Is proper spelling important?

What did you say? And what did you mean by it?

Moderators: AMod, iMod

Ghost
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 2:49 am

Is proper spelling important?

Post by Ghost »

My greatest friend spells words phonetically. I realized if I had discarded him as easily as I have others online who can't spell properly I would have missed out on my best friend. I used to see other's spelling mistakes as their lack of intelligence just as I see 'text speak' as laziness/stupidity. Other people may see my own poor grammar or sentence structure as the same.
I have become more forgiving over many years now. I recognize that languages will change as words fall into history and new words are created or change definition. Some people will have dyslexia, some will only be able to spell words phonetically, etc. How important is proper spelling anyways?
There is a quote that is often attributed to both Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson that is about lacking imagination if only spelling a word one way.
commonsense
Posts: 5115
Joined: Sun Mar 26, 2017 6:38 pm

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by commonsense »

Spelling and grammar checks, voice recognition and auto correct solve many problems. Abbreviations and texting languages can be found in online dictionaries.

In view of these tools, and because there are so many other subjects vying for the students’ attention, it is no longer feasible to teach spelling and grammar.
Impenitent
Posts: 4331
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2010 2:04 pm

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by Impenitent »

the majority of language users on the planet use language other than English...

speeling isn't as important as the transfer (sharing) of meaning ...

then again, it depends on the audience

-Imp
User avatar
henry quirk
Posts: 14706
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 8:07 pm
Location: Right here, a little less busy.

spell 'cat' as 'kat' and we can still communicate; spell 'cat' as 'dog' and we got a problem

Post by henry quirk »

:angry:
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by Immanuel Can »

Ure wright. Nw nid 2 shpl wel. Expshli wen xplaynig camplx idears, cuz peeepl kn fijr ure mplkshns oot 4 dem slvs.
Walker
Posts: 14280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by Walker »

Worldwide:

- Colloquial can be cumbersome but a sprinkling of folksy or even jargon can spice up the taco, y’all.

- As a language cop it’s fair to remember that [words and spellings are provisional so it’s prudent to rely on the real meaning **].

In the US of A:

It’s also prudent to be polite when using the red pen on adults since in these hay-days of relativism, wrong spelling can be extended to mean a first amendment form of personal free speech (expression).

If you act like a spelling inspector under improper conditions, suddenly you may find that a defense against legal charges of your ethnocentric bias that has resulted in pain and suffering for some delicate, weeping, victim-as-author, could well headline your concerns.

Torte = deus* ex machina.



* For the secular society.

** The remainder of the Buddhist teaching of guidelines is: ... rely on the teaching, not on the personality of the teacher; rely on primordial awareness, not on judgmental perceptions, rely on the meaning, not on the words.
User avatar
vegetariantaxidermy
Posts: 13983
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:45 am
Location: Narniabiznus

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

I suppose it doesn't matter, as long as you don't mind a 'dumbed-down' version of humans, who don't appreciate excellence and beauty in human achievements, and don't mind being continually ripped off and taken to the cleaners because they can't read, write or express themselves coherently.
Welcome to the zoo.
Walker
Posts: 14280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by Walker »

A long time ago, in another life as they say, I was a typesetter/proofreader.

I corrected the spelling mistakes of others, where those mistakes were obviously intended to be correct spellings.

No problemo.


8)
User avatar
henry quirk
Posts: 14706
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 8:07 pm
Location: Right here, a little less busy.

Post by henry quirk »

Mannie,

Pum axagloo cemprotorupp. Ug'lo vech dolcoptivo.
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re:

Post by Immanuel Can »

henry quirk wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:13 am Mannie,

Pum axagloo cemprotorupp. Ug'lo vech dolcoptivo.
No, she didn't -- and neither did her sister.

That's a terrible thing to say.

:wink:
User avatar
henry quirk
Posts: 14706
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 8:07 pm
Location: Right here, a little less busy.

HA!

Post by henry quirk »

:laughing:
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: HA!

Post by Immanuel Can »

henry quirk wrote: Fri Mar 15, 2019 2:22 am :laughing:
We could look at spelling in different ways.

One way is to say that it's a practice of constipated English teachers, who make their money by insisting we do it their way. Okay.

And people "text" all the time, communicating basic messages to each other without benefit of regular spelling. Fine. But those ideas are generally rudimentary and unsubtle, too. Precision is not necessary there.

But the other way of looking at spelling is this: we could look at it as the practice of trying to use conventions of communication that make our important ideas maximally clear to others.

Admittedly, some of those conventions may be a bit odd and circumstantial, and at times they may be frustrating to learn. But they're also really our best chance of taking a complex idea and making it comprehensible to the others in our society who really may wish to understand it.

Thus, we could look at spelling as a kind of "social contract" -- an agreement to use the linguistic conventions others also use, so as to give them the honour of sharing with them with our most important and complex ideas, and of listening to theirs on the same basis.

Spelling matters -- but perhaps much more if you're trying precisely to convey complicated and important ideas.

The question, then, might be "How subtle or important are my ideas?"
Logik
Posts: 4041
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2018 12:48 pm

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by Logik »

It shouldn't matter, but it does.

People judge you on your grammar/spelling, so it is in your best interest to not write like a retard.
In general - don't pass the cost of being understood/accommodated onto others.
If you make it easy for other people to understand you and interact with you - then you will find more people willing to listen to you.

Of course, there is the special kind of people who need to be purged from Earth. The Grammar Nazi. The linguistic prescriptivist.

If you know how to correct my spelling you sure as fuck were able to understand my meaning.
User avatar
henry quirk
Posts: 14706
Joined: Fri May 09, 2008 8:07 pm
Location: Right here, a little less busy.

Post by henry quirk »

There are utter idiots who spell right and wise folks who can't spell for shit.

Bottom line (again): I can work with 'kat' for 'cat' but can't do diddly with 'dog' for 'cat'.
User avatar
Immanuel Can
Posts: 22257
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:42 pm

Re: Is proper spelling important?

Post by Immanuel Can »

Earlier, I wrote:
Ure wright. Nw nid 2 shpl wel. Expshli wen xplaynig camplx idears, cuz peeepl kn fijr ure mplkshns oot 4 dem slvs.
Does anybody enjoy reading that? Does anybody feel I'm respecting them by writing that way, or that I'm trying to communicate in good faith, if I write like that? Does anybody even want to bother to decode it?

Would it have sounded much better, more respectful, and more intelligible, if I had written:
You're right. There's no need to spell well, especially when explaining complex ideas, because people can figure your implications out for themselves.
If you prefer reading the latter, then spelling matters. If you got as much out of the first, and got it as easily, and weren't any more irritated, then it doesn't.
Post Reply