[chuff]

I’m not sure if this is the right spot or not for this. I guess I’m just ranting a little. I don't even know if I should say anything because I think I'm going to offend some of you but I can't stand to see the way some people write there messages here. Is it just me?

What I mean is the poster does not use proper grammar. Not so much a misspelled word or a forgotten period here or there but an entire post of that. I just got done attempting to read someone’s original post and it was filled with teenage slang internet words such as tghr, before, and text. Yes I’m not sure why text has to be shortened to text or txting but I accept it.

Anyway the sentences do not start with capital letters; there aren’t two spaces to distinguish when a new sentence is supposed to start. The first sentence is a long run on that should be seriously 10 different sentences. It is all one long paragraph and it’s really hard to read.

Anyway, I guess I’m wondering, is this just me or does anybody else get annoyed by this?

[shygrneyzs]

OIC watt you are talking 'bout...

It irritates me also to see the slang, the shortcut, the gross errors in spelling and grammar, and the non sequences of events and circumstances described. It shows me that people are not either learning how to write correctly or they just do not give a fig.

Having said that, there is no viable solution that I can see. One can imagine that these people talk exactly like they write, which can be hard to understand. In the spirit of tolerance and acceptance, it surely is not worth trying to make corrections. It will just put the other person on the defense and could get even fouler.

[ScottGem]

No its not just you and this has been discussed before. We are living in a time when text messaging and its shortcuts have become part of the communication skills for young people. So they think it extends to all internet activity.

Please do not hesitate to tell a poster, that you would like to help them, but you aren't going to waste your time trying to decipher what they posted. If their issue is impoirtant enough to them to ask a question about, then it should be important enough to spend the time to type it out so most people can understand it it.

[Curlyben]

I completely agree with you on this.
When I see a continual offender I send the following:

The use of proper English ISN'T an optional extra for use of this site, it is a prerequisite.

The use of bad grammar and chat speak is seriously frowned upon.

Please type in coherent sentences.

Thank you for your time.

Ok it's a little harsh, but in some cases it completey needed.

Feel free to ask these people for a translation into proper English, but please bear in mind we do have non-english speaking members ;)

[ashleysb]

HaHa! I have to agree ESPECIALLY since there is a spellcheck button on this website!

[chuff]

Thank God! I thought I was the only one. Like I said it's one thing for a mis-spelled word or forgotten period. That's not a big deal but when the whole message is like that I just can't imagine how they passed English is school.

I actually did tell a poster about 2 weeks ago that I had no idea what she had just wrote. Sadly that was the truth. It was a good 6 paragraphs all linked together with 3 periods and a bunch of teenage acronyms and abbreviations I didn't understand.

[wizzkid89]

Yeah... I think what they don't understand is the fact we are doing them a favor by answering and reading their questions, so when the message is all screwed up it's a bigger burden on the poster. All you can do is really leave it or ask them to rewrite it...

[Krs]

I agree Chuff... Totally...

Its hard to read slang words, sometimes new poster don't even add FULL STOPS or COMMA's.
Another thing that gets to me and sometimes ill be reading the said post but stop have way through because it hurts my eyes, when posters just right a FULL paragraph with no new paragraphs at all or space lines!

[Krs]

I actually did tell a poster about 2 weeks ago that I had no idea what she had just wrote. Sadly that was the truth. It was a good 6 paragraphs all linked together with 3 periods and a bunch of teenage acronyms and abbreviations I didn't understand.

Oh was I there too and passed the same comment as you? As remember it about 2 weeks ago.

[ordinaryguy]

Yes, it is hard to decipher sometimes, and if it's too much trouble I don't think it hurts to mention that it would be easier to help if it were written better. On the other hand, I think it's good to err on the side of tolerance because people from ALL KINDS of worlds and cultures and upbringings post here, and that's a big part of the fun of it. If most of the regulars use reasonably coherent language (which they do), that sets the overall tone of the site, and those who are too far from that mainstream will either moderate their flakiness, or flake off their own accord without being told.

