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July 2011 Moms
squeakbeth
member
More on spelling/grammar (and hilarious link)
squeakbeth
member
First, if you want to skip the vent, go straight here, do a Kegel, and prepare to laugh:
Now feel free to flame away for this part. Things are slow here lately, anyway.
It was brought up in the UO post yesterday that some people get irritated when others make posts calling out spelling and grammar mistakes. I am one of those people and unashamedly so. However, it is not done in a malicious way or with a pious spirit. It turns out that some of these posts actually teach new things (e.g. Damabo's lose vs loose comment where someone actually learned a new word and how to use it correctly). We are about to be responsible for teaching our kids, so why not take the opportunity to soak up some knowledge ourselves? I never got furious with my teachers in school for telling me I spelled something wrong. I just learned it and moved on.
I think we are so used to the prevailing attitude of "my opinion/dress size/political view/parenting style is not something to be attacked just because it is different" that we are actually unable to accept when something we do or say is ACTUALLY wrong; as in, there is a documented rule against it. Spelling and math are just things that can't be argued with. 2+2 is always going to equal 4 and "rediculous" is always going to be wrong. It doesn't make you a bad person. It just needs correcting. Otherwise, people cannot make sense of what message you are trying to convey.
If this younger generation is any indication, the language drifts further and further away from coherency with each passing year. I think it is our responsibility to raise our kids with as much CORRECT knowledge as possible. We all believe that our kids will change the world. They will be the brightest, the most engaging, the hope of the future. They may even lead a great nation one day. So, why not prepare them by correcting them (and ourselves)?
I'm sorry, but I don't have high hopes for Chris and his "heinz site" from the link above, as entertaining as he may be.
/rant
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Re: More on spelling/grammar (and hilarious link)
I don't understand why people get upset when they are corrected on spelling and/or grammar. I can only attribute my ability to type better from the few people who were willing to point out my mistakes. It's kind of amazing to me to think so many people either kept their mouth shut or didn't know any better and allowed me to live in ignorance. Heck, I only learned it was "ridiculous" four years ago, and had been spelling it wrong for thirteen!
Keep doing what you do Squeakbeth! I support you!
Yay! No hurt feelings so far!
And yes, everyone gets SUPER leeway for having baby brain at the moment. My personal moment was calling "goggles".. out loud... "GOOGLEs" this morning. Yep, googles. Awesome. I might as well have put the "kick me" sign on my own back.
Thanks I needed a good laugh.
The emu kids one had my laughing hysterically. I loved some of he responses too. And that poor girl with the misspelled tattoo too. That stinks lol.
Hi. I am "some people"... lol
*Because I clearly have a problem with conciseness, I shall bold out the main ideas so that you don't really have to go through the whole thing.*
Strangely enough, I am the same person that:
1. thinks less of (I think less of, I hardly get irritated with, at least not usually) posters who ridicule (ridicule, not merely correct) other posters because of grammar and spelling (hereinafter simply G&S), especially when they don't have a perfect record of G&S themselves (which is, sadly, all too common here in TB); and
2. learned from Damabo's lesson - and thanked her accordingly. I am brazilian and English is not my first language so I always welcome all the help I can get. Plus, I know my English, flawed as though it may be, is still much better than that of many native speakers. Plus, I am self-taught. And I generally rock.
Just kidding. So I don't really mind it, because I have all the best excuses not to have perfect grammar and spelling and do not get defensive about it.
Anyway, why do I think less of them (them, not you, but I'll get to that)? Well, because it is an obnoxious thing to do. If I don't bluntly correct people to their faces, why would I do it in here? Just because I am talking to strangers? Even when I feel that I am close enough to someone to correct them and that correction is indeed in order, I'll do it privately and carefuly. Why not use the same discretion here? And BTW, why even bother correcting a stranger?
Furthermore, as I've said before, it is not really a matter of the correction per se, but the way it is carried out. What truly bothers me is when the intention is clearly not to help out, but to ridicule, belittle, humiliate. Education and intelligence are not synonyms. A person who needs something like that to feel more intelligent or better than another strikes me as an immature and insecure human being. Hence my thinking less of them. Some people here will use G&S to disqualify someone else's post without even addressing the actual argument it contains. And that is just pointless - unless, of course, you are only in it for the bickering anyway.
And more than teaching my children good G&S, I shall strive to teach them to be kind and respect other people unless they give you any real reason not to (real reason, not trivialities such as G&S). I think the world is missing that way more than well written (or even spoken) English.
I don't know you, I don't remember if you ever posted anything I found offensive in that regard. Reading your post above, though, you don't strike me as that kind of person. Nor does Damabo, for that matter - it was an UO, she wasn't really bashing anyone. So I don't really understand why you felt that my post was directed at you. I thought I had made myself clear - I meant people who ridicule others. But as I said, English is not my first language and I don't always get it right. So don't be mad. I never meant to attack you.
No hard feelings from me though. All the best!
Oh my goodness - that link was hysterical!! I laughed out loud, uncontrollably! THANK YOU!!
ETA: I saw a real gem on my facebook feed the other day. A girl from my high school class posted saying "I hate hippocrates." Pretty sure she meant "hypocrites." I wanted SO badly to ask what the ancient doctor had ever done to her, but didn't have the balls to do it. Luckily someone commented on it later and pointed out her mistake.
Jess & Adam, married 2009, precious Audrey born in 2011. BFP 1/6/13, 6-wk MMC discovered at 9 wks 2/11/13. D&C 2/18/13, second D&C 4/23/13 for retained placenta.
BFP 8/24/13!! EDD 5/1/14, delivered healthy and sweet Zoey Leanne on 5/5/14 by repeat c-section.
Aww! No, I absolutely never felt attacked, neither today or yesterday. I couldn't remember your name, but I just remembered that you had said something about lose/loose and how it was a lesson. I actually thought it was incredibly rare and pleasantly refreshing that someone would say something like you did, keeping it along the lines of a lesson. A lot of people get defensive and feel personally attacked and then shut down and I think that is a shame. I also can guarantee I never have any specific person in mind when and if I ever make comments (for one thing, that would require a memory of some sort, which I currently do NOT have!).
It was just a little portion of the UO that stuck in my mind and got me thinking. I wasn't railing against anyone, just on a soap box, I guess.
I just have a thing about demanding better of ourselves (whether it is like you said and we all become more respectful and kind or whether it is that we increase our knowledge and learn from people around us) and would like to see more people learn and less people get defensive.
I am impressed beyond words that you are self taught. I wouldn't have picked up on anything in your writing that indicated that English wasn't your first language. You are a great example of what we are capable of if we put our minds to it.
Thank you, squeakbeth, I am so relieved to know we are ok!