I, Me, Your, You're......

[Marker]

Ok, maybe I'm just being overly sensitive. I know I'm not always perfect either. Can someone explain to me why it seems that the internet is erasing our grammer and spelling ability?

I'm not sure if it's lack of knowing, lack of caring, or what. It may just be the way of the internet, a trend maybe. But no matter what the cause, I find it distracting.

Nothing personal directed at anyone, it's here on Intercot as well as anywhere else on the internet. What is even more frustrating, is the increasing frequency of finding misspellings or improper grammer in newspapers, magazines even on television ads and newscasts.

But then maybe it's just me.

[SBETigg]

I try not to get annoyed. I mess up as much as anyone else. But I do notice things, like the possessive and the plural being mixed up often. Or, specific Disney-related bungles like O'Hana instead of the proper 'Ohana. It's not an Irish pub! :secret: The best thing to do is shrug it off and pretend you have too much of an active life than to bother with noticing such trifling details. :)

[dixielandings]

I agree. Grammar issues drive me crazy for some reason. I guess it has to do with excellence. It doesn't hurt to do something right, just as much as it's not that big a deal to do it wrong.

My biggest Internet pet peeve is this:

i agree grammar issues drive me crazy for some reason i guess it has to do with excellence it doesn't hurt to do something right just as much as its not that big a deal to do it wrong

Please, if nothing else, use punctuation and, if possible, add capital letters. :soapbox: Speech is over. Thanks. And sorry. :blush:

[Goofy Forever]

I personally think it is laziness. In general, I don't think people care and don't want to take the time to correct any mistakes.

[brad192]

It seems to be pervasive throughout society. Just listen to people speak, read a magazine or newspaper, etc. My 3 biggest pet peeves associated with this are:

1. The phrase "a lot" being used as a single word. Drives me NUTS! A good way to remember it's two words is to think about its opposite, "a little". You wouldn't type "alittle" would you?:nono:

2. Same thing with the phrase "no one". Noone (Peter) is a lead singer in a '60's pop band.:rotfl:

and finally my biggest gripe...

When the heck did the word "disrespect" change from a noun to a verb??? Did I miss the big announcement? You can respect someone, but you SHOW them disrespect. This one is getting worse & worse. I just heard it used wrongly on one of those CSI type programs the other night. You'd think a professional writer could get it right.:shake:

:bang: :angry: :blowup: :rant:

WHEW!! OK, I feel much better now. I'll put my soapbox away.:D

[Marker]

I've actually adjusted to the lack of capitalization.

If it is a matter of trendiness, or even laziness, then that's one thing, but if it is a matter education, or lack thereof, then to me that is a concern.

Do people really not know the difference between "your" and "you're". Do they really not know the difference between "there", "their" and "they're".

[SBETigg]

Disrespect is listed in Merriam Webster as a noun and as a transitive verb. You can show disrespect. Or you can disrespect someone.

Example:
"He disrespected the officer." Completely proper usage, according to the dictionary's example.
"He showed the officer disrespect." Also proper.

Further, to write believable dialogue, writers will often use familar speech or more vernacular language. In the case of a television show, you're dealing with characters. A writer will use speech the character would use in order to set a convincing tone. A CSI investigator may or may not be grammatically correct. A street thug? Not as likely.

[Jeremy]

I myself, have problems with grammar and spelling.

I have dylexia and I have been working on it all my life.

People say I am doing better, but I still have truble
with things.

but I know what you mean. it does get kind of crazy:)

[Carol]

I get annoyed by text message speak and lack of punctuation. That's just lazy.

However, I try not to judge people on their grammar or typing skills - since that is not why they come here. They're here to get Disney planning advice. We certainly want all to feel welcome. :thumbsup:

[ldn324]

I have a grammar pet peeve. Poor DH thinks I spend way too much time griping about it. It's when people use apostrophes incorrectly. Like more than one ATM - it should be ATMs, not ATM's. It's more than one ATM, it doesn't belong to the ATM.

I know, I know - a little case of OCD but I can really feel my blood pressure go up when I see cases of this.

