the late 18th century there was no real "standard English spelling" on EITHER side of the Atlantic!  (Just read the unedited versions of writings from this period.)   So some of Webster's work was simply trying to bring some standards to an almost "anything goes" situation... all the more understandable since his MAIN concern was as a TEACHER providing materials for students in American elementary schools.   His first works, before the dictionary, were a grammar a reader and a spelling book -- all teaching tools.   So changing the spelling of some words to better match how they were pronounced by his day was a reasonable part of his overall program.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noah_Webster#Speller_and_Dictionary