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Gateway To Product Reviews => Non-Productive Posts => : daved December 07, 2009, 07:41:59 AM

: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: daved December 07, 2009, 07:41:59 AM
I have to apologize in advance, here, because I'm sure that what I'm about to say is going to PO some people. But I just can't stand it anymore. It seems the older I get, the worse the language is getting butchered. I'm no English major, but I think that the stuff I write is clear, concise, and easy to read, and at least part of the reason for that is punctuation! Too often I see posts that run on forever, no commas or periods, no capitalization, and no paragraph breaks. Throw in caps lock and lousy spelling, and I just can't be bothered to even try to read it. Which is probably too bad, because I'm probably missing some stuff that might be worth reading. Has the education system in this country really deteriorated that much, or are people just too, what, rude, careless, busy? Not to be picking on anyone in particular, but it seems to be much worse among the younger members of the various forums. And a lot of that seems to be texting shorthand. I'm pretty sure there's a special place in hell for the idiot that came up with THAT bright idea! People, the whole purpose of language is to be able to communicate. A long, never ending string of words is not communication, it's diarrhea of the brain. Stepping off my soap box now, but only to reduce my target profile. Later. Dave
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: bodiej December 07, 2009, 07:58:16 AM
amen brother! ,,  :;
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: North Pack December 07, 2009, 08:13:33 AM
Not PO'd at all, ... an excellent post as a matter of fact. I'm a mod on another (sports) board, you wouldn't believe what gets posted. If correct English and grammar were required for posting, about 70% would be deleted.
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: dk1677 December 07, 2009, 09:31:18 AM
I know my sentience structure is awful, but I do use spell check  ; )       ( two finger typing is difficult and slow LOL )
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: ShadowShot December 07, 2009, 09:51:54 AM
I do agree that everything should be somewhat grammatically correct. If we were filling out a form or report it would be expected.

We must keep in mind that not all members of our forum have the ability to read and  write proficiently. Please don't get me wrong here,
we should try to  articulate our thoughts in a coherent and legible manner. We just don't want making a post here an unnerving experience
for our members. We come here to relax, unwind, and share our knowledge and experiences with each other.

My posts may not be up to par for others, however, other peoples posts are not up to par to what I would except.
If I can understand what someone is trying to convey, thats all that really matters to me.  

 
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: only1harry December 07, 2009, 10:33:12 AM
I don't know about this thread, but I have not noticed too much "butchering" at a couple of other GTA forums I hang out at.

To tell you the truth, most of the people I work with have College degrees, but they still can't spell or even compose grammatically correct sentences.  My boss is one of them and actually many are management who I have noticed lack some skills in spelling and grammar.  They live with MS Word Spell & Grammar checker.  They cannot do without it.  I rarely use it but probably should because I am no English major either, and I tend to write sentences that drag on sometimes.  Especially late at night when I am tired.  My wife with a high school education cannot write too well either and her spelling is equivelant to 5th or 6th grade at best, if I had to rate it.  So I don't think College has anything to do with it.  I did not learn how to read & write in College.  I took mostly math and science classes, phych, economics, German, and all those required "humanities" (and/or Arts) courses..  Surprisingly an English or Writing class was not a requirement(!) if you were an engineering major.  Most of us pick up writing skills mainly in Grammar school and high school.  That's where/when you pick up the basics and a good foundation for most things academic.  So I don't think a higher education is a contributing factor to proper spelling & grammar skills in most cases.  

Everyone functions at their own level.  Truth be told, my dad could write much better than me, and my brother who is a little older also writes better.  So I believe that the public school education or curicculum has diminished somewhat, but I would also have to say it is the individual and how much attention they paid in school while growing up.  We all day dreamed in class, some more, some less (I would dream of going home and shooting my 760 Crosman back in the late 70's, early 80's, no BS!) and dreaded doing homework, but if I didn't bring home a B or better, I 'd be grounded.  Actually unless it was a B+ my dad wasn't too happy.  So I was sort of forced to be an above average student, study, pay attention in class, and try harder.  In conclusion, "how" you were brought up also has a lot to do with it in my opinion.  By that I don't mean just how your parents reacted to your grades, but who you hung out with, how much supervision you received after school, etc. as a child, all contributed to the academic or grammar/spelling level one is at today.  Of course that's just my opinion and what I have learned and observed meeting different people in the last 43yrs.
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: dw33 December 07, 2009, 10:56:02 AM
i no jus how u feel cuz it boothers me to u jus got to over look there poor gramer skillz

(The internet/phone texting  is going to be the death of the English language, u no wat i mean?)
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: ShadowShot December 07, 2009, 11:08:43 AM


dw33 - 12/7/2009  6:56 PM  i no jus how u feel cuz it boothers me to u jus got to over look there poor gramer skillz  (The internet/phone texting  is going to be the death of the English language, u no wat i mean?)



Lol,
I knew that was coming.



L8r M8

: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: Big_Bill December 07, 2009, 11:58:00 AM


As it has been pointed out, well "educated" people have the worst handwriting, spelling and grammar than anyone. But putting them aside, I also know many of our members are from foreign countries, and they do surprisingly well writing in a second or third language. Try sending you post in Spanish and see how poorly you do ! Or any other language for that matter.



I believe that our membership do fairly well considering we are an international Air Gunforum.



Bill



Como se ha señalado, y "educada" la gente tiene la peor de escritura, ortografía y la gramática que nadie. Pero, dejando a un lado, yo también sé que muchos de nuestros miembros son de países extranjeros, y lo hacen sorprendentemente bien escrito, en una segunda o tercera lengua. Trate de enviar de publicar en español y ver cómo lo haces mal! O cualquier otro idioma para el caso.