Now as I'm posting this, I am so paranoid that I will have made a typo! :blush:

[MsMin]

When spelling or grammar gets to me I feel better when I go back and look at some of my own typos :blush:
Often I'm doing two things at once and type up something quick and opps how dumb I just typed "your welcome":blush: I'm pleased when the msg doesn't get misconstruded.
I have to admit my pet peeve is alot of a lot and when ppl YELL; but, I've made too many mistakes myself to keep tabs on it. :D

[jedigrrrl]

It's not you. Americans are becoming increasingly dumber. And the sad part is, they don't seem to care.

[jedigrrrl]

When spelling or grammar gets to me I feel better when I go back and look at some of my own typos :blush:
Often I'm doing two things at once and type up something quick and opps how dumb I just typed "your welcome":blush: I'm pleased when the msg doesn't get misconstruded.
I have to admit my pet peeve is alot of a lot and when ppl YELL; but, I've made too many mistakes myself to keep tabs on it. :D

I don't think the original poster was talking about typos. That's completely different.

[pink]

I feel like lazyness is the main factor in this problem. However, I still go to school and throughout the whole day I am writing full sentences, correcting my grammar, etc. So when I come online I feel like it is a more relaxed atmosphere and I shouldn't have to worry about how people will judge me based on my grammar and punctuation.
Hey, at least we dnt typ lke dis. :D


:mickey:

[Ian]

Here's a story for you, then:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/02/09/chat.lingo.ap/index.html

I'll admit it ... I'm a fussbudget when it comes to proper grammar and spelling. Nothing grates on my nerves more than having to read innane stuff like, "UR GR8!"

Although what irks me more is when people try to sound smart by using big words and then fall flat on their face by mis-using it.

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me, "Well it's a mute point now!" I'd be a rich man. :rolleyes:

Now just for the record, we all get typing fast sometimes and make minor typos or substitute their for there by mistake ... that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about persistent, pervasise bad spelling and grammar. I spend lots of my time reading the techincal specs produced by my analysts and I'll tell you ... I return about 95% of them with lots and lots of "red ink".

[Melanie]

Now just for the record, we all get typing fast sometimes and make minor typos or substitute their for there by mistake ... that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about persistent, pervasise bad spelling and grammar.


:exactly:

[January-2007]

I tutored English in college so I am quite aware that a lot of people just never learned anything in High School English. It's strange. You'd think these things would be second nature after fourth grade, but people still don't know or use the correct spelling for the your you're, its it's, and there their they're. It's crazy. When I first started talking on the internet in high school with friends from school on instant messanger and stuff I would do the "i" thing because everybody wrote it like that, but I don't anymore, I just think it's strange. There's going to be a whole generation not knowing how to spell things out and use proper punctuation. When I read posts sometimes I really wonder how long it took them to write it, and sometimes I just assume English is a second language, because surely it could not be that hard to spell. I understand some people have learning disabilities, and I totally respect that, I just think it's funny when smart people type dumb. They know how to write things correctly, they just don't take the time to do it.

At least slang hasn't completely taken over the boards.. other than Disney slang, that is... "So I went to CRT at MK and it was AM EMH so DH and I made a mad dash for BTMR before breakfast." It's so funny to read stuff like this where every little thing is abbreviated. Nothing so wrong with it, just funny. And then when people use the abbreviations incorrectly or abbreviate differently, it's so hard to figure out what they're trying to say. I'm sure this has nothing to do with what the original poster was trying to say, I just find it amusing.

And now back to (multiple choice question)
a. you're
b. your
c. ur
regularly schedule Intercot thread.

[dixielandings]

I just think it's funny when smart people type dumb.

:funny:

[sunlyon]

These things don't bother me much. I have a theory that many people have always had poor grammar and spelling, but, unless they were in school, no one really knew how bad they were.

The problem is that now everyone has access to a computer we are bombarded with poor grammar and worse spelling, not to mention all the cutsie internet-speak.

This is a take-off from my theory that all the bad things we hear in the news today isn't so much "new" or more prevalent in our society but with the advent of tv and radio everyone hears about it more. There is nothing to fill the "news" time slot, so any small crime is now reported as if it is breaking headline news.

