Naked Science Forum
General Discussion & Feedback => Just Chat! => Topic started by: elegantlywasted on 10/12/2007 06:09:53
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With the horrid holiday season approaching, I feel it is time for a rant. Don't worry, I will leave all of you Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa etc. loving folks alone... my issue is with the atrocious lack of grammar, punctuation and spelling found today on the internet. For example:
hey -how wuz last nite??? do u want 2C a movie 2nite? there playing hitman at 9. rents want to use the comp. call me. ttyl! <3
Drives me bloody crazy! (oops sentance sentence fragment [:)])
Now not one to sit on a high horse (ooh cliche - bad Megan!) I frequently use shorthand and leave out capital letters and apostrophes when texting or messaging my friends on MSN or Facebook. However, when I am trying to get a point across in a more formal setting I try my best to represent myself in a positive manner by using correct grammar. Now I understand that English is not the first language of everyone out there, and to me that is even more troubling. When people are learning a new language it is imperative that they been given examples of the proper way of doing things.
Now I will stop, but I shall leave you with some parting words and links to blogs by some others who feel strongly about this issue as well.
http://ethics.tamucc.edu/comments.pl?sid=367&cid=11028
In the technology based society that we live in today, there is no doubt that punctuation is falling short of its' proper usage...punctuation, grammar, basic vocabulary, etc are all being thrown onto the back burner. So many individuals have no concern with how their thoughts are expressed on the computer or on paper...as long as the point is made, who cares if we incorporate what we learned during elementary school?
Well, I am not one of those people, by any means. I check and recheck what I say. Unlike most individuals, when I send an instant message and make a mistake, I correct it immediately, because no matter how I get my thoughts across, I consider it an extension of myself. I don’t want to come across as uneducated, or for people to think that I don’t know how to use basic grammar. A friend of mine, who natively speaks German, can speak and write better English than a great number of native English speaking individuals that I have met. Even though I have always been concerned with my grammar, it was not until I started to try and learn German that I realized how incredibly important grammar is for a particular language. We take what we learned in elementary, junior high, and high school for granted. We tend to forget all of the lessons we’ve learned to get us to the point that we are at today. Why waste all of that time and energy spent on learning the proper grammar rules, just because technology does so much for us now?
There is no doubt that spell check is a useful tool and a dictionary in hand or on the computer is a great asset to have, but that does not mean we should not possess some of the skills of proper grammar on our own. We have to own our language, because communication is a tool that we use in our everyday lives. We use it for everything that we do and a dictionary, grammar guide, and spell check aren’t always at our fingertips in a conversation or debate. Not to mention spelling and grammar checks do not catch all of our mistakes. They can’t always tell when “their” should be used instead of “there” and they don’t always catch its’ or it’s…right and write….know and no. Sometimes writing and speaking require our own acquired knowledge and intelligence…and as horrible as that may be, that’s why we have worked so hard to get an education, so we can rely on ourselves.
As far as children that are making their way through the early years of their education as we speak, yes there may be less emphasis on learning grammar than when we were their age, regardless of whether that should be the case or not. I won’t lie. I hated English classes, but I respect what I learned and I make use of it on a daily basis. There is no reason not to make use of it. Try teaching yourself another language through a book, without a teacher there to guide you and then you’ll see what a waste it is to just forget all of the lessons we’ve learned in school over the years.
Even with this class, we are judged by how we put our arguments onto paper. Many of you have noticed that the peer mentors find it highly frustrating when students do not properly format. For those of you that have not had the opportunity to attend a peer mentoring session, the peer mentors have pointed out that formatting can be key to their evaluation of any argument. You might ask why they feel that way and it's actually quite simple. When you format and use the proper grammar, your argument flows better. It is not left to the peer mentor to organize your thoughts for you, and why should they?
There is a time and a place for slang, but proper use of the English language is appropriate at any time and at any place.
Also see:
http://www.experienceproject.com/group_profile.php?g=17884
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10004296/
http://forums.commercialsihate.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2193
While you're browsing:
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~kenny/misc/grammar.html
P.S I apologize if I have made any hypocritical mistakes in my post. TTYL! [;)]
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With the horrid holiday season approaching, I feel it is time for a rant. Don't worry, I will leave all of you Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa etc. loving folks alone... my issue is with the atrocious lack of grammar, punctuation and spelling found today on the internet. For example:
hey -how wuz last nite??? do u want 2C a movie 2nite? there playing hitman at 9. rents want to use the comp. call me. ttyl! <3
Drives me bloody crazy! (oops sentance fragment [:)])
Now not one to sit on a high horse (ooh cliche - bad Megan!) I frequently use shorthand and leave out capital letters and apostrophes when texting or messaging my friends on MSN or Facebook. However, when I am trying to get a point across in a more formal setting I try my best to represent myself in a positive manner by using correct grammar. Now I understand that English is not the first language of everyone out there, and to me that is even more troubling. When people are learning a new language it is imperative that they been given examples of the proper way of doing things.
Now I will stop, but I shall leave you with some parting words and links to blogs by some others who feel strongly about this issue as well.
http://ethics.tamucc.edu/comments.pl?sid=367&cid=11028
In the technology based society that we live in today, there is no doubt that punctuation is falling short of its' proper usage...punctuation, grammar, basic vocabulary, etc are all being thrown onto the back burner. So many individuals have no concern with how their thoughts are expressed on the computer or on paper...as long as the point is made, who cares if we incorporate what we learned during elementary school?