Creo que nuestros miembros hacen bastante bien considerando que es una organización internacional Pistola de Aire foro.



Cuenta

: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: pindog2000 December 07, 2009, 12:16:44 PM
My doctor been in practice for 40 yrs and he writes very bad and cant spell but i understand exactly what he writes 8)
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: shadow December 07, 2009, 12:54:12 PM
I may fall short in this category at times but I'll pick up the slack shooting those airguns. :) Ed
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: gamo2hammerli December 07, 2009, 12:58:02 PM
Yep, that bothers me abit too.  I would probably fail an English composition test but I try to use punctuations, break my message into paragraphs and check my spelling before posting.  Hmmm...that sentence was abit long.  heh heh
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: Bentong December 07, 2009, 01:35:39 PM
COOL, AT LEAST NOBODY TYPED ALL CAPS!! :=)
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: Gene_SC December 07, 2009, 01:58:31 PM


I am totally guilty of that Dave..:( Will try and use spell checker all the time and keep my sentence in order.



Sometimes I can not even read or understand what I write it is so bad..:(

: Hey Daved !
: Big_Bill December 07, 2009, 02:28:52 PM


Are you considering starting a class for English grammar, spelling and punctuation ?



Perhaps Gene can make a "NEW" Forum for Ya !



Keep us informed, I would like to attend your classes.



William

: RE: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: RedFeather December 07, 2009, 03:59:35 PM
(http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e20/RedFeather2/spelling-nazis-spelling-nazi-nazis-.jpg) (http://s36.photobucket.com/albums/e20/RedFeather2/?action=view&current=spelling-nazis-spelling-nazi-nazis-.jpg)

Were we all so considerate. For what it's worth, and that's about what you paid for it, there are several schpelling and grammatercle errors ("errata" for the "educated") in the post and subsequent replies. Oh, how DO we bear this?





Consider this -



Fer Sell



Original Beeman R-1 in .22 calibur, reel nice, no wear and no rust. Only shot once and than put into the safe. A beuty.



$200, shipping included.





Oh, but I can't reply to THAT ABOMINATION! I'll just have to let it pass. What a sham! If only he had had a proper education.





Now, I will tell you that I have seen these same contortions of the English language on the Classifieds here as well as the Yellow's. I've also seen quite a bit of backwoods grammar in topic posts, as well, although I wouldn't point it out as that will definitely (have to use spell check on that word) hurt feelings. Let it go, people, let it go. (Is that one sentence or two?)  



Slow nite? :emoticon:  

: RE: Hey Daved !
: daved December 07, 2009, 04:28:47 PM
Don't think that was called for, Bill.  I don't remember mentioning your name in my post, or anyone elses for that matter.  This isn't an issue with the occasional misspelling or awkwardly worded phrase, or with the people that don't speak English as a native tongue.  Truth is, this is mostly about laziness, and the people that it applies to will know who they are.  Consistently poor spelling, no punctuation or paragraph breaks, texting short hand, all these things are inconsiderate and lazy IMO, especially in this age of built-in spelling and grammar checkers.  Why should it be up to ME to try and decipher what came out of YOUR head?  And what am I going to misinterpret because of a missing comma?  And believe me, it CAN make a difference, I had quite a run in with a Seattle electrical inspector once because of a comma.  If someone is so busy that they can't be bothered with the shift key and punctuation, why the hell are they wasting time posting on a forum?  Trying to convey meaning and emotion without words and faces is tough enough, why abandon the one thing that helps fill in some of the gaps?

And for those that are thinking I'm some kind of college boy elitist, think again.  I have no college degree, in fact, I don't even have a high school diploma.  I dropped out at 16, joined the Navy at 17, had to take a GED before Uncle Sam would let me in.  But I still managed to learn to communicate effectively, and I don't think it's too much to ask that others do the same.  Of course, maybe the sci fi writers already figure it out, and we're heading the direction of Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" or Henry Kutner's "Marching Morons".  If so, I hope it holds off until after I'm out of here.  Later.

Dave
: RE: Hey Daved !
: RedFeather December 07, 2009, 04:33:31 PM
Believe he was only poking fun. At least, that's how I read it.
: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: ShadowShot December 07, 2009, 04:48:23 PM
Punctuation can make all the difference in the world.
 
 "Woman without her man is nothing."
 "Woman, without her man, is nothing."
  Or, "Woman! Without her, man is nothing!"
: RE: Hey Daved !
: Big_Bill December 07, 2009, 05:35:08 PM


Hey Dave,



I'm not picking on you ! But I have spent years deciphering Highly Educated peoples Notes, Letters and Memos. That were often purposely vague and sometimes misleading, just to limit their culpability.



The fellows here may be a little lazy, but most are trying to express themselves as best as they can. I know that I must re-read my posts twice, as I often hit the wrong key when typing, and sometimes skip words, as my typing can't keep up with my mind !



So I look at this with a different prospective.



What tweaks me is when someone asks for a value of a B.B. Gun, and doesn't even know who made it, and does not have a photo. Or tells you that your information is not any good ! So I do not respond to those members any more, and seldom try to help in the area of value of an air gun.



Bill

: Re: Is punctuation REALLY that difficult?
: douglas george December 07, 2009, 05:36:25 PM
I thought this forum is about air-guns, or is it airguns?  Maybe they are really pellet-guns, or is it pellet guns?
Douglas George