Spelling matters

Subject: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 3:40 am

... or should I say spell ling mat errs:

Spelling matters 283722_474699079224085_1305176368_n

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 6:36 am

That's for sure!

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:22 am

You are right. And then we find people deliberately distorting the language with irritating shorts cuts, i.e., "u" instead of writing out the word. It is due to being lazy or trying to be cute?

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 7:35 am

It is the texting shortcut.

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:31 am

D R : pls chk eml. t z dif 4 m 2 txt & eml is ezr. lvya mm & grm

I have no txting training but my son insists on txting. Those itsy bitsy buttons on the phone are too difficult for me so I use as few strokes as possible.

Translation: Dear R: Please check email. It is difficult for me to text and email is easier. love you, mom and gram.

I hate texting. On the other hand, I sort of like some of the short cuts like using numbers instead of words and dropping vowels.

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:42 am

1/22/2013

I never text, refuse to text, tried it, takes too long,

it's more polite to pick up the phone and make an

old fashion phone call, or an E Mail..Both are faster

than texting........

Cheers.Joe.... Very Happy

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 8:57 am

They both have their places. Texting is less intrusive. If I want to send a message to someone, a text doesn't interrupt what they're doing the way a phone call does. And yes, with those tiny buttons, using shortcuts is important.

The OP in this thread wasn't about texting shortcuts, tho, it was about misspellings. Something that I've been appalled about for a long time is the misplacement of apostrophes. When I read comments on news articles, it seems like most people don't know how to use an apostrophe anymore.

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:31 am

I never texted and therefore am ignorant about the short cuts and the small buttons you reference. I can appreciate the need for short cuts in texting, but in general writing, it has no place. My opinion naturally.

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 9:43 am

The texting shortcuts are showing up in more places, like Twitter, where the number of characters you can use is severely limited. It is like its own language, and will inevitably find its way into our more formal writing, probably before many of us are ready to accept it.

Sometimes what appear to be spelling/mechanical errors come about because of "smart" word processing. I hate it when a machine thinks it knows what I want to say better than I do.

Just try to remember that a language that doesn't continue to evolve is eventually labeled "dead."

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:19 am

Texting originated to cut the cost of sending messages by cell phone. Teenagers quickly picked it up and used it on social media sites like bebo and facebook. Older people are now using it because they've learned to text the same way the younger folk did -- to cut costs.

However, as LC pointed out, the opening poem seems to have missed in sending out the message. My husband roared with laughter (as did I) when he read it; he liked the last line especially. The poem says in a very obvious way: don't rely on the spell checker. I thought it was a scream -- or should that be as cream?

Subject: Re: Spelling matters Tue Jan 22, 2013 10:57 am

It was funny, Shelagh. Thanks for the post.