Well, I am not one of those people, by any means. I check and recheck what I say. Unlike most individuals, when I send an instant message and make a mistake, I correct it immediately, because no matter how I get my thoughts across, I consider it an extension of myself. I don’t want to come across as uneducated, or for people to think that I don’t know how to use basic grammar. A friend of mine, who natively speaks German, can speak and write better English than a great number of native English speaking individuals that I have met. Even though I have always been concerned with my grammar, it was not until I started to try and learn German that I realized how incredibly important grammar is for a particular language. We take what we learned in elementary, junior high, and high school for granted. We tend to forget all of the lessons we’ve learned to get us to the point that we are at today. Why waste all of that time and energy spent on learning the proper grammar rules, just because technology does so much for us now?
There is no doubt that spell check is a useful tool and a dictionary in hand or on the computer is a great asset to have, but that does not mean we should not possess some of the skills of proper grammar on our own. We have to own our language, because communication is a tool that we use in our everyday lives. We use it for everything that we do and a dictionary, grammar guide, and spell check aren’t always at our fingertips in a conversation or debate. Not to mention spelling and grammar checks do not catch all of our mistakes. They can’t always tell when “their” should be used instead of “there” and they don’t always catch its’ or it’s…right and write….know and no. Sometimes writing and speaking require our own acquired knowledge and intelligence…and as horrible as that may be, that’s why we have worked so hard to get an education, so we can rely on ourselves.
As far as children that are making their way through the early years of their education as we speak, yes there may be less emphasis on learning grammar than when we were their age, regardless of whether that should be the case or not. I won’t lie. I hated English classes, but I respect what I learned and I make use of it on a daily basis. There is no reason not to make use of it. Try teaching yourself another language through a book, without a teacher there to guide you and then you’ll see what a waste it is to just forget all of the lessons we’ve learned in school over the years.
Even with this class, we are judged by how we put our arguments onto paper. Many of you have noticed that the peer mentors find it highly frustrating when students do not properly format. For those of you that have not had the opportunity to attend a peer mentoring session, the peer mentors have pointed out that formatting can be key to their evaluation of any argument. You might ask why they feel that way and it's actually quite simple. When you format and use the proper grammar, your argument flows better. It is not left to the peer mentor to organize your thoughts for you, and why should they?
There is a time and a place for slang, but proper use of the English language is appropriate at any time and at any place.
Also see:
http://www.experienceproject.com/group_profile.php?g=17884
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10004296/
http://forums.commercialsihate.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2193
While you're browsing:
http://www.csh.rit.edu/~kenny/misc/grammar.html
P.S I apologize if I have made any hypocritical mistakes in my post. TTYL! [;)]
hee hee! The only mistake I found was a spelling error. sentence is spelled with a "e" not an "a." I agree with you on most of that rant, but I do on many occasions make dumb errors and upon proof reading them catch the errors. some of them are intentional and in playful banter and fun. LOL! I used to write like you. It showed when my husband drove long haul across the country, because the email from his truck cost us per letter typed, not email, but individual letter!! It was cheeper 2 say ? U had 2 n this way. LOL!
For serious talk I prefer proper English form too, but alas, I am flawed! Lol!
I do understand your point and agree .
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ohhhh..... I'm soooooooooooooo with you on this elegantlywasted.
There is not much I really hate but NETSPEAK I really do, so much so that on a previous board I was a founding member of we had a special anti-netspeak mod squad on mostly my instigation, but everyone in the end was happier for it.
netspeak (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbestsmileys.com%2Fshooting1%2F23.gif&hash=50d703f698ad8c351385a55a59060b8f)
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*Gives Megan a loud, thunderous ovation!!!*
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I understand that the English language is constantly evolving, I just don't want to see it continue on in the direction it is heading.
And thank you to all who agree. Oh and Alandriel - some days I think we need some grammar police around here!
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... and mods that distribute (or take) 'mouth-wash' (occasionally) LOL
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amen! i look at my brother and sister's writing skills and some of the people in their age group and wonder how they are passing their english classes.
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what's worse is that they speak the same way. my sister actually says idk instead of i don't know
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what's worse is that they speak the same way. my sister actually says idk instead of i don't know
[:)] I didn't even know what that meant! Now I've learned something!
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glad to be of assistance. :)
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amen! i look at my brother and sister's writing skills and some of the people in their age group and wonder how they are passing their english classes.
I know what you mean. Nic makes A's in his AP English Class! It astounds me that he can do so well in school and then get on here and make so many spelling, grammatical and punctation errors.
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what's wrong with net speak?
17'5 |\|07 45 84|) 45 1337 5p34|< !!!1!!!1!!11!11
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ohhhh..... I'm soooooooooooooo with you on this elegantlywasted.
There is not much I really hate but NETSPEAK I really do, so much so that on a previous board I was a founding member of we had a special anti-netspeak mod squad on mostly my instigation, but everyone in the end was happier for it.
netspeak (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbestsmileys.com%2Fshooting1%2F23.gif&hash=50d703f698ad8c351385a55a59060b8f)
ware did u got that emotico n, grammar n00b?
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omg wtf no 1 is posting.
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Of cours e their are som epeople whoare good wi thgrammar just not typin g.
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somepeopledon'tknowthatthelongbarisusedtomakespaces.
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some
people
like
the
enter
button
to
much
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50|\/|3 p30p13 |_| _||_|57 p141|\| c4|\|7 |_||\||)3r574|\||)
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LOL! What does the above mean?
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Unfortunatly for all of you, babel fish can't translate hardcore "leet" speak.
8451c 1337 i5 gener411y wri77en lik3 th15.
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Ok I can see how it is written, interesting use of number substitution!