[valinors_sorrow]

I'm with ordinaryguy about giving some benefit of the doubt too. I can take the txt ones, the poor english ones, even the ones that seem like bs from the gate - some of those I simply pass on. It's the seemingly sincere ones that either turn out to be thinly disguised bs (if that gets someone off then how silly?) or go on and on. I expect some on and on in the discussion forums but when its started as a genuine question and morphs into how much attention can be manipulated from it, it gives me the willies! I am not keen on enabling dishonest or disrespectful behaviors.

[NeedKarma]

[hoping someone gets that joke]

[J_9]

So, NK, what do you REALLY think?

[labman]

I am more likely to cut somebody a little slack that comes here for help, than somebody trying to help. One of my biggest grips are a lack of important details in questions.

I am spelling and typing impaired. I sometimes spend longer correcting an answer than writing it in the first place. With spell check, I see no need for many of the things I see here. And by the way, to, too, two, hear, here, there, their, etc. are all different words, each with a proper place to use it.

[Tuscany]

I am going to throw my 2 cents in here since I am an educator. This is a problem for the students that I teach as well. Do you know how many essays I grade that use there instead of their or they spell before before. It is amazing how often this happens.

[andrewcocke]

I never knew that sentances were supposed to have two spaces between them. Some of my worst habbits are forgetting to put a question mark after a question, and common typographical errors.

I do try to use capital letters when nessesary.

I will also admit that I kind of lean with ordinary guy, aside from the crude "chat talk" which I personally do not care for, some cultures speak in different methods. They have different ways of describing things. I often use words that people find amusing.

I use words that a professinal would use, big words, that I can pronounce, but have trouble spelling sometimes. In real life they are used in my southen backwoods accent, which also makes it all the more interesting.

Such statements as:

"The tire is flat, judging from this nail in the tire, we can conclude that this nail punctured the tire and thus deflated it rendering it out of service. I recommend installing the spare tire."

[ScottGem]

The typographical requirement of 2 spaces after a period ending a sentence is no longer in force. It died with the advent of variable fonts. In the days of typewriters and printers with monospaced fonts, it made text easier to read. However, with computerized typography, its no longer necessary.

I also tend to be verbose and precise in my use of language. But I look at it this way. The person posting a question is asking us to donate our time to read their question and also donate our expertise in answering it. Given that, they should expend some of their time to make the question complete and easy to read.

[lovelesspa]

:rolleyes:

I'm not sure if this is the right spot or not for this. I guess I'm just ranting a little. I don't even know if I should say anything because I think I'm going to offend some of you but I can't stand to see the way some people write there messages here. Is it just me?

What I mean is the poster does not use proper grammar. Not so much a misspelled word or a forgotten period here or there but an entire post of that. I just got done attempting to read someone's original post and it was filled with teenage slang internet words such as tghr, b4, and txt. Yes I'm not sure why text has to be shortened to txt or txting but I accept it.

Anyway the sentences do not start with capital letters; there aren't two spaces to distinguish when a new sentence is supposed to start. The first sentence is a long run on that should be seriously 10 different sentences. It is all one long paragraph and it's really hard to read.

Anyways, I guess I'm wondering, is this just me or does anybody else get annoyed by this?

I won't say it totally gets to me, but you tend to notice grammatical errors, what drives me off the edge is the abbrevations, boyfriend, text, like you said for those of use that's don't have a lot of the new abbreviation savvy, it's totally frustrating. Now maybe the persons text that you were reading... was a teenager?? Also maybe they were typing as fast as they were thinking and the capitals weren't their focus, just their question? Lots of reasons, but I think proofreading your work would help a lot of people, I just think they get so excited, it just gets away from 'em!!

[lovelesspa]

[QUOTE=J_9]So, NK, what do you REALLY think?[/QUOT

Needs to breathe in, breathe out and count to 10!! Calm down, mellow out and all the other words of wisdom that help!! :p :p
Just kidding!!

[Sentra]

[hoping someone gets that joke]

Lol, those owls brighten my day. Anyhoo, I've had trouble answering some posts because of the grammar in it, would help if they took the time to explain in a way we could all understand.