I am not criticizing anyone or anything, in fact it doesn't really bother me at all. After, all, I have, trouble, deciding where to, put, commas!

[merlinmagic4]

I notice it but it doesn't bother me. My son's third grade teacher corrected one of his writing assignments and told him that a lot was supposed to be one word (alot)!! Now that kind of bugged me:confused:

[SteveL]

If posters, including me, would take a little more time to proof-read what they typed, then a lot of the "hands are quicker than the brain" transgressions would be caught.
Wacky, we have a lot of people where I work that speak of "mute points". These are the same people who don't know the difference between flaunting and flouting the rules grammar.
What really irks me is when I find these things on sites sponsored by network news channels.

[Ian]

These things don't bother me much. I have a theory that many people have always had poor grammar and spelling, but, unless they were in school, no one really knew how bad they were.

The problem is that now everyone has access to a computer we are bombarded with poor grammar and worse spelling, not to mention all the cutsie internet-speak.

This is a take-off from my theory that all the bad things we hear in the news today isn't so much "new" or more prevalent in our society but with the advent of tv and radio everyone hears about it more. There is nothing to fill the "news" time slot, so any small crime is now reported as if it is breaking headline news.

I am not criticizing anyone or anything, in fact it doesn't really bother me at all. After, all, I have, trouble, deciding where to, put, commas!I actually agree with you to a large extent. I think it's not so much that things are "worse" than they were before ... I think it's just in this information age we live in, we hear about all the bad things a lot more.

Or is it alot more? :confused:

[janebanks]

I wasn't sure, myself, if it was one word or two, so I looked it up. It is two words. Here you go:

a lot
adverb
to a very great degree or extent; "we enjoyed ourselves very much"; "she was very much interested"; "this would help a great deal"
(WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University )


a lot
Very many, a large number; also, very much. For example, "A lot of people think the economy is declining," or "Sad movies always made her cry a lot." It is sometimes put as "a whole lot" for greater emphasis, as in "I learned a whole lot in his class." It may also emphasize a comparative indication of amount, as in "We need a whole lot more pizza to feed everyone," or "Mary had a lot less nerve than I expected." [Colloquial; early 1800s]
(The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.)

[brad192]

Ooooh, thought of 2 more...

"ATM Machine" and "PIN Number". Both redundancies, both drive me crazy - especially when I catch myself using them.:blush:

And as for "disrespecting", I guess I DID miss the big announcement.:foot:

[Ian]

"ATM Machine" and "PIN Number". Both redundancies, both drive me crazy - especially when I catch myself using them.:blush: These items are brought to you by the Department of Redundancy Department!

[diz_girl]

You guys aren't the only ones who cringe when you see or hear bad grammar on display. And I agree it's not a dangling participle here or there that bothers me. It's the fact that so many people can't correctly use the singular or plural versions of a noun, or past or present tense, or proper pronouns. I have no idea why it bugs me, but I can't help it. I think it's detail-oriented people, like myself, who tend to have grammar hang-ups. I must cringe several times a day because of the bad grammar in e-mails that I receive.

On top of the people with bad grammar, there are the people who are just too lazy to check their work. I'm guilty of dangling participles and misplacing modifiers, but it's that's minor stuff compared to what I see out there. I also have a lot of typos when I write something, but it's because I just type too fast. I always spell check my e-mails and I almost always preview my posts on Intercot, so my work is corrected before it goes out. Whenever you see a post from me that has a typo in it, then I haven't previewed my post. Most people just don't check their work.

I know that there are those with learning disabilities, and I completely understand how difficult it is to have those problems. However, there aren't that many people out there with learning disabilities.

Of course, this post is coming from someone who debated with her own boss when he tried to correct her on the correct usage of "affect" vs. "effect" in a sentence. I won.

I will now cross my fingers, and hope that this e-mail doesn't contain typos or grammatical errors.

[diz_girl]

Please let me correct paragraph #3. I meant to say that there aren't that many people out there with learning disabilities to account for all of the bad grammar that is out there. I know that there are a lot of people with learning disabilities. I hope no one was offended by my earlier sentence.

