Grammar helps

Hopefully some of our posters (whom I won't mention) who aren't exactly grammar friendly will read this post so I don't claw my eyes out trying to read their posts.
 
Amen.



90% of forum people please read that post. That is all, thank you.



I just hate it when I type something, then see I have shortened something or forgotten to capitalize. Have to go back and edit it...
 
I agree that good grammar is a pleasure to read, however as stated in an above post this is the Internet.

There are people from all over the world, from all different cultures and backgrounds. Do not be too hasty to judge others when you do not know their situations in real life.
 
tragic said:
I agree that good grammar is a pleasure to read, however as stated in an above post this is the Internet.

There are people from all over the world, from all different cultures and backgrounds. Do not be too hasty to judge others when you do not know their situations in real life.
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Just because it's the internet is a bad excuse. English as a second language is a better excuse, but not entirely excusable. If you are going to visit and post on English speaking forums you should really do your best to communicate in such a way that people understand. As a native English speaker it is really easy to tell the difference between someone who is just being lazy and who is genuinely trying to ask/convey a message.



Sometimes I have trouble reading what people posts and I won't hesitate to call them out on it. If English is not your first language you should be prepared for others to be confused if your grasp of the language isn't so good, and shouldn't be offended when people don't understand.
 
Just because it's the internet is a bad excuse.
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The point I was making about the Internet is that all people from all back grounds can access it. It is a melting pot.

Therefore you will come across non english speaking people and also people from less ideal upbringings and social economic differences in schooling quality etc.

My point was that some people will not have the skill set to write perfect grammatical sentences, and to be careful before you flame them. Even tho I agree there is no harm in bettering your self, it is hardly a pre-requisite to be able to post on a gaming forum.
 
Its easy to tell the difference between an internet "BRB L2P" typer and a non-english speaker.



For one, a lazy person will misspell a lot of words, whereas the non-english person will generally spell most of the words right, but the sentences tend to be out of order or odd.
 
tragic said:
The point I was making about the Internet is that all people from all back grounds can access it. It is a melting pot.

Therefore you will come across non english speaking people and also people from less ideal upbringings and social economic differences in schooling quality etc.

My point was that some people will not have the skill set to write perfect grammatical sentences, and to be careful before you flame them. Even tho I agree there is no harm in bettering your self, it is hardly a pre-requisite to be able to post on a gaming forum.
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It's not a very valid excuse. All the information is out there to educate yourself. There are zillions of sites that can help improve your writing among other skills. The internet is an amazing source of all kinds of knowledge. Economics might influence someone's early education, but libraries are free, the internet is essentially free. If you choose to spend your timing playing WoW rather than educating yourself to the point of being able to communicate effectively you have no one to blame but yourself when people look down on you.



Do I feel sorry for people that are put in situations that are less then ideal for a proper education? Sure. I'm not a mean person at heart, but that doesn't mean that I have to take them seriously or try to decipher what they are trying to say. I'll quote the great Hubert Humphrey when he says, "The right to be heard does not automatically include the right to be taken seriously."
 
For those who fink krek spellin ain't nessessery



Eye have a spelling chequer,

It came with my pea sea,

It plainly marques four my revue

Miss takes eye can knot sea.



Eye strike the quays and type a word

And weight four it two say,

Weather I am rite oar wrong,

It shows me strait aweigh.



As soon as a mist ache is maid

It nose bee four two long

And eye can put the error rite -

It's rare lea ever wrong.



I've run this poem threw it,

Eye am shore yore pleas two no,

It's letter perfect in its weigh

My chequer tolled me sew.
 
And now a bit more seriously.



I read a lot. I went to public school in Spain (Madrid). My Masters is in Pure Maths and Software Engineering.

I nearly did a doctorate (here in England) in Psycholinguistics (Acquisition of Languages in Bilingual Families).



And yet all that education hasn't trimmed out all my English little quirks.



You may or may not have noticed before that English is not my first language.

The odd preposition here, the funny word order there. Yep, not English.



When I read a post in a forum, I are more annoyed by lack of meaning than lack of grammar or punctuation.



Yes, my right eye twitches every time I see the word "rouge".

And my left eye twitches when I see "your" instead of "you're".

What with all these twitches, with some posts I have a hard time keeping my eyes open at all.



But imagine these two posts:



"hey im a suttlety lvl 80 rouge and want to no teh best wepomn for me plz thx"



"Dear all. I was wondering whether you'd be so kind as to direct me to the best way of going to Darnassus. Much obliged."





Now the first one has appalling spelling and grammar, but somehow the question is straight-forward and it would be easy to point this person in the right direction.



The second post has perfect spelling and grammar, yet the guy does not seem to appreciate he's not given any information about himself for any of us to be of use to him.



So I guess my point is I care more about clear thought and contents.

How you spell or construct those thoughts is important but secondary.



My two pesetas.
 
Boris_amj said:
When I read a post in a forum, I are more annoyed by lack of meaning than lack of grammar or punctuation.
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I are laughing right now. But seriously I appreciate the well structured input and you are proof that one can speak English just fine and convey their message without sounding ignorant or uninformed. However, I must disagree with your example. I'd actually be inclined to the ask the person seeking directions for more information (like where they were) because I know they'd probably help clarify their question in a easy to read manner. I just wouldn't expect to have much difficulty helping that person out despite the relative noob factor of the question. On the other end I feel any sort of discussion with the lazy/1337 speaker would just make my brain hurt to much to want to deal with them.



Sure we might see some things as dumb questions, but you can at least try to look smart while asking it.
 
Boris_amj said:
...When I read a post in a forum, I are more annoyed by lack of meaning than lack of grammar or punctuation...
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Hehe - well spotted. Don't know how that got in there.



I guess subconsciously I was asking for it ;)
 
I was tempted to not point it out, but you seemed nice enough to not get bent out of shape and see the humor in it. Glad I was right.
 
Unless yer grammar and spellin makes yer message unclear, imo write how YOU want. Usin yer words as tools of expression - We shouldna be slaves ta literacy, bend yer language and own it. Grab it by the balls n squeeze til ye get yer own way. ;)



Honestly, i dont talk 'correctly' in real life. I dont actually know anyone who does. Almost all me mates are broad notherner's, like me. Why pretend to be something yer not just cus it's t'internet?



Fight the power! ;)
 
I didn't want it to seem that the point of this thread was to have everyone speak in perfect grammar and punctuation. I just think that the site I referred to is a nice little guide when you have a question about what's correct and what isn't. If you're a 1337 speaker at heart by all means continue your jargon.



Like Mega and Natural said, I am also much more inclined to help someone who speaks properly. Not to say I ignore those that don't, but I have noticed that I tend to get better responses from people with better language skills. They're typically more enthused to completely explain situations. Speed isn't usually a factor as long as they can type faster than 30wpm :)
 
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