Language Poll

[Maleficent13]

Please note: I am not only referring to message boards. I am referring to all communication in general.

Is your language important to you? Do you feel there is value in communicating properly? Do you take time to confirm spelling, punctuation word usage and even appropriate meanings of words?

Or do you feel that as long as people get the general gist, it's fine? Do you think spelling, punctuation and even word usage or meaning are just general guidelines and people need to be more relaxed about "nitpicking"?

Would someone's mastery of their language (or lack thereof) color your opinion of them?

Are people who do care about language simply snobs?

 

[RadioNate]

well none of your options really fit my opinion. Do I think correct usage is always important? No.

Sure reading the Wall Street Journal, yes, I expect proper usage but for something like The Dis Boards, no not at all. I think general sniping about spelling, grammar and punctuation on a message is nitpicking. I also think that in a message board setting starting a thread or pointing out someone's grammar mistake is snobby. I figure that it is only done to point out your own superiority.

Now I do think using wrong or made up words is ridiculous and it does color my opinion of someone. I also think there is a difference in making small mistakes where the reader clearly knows what was intended and being so unclear that no one can figure out what you are trying to say.

 

[Jack-Jack]

i love fred thompson

 

[NMAmy]

Would someone's mastery of their language (or lack thereof) color your opinion of them?

Absolutely. My father was a stickler for proper grammar. As an adult, it is just so jarring to me to hear someone speak incorrectly.

I spend a lot of my time proofreading. Mistakes stick out like a sore thumb to me. I hate it when I'm reading a book and there is an error.

 

[Cantw8]

i dunno

 

[sassyat30]

Yes, it is important to me. I have a degree in English, so obvious mistakes bug me.

I am a stickler for proper grammar...poor grammar makes you seem uneducated.

On message boards it bugs me when people deliberately talk in "txt spk" or don't use punctuation or capital letters, etc.

BUT, I never point it out to anyone...I just scroll past and choose not to read their posts.

It isn't my job to be the grammar police (well, unless you came out of my body, that is. )

 

[pogo791]

I'm a proud member of the Nitpickers' League. However, that depends on the context. In formal writing (as should be the case at least in government and in academia), grammatical and spelling mistakes are definitely jarring, and reflect on the seriousness of the author.

A particular pet peeve is that so many of the (college-level) students that I teach simply do not know how to write proper English. Just today, I received a message from a student apologizing for "bodering" me, and asking if I would "wright" her an e-mail. Arghh.

On the Dis, I take it as they come. Rarely am I left to wonder what a poster is trying to say. Even so, now and then I've happily joined in a discussion about whether a certain phrase or spelling is a colloquialism, or simply an error.

OK, OK, I'll get down from my soapbox.

 

[Crankyshank]

It really depends. Typos, run on sentences, lack of commas, etc... - those are fine in non formal situations like the dis. I certainly don't sit here and read with a mental red pen, or my own posts would be bright red.

However there are things that really irritate me and yes I believe they reflect poorly on the poster, such as: glaring misspellings of basic words (typos not counting), lack of any punctuation, lack of apostrophes, and lack of paragraphs. All of those make it extremely difficult to read a post, and makes me wonder how much of an effort the poster is putting in being understood, or how lacking that poster's education was. I don't point them out to that person, but I do cringe.

 

[Kitty 34]

Grammar mistakes can bug me but not on a message board.

 

[pearlieq]

Would someone's mastery of their language (or lack thereof) color your opinion of them?

Very much so! I do tend to think more highly of someone who uses language correctly, and will usually give more weight to their opinion. I often give less consideration to someone who doesn't express themself well and will usually view them as less intelligent and/or intellectually lazy. That might not actually be the case, but if all I have to go on is their written communication, it's hard to draw a different conclusion.

And don't even get me started on AOL kiddie speak. Yuck!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Absolutely. My father was a stickler for proper grammar. As an adult, it is just so jarring to me to hear someone speak incorrectly.

I spend a lot of my time proofreading. Mistakes stick out like a sore thumb to me. I hate it when I'm reading a book and there is an error.

ITA. My parents were also sticklers for grammar as well as spelling. Mistakes also jump off the written page to me. I hate seeing errors in books, newspapers or business signs, and especially in textbooks.

I think if you're in the business of publishing, your spelling and grammar must be correct! I think an exception to this would be publications that are meant to sound more casual, such as blogs. Bloggers often use slang, improper but commonly made grammatical errors and acronyms.

Using proper English all the time in casual conversations can sound snobbish. I don't hear very many people who use the word "whom", or at least not it in the proper context. I don't generally use it either, but I do know when to use "who" and when to use "whom". There are also prepositional phrases that sound awkward in casual conversation.

I tend to speak more formally when I don't know someone well, when I'm speaking in public, applying for a job, etc. I am more casual with my friends and family, especially when I'm joking around and using more slang.