It's tough enough to write what you mean so that nothing sounds odd, offensive or insulting. The grammar is the easy part. I'll stop writing now. Goodnight.

[DDBird]

I think most people type as they speak - which is not always grammatically correct.
The only thing that truly horrified me was to read a news article that said colleges and high schools are accepting 'IM speech' in their essay assigments. THIS is do have a major issue with:confused:

[grumpycajun]

IMHO, it's because the world is so fast paced and getting more so every day. Many people just don't even take the time check their work. A few days ago I read an article about students using "IM" slang in book reports. Can you imagine any of your past teachers letting you get away with that?:confused:

[Red Randal]

I'm going to stay as far away from a soapbox as possible on this one. I took a class on media writing where we spent months learning the proper way to say words and phrases. Trust me, there are many that we all use incorrectly.

Even after a semester of grammar I still have trouble remembering when to say "it's" or "its." I think one of the biggest reasons why is that my high school never stressed grammar. Freshman year we did useless things like diagramming sentences and then spent the next three years doing literature. If most high schools are like this, I can see why we need to spend money on college grammar classes.

As for all of the "internet lingo": that I can live with. I think it all depends on what you're writing. For things like e-mail and long winded discussion board posts, I think good grammar is useful. As for quick instant messages to a friend, I see no reason why I can't ask "hey, we goin to the movies at 7 or 8?"

[ChipDale]

I tutored English in college so I am quite aware that a lot of people just never learned anything in High School English. It's strange. You'd think these things would be second nature after fourth grade, but people still don't know or use the correct spelling for the your you're, its it's, and there their they're. It's crazy.

So true. I learned everything discussed here before I left grade school. :confused:

The one that bugs me is "could of" or "should of." :nono: If you're going to use the contraction, then it should be "could've" or "should've" (short for "could have" or "should have").

[wendy*darling]

I'm another one bugged by poor spelling grammar and lack or incorrect use of punctuation.
I was fortunate to have had really good teachers in grade school. There was no way to escape learning all the rules and using them properly.
My eyes were opened in college when I was a Teaching Assistant. I had to read essays from the students every week. It wasn't a composition class, so they weren't being graded for their grammar or spelling, but WOW :eek:, was I ever amazed at how many college students could not put a sentence, let alone a whole paragraph, together correctly! Now, this was 25 years ago- and well before the IM generation. So this is not a new phenomenon by any means.

My biggest pet peeve at the moment is this- Please Do No Capitalize Every Word In The Sentence. It's so annoying to read, and even very difficult to type!

[Marker]

Goodness, when I was in school spelling and grammer counted in any writing assignment, no matter what the subject.

I guess my kids got out of school before "IM speak" became acceptable. If I had seen my children getting away with that, I would have had to have a discussion with the teacher, principal, and perhaps even the school board. Now, I said discussion, not a complaining session. I've worked with teachers, principals, and the school board through the years, if you go in just wanting to complain their defenses go up, and rightfully so. But if we all understand that we are on the same team, much more can be accomplished. In fact, at my next opportunity, I may in fact inquire about this. I can't believe our school district would allow this, but I've been wrong before.

[Natazu]

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.

[darthmacho]

First of all, I was an English Major in college, and I've studied not only English, but also Latin, Ancient Greek, Spanish, and Italian. :grad:

Despite all of my studies, when it comes to posting on the Internet, and my conversations at work and home, the content of my verbal and written communications are filled with errors in both grammar and spelling. I think it has more to do with laziness than stupidity, though that could be debated too. :unsure:

I don't think Americans are getting dumber, I think we're getting lazier. We also don't value our language as much as we should. After all, when you have to use a goofy little picture of a face to get your point across, what does that say about your language skills? :soapbox: (Just joking, I love tese smilies!)

Finally, does anyone else find it ironic that the original poster was complaining about poor "grammer" and spelling? Those that have responded thus far were very kind not to point out that error. Not me! :thedolls:

Marker, please don't be offended, as I am just being facetious. Though, when asking how we've gotten so lax with our spelling and grammar, perhaps you may have answered your own question? :hands: Still friends, I hope?

