Sta.sh
We all typo.
There are all words we don't know how to spell, or have a habit of spelling incorrectly.
We all create grammatical errors.
These things I accept. I like to think I'm quite a good writer, but I still fall into these mistakes as well. However, I try to keep all my written pieces and correspondences as well-written as possible. Why?
Because when I am confronted with someone elses writing, poorly written, with atrocious spelling, non-existent grammar and dreaded 'txt tlk', I instantly lose the desire to read it.
There - Their - They're
Your - You're
Accept - Except
Things like that also irritate me.
If you've ever written me a message or note in terrible use of English, and haven't received a reply... I'm probably ignoring it.
It's a pet peeve. Whether it's a justified peeve or not, I have no idea, but it's something that has always irritated me. I was part of the generation that didn't have mobile phones as a kid. People first started getting cell phones for personal use (before then, pretty much only business people had them) when I was about 12, which was when I got my first one. People were MAD about txt tlk back then... and I got picked on for refusing to do it, instead opting for typing in full words. Reading messages from my friends in text shorthand was murderous for me. So.. old habits die hard, I guess.
Please, please for the love of all that is good in the written language, check your writing before sending it to other people. I judge people almost instantly by how they present themselves through their writing. It's not a permanent judgement, but it's where I get 99% of my online first impressions of people. If I compare these two messages (made up by me, but just to demonstrate my point):
"Hello! I found you while searching Kingdom Hearts cosplays, and really enjoyed your gallery! Whereabouts in the UK are you from? If you don't mind my asking, could I use your wig as a reference for my own?"
Compared to:
"hi i found u wile searching KH cosplay n relly enjoyed ur galery. were in the uk r u from? if u dnt mind can i use ur wig as refrence for mine?"
I will reply to the first, usually with a similar length of reply. The second, if lucky enough to receive a reply, will get a few words at most. Why? I view this style of writing as lazy, inefficient, and almost rude. If someone cannot be bothered to spend the effort to write in coherent English to me, why am I going to spend time writing a well-thought response to them?
Of course, this doesn't apply to people who don't use English as their first language... but to be honest, non-native English speakers, your speech and writing is often a hell of a lot better than some of your English counterparts.
SO! If you want to send me a message or comment, and are hoping for a reply, pay heed to the following:
- SPELL CHECK. Did you know Google Chrome has a feature that automatically underlines any words you have misspelled, and a simple right-click on these words offers suggestions at the correct spelling? If you know your spelling isn't good, then use a spell checker!
- FULL WORDS. Write 'you' instead of 'u'. It's two extra letters. It won't consume much of your time to include them.
- GRAMMAR. The hardest one, I think. I'm not demanding correct use of semi-colons and apostrophes... but some people even seem to forget that full stops exist.
- MANNERS. A single message of "Where did you get your wig?" is never going to get a response from me. "Hi, I really like your wig! Would you mind telling me where you bought it?", however, is more likely to get my attention.
Perhaps I'm just in a whiny mood. Perhaps I'm being unreasonable... but the above will always apply for me.
Well-written gains my attention and appreciation.
Poorly-written is overlooked.
That is all.
DFTBA
Edit:
~WolfieKid passed along a rather excellent phrase to me:
"If you say 'plz' instead of 'please', I'll say 'no' because it's shorter than 'yes'."
And ~sasukemadaralovr sent me this comic, which was also pretty relevant:
[link]
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"If you enter this world knowing you are loved
and you leave this world knowing the same,
then everything that happens in between can be dealt with."
- Michael Jackson -
Grumpy 
I don't even know HOW to 'text talk', as 'lol' is about all I use. I am constantly going back and checking my grammar and spelling (although I must say, my keyboard is frustrating me with where the keys are placed and I have way more spelling mistakes than usual) because it bothers me to have it incorrect. I know I screw up occasionally, but it's still completely understandable. I hope.
Thank you! I'm SO glad I'm not the only one who feels this way! Kudos!
message: L!k3 Wh@t K!nd 0f P!c7ur3....????..................U c@n'7 r3@d 7h@7......
You're not asking for proper semi-colon and apostrophe use? Shame. Educate the masses, Kelly! DEMAND proper semi-colon use; without semi-colons we'd never be able to connect two complete, relevant thoughts!
I fully agree with you.
As a Dyslexic person, i cannot fathom an reason that would excuse such atrocious abuse of the English language.
The Stigma that people assume of all Dyslexics is one who is unable to spell, use grammar or the English Language in general. But personally I find this to be hurtful that I would be lumped in with all the ignorant delinquents who refuse to learn an appropriate system of remembering spellings or simply refuse to conform to socially accepted norms in the field of spelling.
I find it difficult to read this so called 'txt tlk' where often it is one letter that has been dropped that gives meaning to the sentence.
Please people, it is not so difficult to use full correct spelling when typing with a keyboard. So please I beg thee, spare us the poor folk, the ailed and the foreign.
Yourself and GroovyGuy are very good examples of how Dyslexia doesn't have to result in poor writing skill.
It really depends for me. If I'm texting, I'll tend to write some in the "txt tlk" you mentioned, but for the most part I can't help but write everything out. You just never know who does, and doesn't understand what it means. But if I do, it's often because to save time on both our ends "u" instead of "you" can save a significant amount of "text time" which I believe should be considered a different measurement scale than regular time. It being relative and all.
And I seriously don't know what i.e. means.
A text conversation like this wouldn't bother me:
Person A: So, I heard that Barbie dumped Ken because he cut her hair while she slept!
Person B: WTF!? Who would do something like that? lol XD
However, THIS would bother me:
Person A: so i herd dat barbie dumpd ken cz he cut her hare wile she slept!
Person B: WTF?! Hu wud do somtin lyk dat? lol XD
"i.e." is abbreviated from the latin "id est". Basically, it's translation is "that means" or "that is to say".
The problem I have with texting others is that my phone has a cap on the number of characters per page and so text speak is often the only option... shame on me...
But I agree, although I get it wrong sometimes, it really is just lazy to shorten words into incomprehensible letter-mush (unless of course the person is 10 years old or dyslexic)
It bothers me to no end when people type incorrectly, or do the "text speak" or "chat speak". I read a lot of online stories (because I have trouble finding interesting books at the library) and I just stop reading stories in the middle because of the bad grammar.
I really love the Chrome feature with underlining misspelled words. It makes things much more convenient for me, because I've always been bad with spelling. Before chrome, I would open Word and paste the message I was typing to check for misspellings or bad grammar. The chrome feature is also really nice, because I can tell immediately if I spelled a word wrong, and I can take a moment to compare my poor spelling, with the corrected spelling.
But one thing that really bothers me when I'm talking to friends - surprisingly not the common mistake of 'Me and Lisa...' instead of 'Lisa and I...' - is when people use on instead of by. I feel like a jerk when I tell them that they do things by mistake, not on mistake.