 

[Aidensmom]

I think it is important in most instances, particularly in formal and published communication, but not in all instances. In formal/published/professional communications, errors do stand out to me, and somewhat influence my opinion of the communicator.

I don't think very informal things like notes to friends, emails to friends, instant messages, non-professional message board postings, etc. need to be free of grammatical or spelling errors. As long as I can tell what the person communicating to me is trying to say in those cases, that is all that matters to me. I tend to have a lower opinion of people that always point out those types of mistakes than of those who have made them.

In informal communication, I do sometimes get irritated by particular slang words just because I don't like them (like "anyhoo"), or by abbreviations that I can't figure out the meaning of, but its really the word or abbreviation that bothers me, and not the writer. I don't think those things are innappropriate for informal communication.

I also am much more "picky" about my own informal communication than I am of that of others. I am sure I make typos, but I always go back and fix them if I catch them.

 

[PhotobearSam]

It's important to me because I hate reading something and then saying "What was that?"

I, on the other hand use ... a little too often like this.

"I wanted an ice cream...chocolate...maybe with sprinkles...I don't know..."

Well, I find that you can still understand me but I have to work on that on-line because i don't use it when writing a letter.

Also, I ask for forgiveness because English is not my first language and I do sometimes make mistakes in spelling. (I'm French Canadian- Not from Quebec)

I try...

 

[MushyMushy]

For me, it's all about the context. If you're speaking or writing professionally or academically, then I'm extremely nitpicky. If you're speaking or writing in a more casual environment, then I'm far less picky. A person's poor grammar skills do tend to color my opinion of them, but I would never let that show. On a message board, I think we need to be able to write clearly enough to get the message across without making people go, "Huh??? WTH was that?" which I've seen a time or two on here.

As an English teacher, I don't make a big deal about correcting students' grammar when they're communicating with me -- I just want them to communicate! That's the difficult part! But I do expect them to speak properly in a more formal situation. It's hard to find a balance between allowing them to express themselves without shaming them for mistakes and helpfully correcting them when they need it.

 

[Nynaeve]

It's important to me. I try to make my posts on any message board well thought out, using good grammar and spelling. And, I'm an awful speller! Luckily I use Firefox, which has a built in spell checker, and I'll go to dictionary.com to look words up before I post. When you're typing what you want to say, how you write is important. You can't hear someone's voice and tone that tells you about them, you rely solely on how they write. I've often let bad grammar and the usual mistakes color how I see the writer.

Typos will happen, but you can tell the difference between a slip of the fingers and someone not knowing the difference between they're and there.

Don't get me started on chat speak, that drives me insane. I hate seeing ppl and plz in posts.

 

[Cool-Beans]

I try to dumb it down or smarten it up depending on with whom I'm speaking. I do not knock myself out on the DIS with spelling and grammar.

I have my pet peeves like everyone else. "Anyhoo" doesn't bug me at all, but sentences that begin with "Ummmm" do bug me.

Although words have meanings, you can usually tell who is using a word incorrectly because they don't know what it means and figure out what they were attempting to say. It sometimes gets to a point, though, where you can't even discern the meaning of a sentence. At that point, I just give up.

 

[Talking Hands]

It really depends. If incorrect English is being used as literary technique such as regional or ethnic dialoque it can be perfectly fine.
If I am writing out an ASL gloss in English of course it will follow ASL grammar and not Englsih grammar but if I am translating then it needs to be in proper English.
If I am teaching English to deaf kids I need to use correct English but if I am teaching science or math I may use ASL or something in between.
If I am text messaging then it won't be correct English or ASL but text initialization.

 

[enyaj40]

Please note: I am not only referring to message boards. I am referring to all communication in general.

Is your language important to you? Do you feel there is value in communicating properly? Do you take time to confirm spelling, punctuation word usage and even appropriate meanings of words?

Or do you feel that as long as people get the general gist, it's fine? Do you think spelling, punctuation and even word usage or meaning are just general guidelines and people need to be more relaxed about "nitpicking"?

Would someone's mastery of their language (or lack thereof) color your opinion of them?

Are people who do care about language simply snobs?

this is a rough one for me

i recently started eliminating capital letters, for the most part, from electronic communication

i also rarely write paragraphs...i prefer to use a line by line approach that was needed on a different message board reason being that on that particular board, paragraphs were very difficult to read

punctuation is another rarity online

now, i definitely care about spelling, proper word usage, and being as good a communicator as possible

i care about grammar, although i'm sure i make mistakes

in the 'real world,' i think good language usage is a necessity

 

[Crankyshank]

Why would you eliminate capitalization?

 

[RadioNate]

Why would you eliminate capitalization?

well i frequently eliminate it because i'm typing one handed with an 8 week old on my lap.