[Mary M]

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.

See? That's perfectly clear. I don't see why anyone has a problem with it.

I agree, though. It makes me nuts. Maybe I need something else to worry about. I would love to be a copy editor for a living so I could have the joy of correcting incorrect grammar and punctuation. I often bite my tongue because it's polite, but I would just love to go in with a red pen and fix it all!

Yeah, I need a hobby; why do you ask?

[Marker]

Finally, does anyone else find it ironic that the original poster was complaining about poor "grammer" and spelling? Those that have responded thus far were very kind not to point out that error. Not me! :thedolls:

Marker, please don't be offended, as I am just being facetious. Though, when asking how we've gotten so lax with our spelling and grammar, perhaps you may have answered your own question? :hands: Still friends, I hope?


:shrug:
What can I say..... I'm not just a speaker for the "better grammer club", I'm also a client.

I mean come on, an alcoholic can speak out against drinking; a junkie can speak out against drugs; so can't I speak out against bad grammer/spelling? Makes sense to me. :doh:

[tyandskyesmom]

You know what???

You guys have made me paraniod! I normally think I am well spoken and gramatically correct. I try to spell things correctly and use capital letters and punctuation when and where appropriate. But the last time I posted a trip report, one that I read and re-read before I posted it and thought it was correct with not a single error (you know, when it's your own words you just don't seem to see them as you do someone else's) so I copied it and pasted it into a word document and boy did a lot of stupid errors show up!

Thanx guys!

[Marker]

I notice it but it doesn't bother me. My son's third grade teacher corrected one of his writing assignments and told him that a lot was supposed to be one word (alot)!! Now that kind of bugged me:confused:

That's bad.

[DisneyDudet]

I looked back at posts when I first joined, and I was horrible! I was 18 at the time, and could write papers well like the back of my head, but I felt that the Internet was a place where I could use all that bad grammar and spelling. I used a lot of IM slang and spelling: "ur" "ppl". Ok.. I admit, I used ppl a lot anyway!

My best friend is a spelling freak. I have never been the greatest speller, and she corrects me all the time. She ALWAYS used "alot" until I told her it was "a lot".

Now, I'm disgraphic, which means I write things backward. It is really bad when I'm tired.

I often do not check my posts before sending, but I try not to misspell things often. My computer puts a red line underneath the problems like Word does. That has helped me spell better.

I admit, I'm lazy. Yeah, there will be times where I didn't capitalize something, but when I typed a very long post, I'm tired of typing. Does it mean I'm stupid? No. Am I lazy at that time? Yes. I'm not lazy all the time.

Oh well. Can't change the world, can we?

[Caroleh]

I try to be good. But I have to admit, I've been out of school for 30+ years and during those 30 years I haven't spent a lot of time writing. Previous jobs, I didn't need it..just needed math. My spelling has always been really bad. I alway use spell check if I don't know to spell something.

Now my pet peeve is hearing people speaking badly. Just today, while watching a TV court show, a woman said to a man, "I made you what you is." That to me is worse then fingernails on a chalkboard.

[Dsnygirl]

At least slang hasn't completely taken over the boards.. other than Disney slang, that is... "So I went to CRT at MK and it was AM EMH so DH and I made a mad dash for BTMR before breakfast." It's so funny to read stuff like this where every little thing is abbreviated. Nothing so wrong with it, just funny.



:laughing: I agree... it's even funnier when I print something out from here to reference later, and show it to my DH... he can't even read it!! :funny: I end up having to translate the whole thing for him - you should have seen him trying to decipher our Trip Reports after I wrote them last year. Too funny! ;)

[Granny Jill A]

I love this topic! Some of the examples given were hilarious.

I think the problems with spelling came from the educators who decided some time ago that it wasn't important to spell correctly, as long as the writer "felt good" about what he was saying.

Sew whee shud awl fel gud about arselvs, evun if we cant spel or punkuate.

:D :D

[Tynkerbelle]

I've got one pet peeve that REALLY bothers me and it's just so stupid, but what can I say, it gets me worked up every time:
"I could care less." So you do care some?
When will people get it - "I couldn't care less" illustrates the point that you do not care at all!
UGH - just drives me nuts!!!!!!

Add IM slang and the whole "ATM machine" & "PIN number" thing (I'm in banking - you can't imagine how often I hear that) to my list.

I'm generally pretty careful about my grammar & spelling and I admit the teacher (well, former teacher) in me comes out and makes me want to reach for a red pen when I see poor writing... I'm currently in a 12 step program for this and almost have it under control ;)

[alphamommy]

I have a few pet peeves of my own, mostly with spoken language. The worst one? "I seen him go in the store." NO! "I SAW..."!

I also have issues with "alot" and "they're/there/their". To go along with "ATM Machine" and "PIN number", how about "with au Jus". I don't speak French, but doesn't that mean "with with juice"?

I admit to being picky about these things. I did a lot of technical writing when I was working, and I have to admit that I found some fun in getting out the red pen when I got a new specification from our customer to read and evaluate.

Tammy

[magicofdisney]

Something that drives me crazy is someone typing how long they stood "on line" to get on a ride. I'm sure it's a typo, but I see it all the time and it drives me nuts. I'm 99.9% sure they mean "in line". ;)

[Boojum]

I notice it but it doesn't bother me. My son's third grade teacher corrected one of his writing assignments and told him that a lot was supposed to be one word (alot)!! Now that kind of bugged me:confused:

A teacher shouldn't make mistakes like this--being a teacher myself, this bothers me.

[Granny Jill A]

Something that drives me crazy is someone typing how long they stood "on line" to get on a ride. I'm sure it's a typo, but I see it all the time and it drives me nuts. I'm 99.9% sure they mean "in line". ;)


Oh, I just thought of another one that makes me crazy. Why do people say "on" accident when they must mean "by" accident?

[Tynkerbelle]

How about:
"off of" (as in "get off of the couch") - it's just off, ("get off the couch").
Double negatives - "I can't never get that right".
Ask pronounced 'aks'.

The list could go on.....

[Marker]

Something that drives me crazy is someone typing how long they stood "on line" to get on a ride. I'm sure it's a typo, but I see it all the time and it drives me nuts. I'm 99.9% sure they mean "in line". ;)

Unless they actually were standing ON a line. Maybe someone used a piece of chalk, drew a line, and they stood on that line. Well, it's just a thought. :mickey:

[BrerSchultzy]

Anyone else read the book "Eats, Shoots and Leaves"? Sounds like it's something everyone here would enjoy. There is an entire chapter on how improper punctuation could end the world.

Anyway, my pet peeves have been echoed by many so far. But here are two more than I'm getting concerned with:

The only definition of "impacted" in the dictionary is not one that applies to the athletic field, but instead, applies to the medical field (if you catch my drift).

"Where are you at" has got to be the most annoying phrase in all of humankind. And the fact that it is now becoming "Where you at" is even worse.

[magicofdisney]

After reading something I'm reminded of another one that drives me batty.

"That's are plans...Are dog ate a crayon...We put are car in long term parking..."

[mickeys_princess_mom]

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs.

:hug: I love this! :funny:
I confess I'm often bugged by seeing spelling and grammar errors, but try to be cool because everybody's good (and bad!) at something. Math and typing are not my specialties....However, I'm not so forgiving when it comes to seeing errors in ads, news programs, etc. If you plan to publish, and you cant' spell/speak--find someone who can! I use the local newspaper as a teaching tool (proofreading for errors) on a regular basis.
Has anybody noticed how it seems to be popular with celebrities (trying to sound classy?) to use "I" as an object instead of "me"?
"The award was given to Oscar and I because..." Pet peeve! :blush:
We teachers do try to correct our students' habits, but don't always meet with support from parents....It's good to see many of you feel it's important! I almost died when I saw that one of our fifth graders completed her LEAP test essay with "Bye!" And the best part? She spelled it "Bi!" :faint: (Thankfully I teach sixth grade...;) )