Grammar

[Krystal]

I don't mind the occasional use of text speak (BTW etc) however the way some kids type these days beggers belief.

I'm not really good with grammar but I won't apologise for it, I won't judge people's post's for it either. As long as I can understand it I don't see what's to get annoyed about.

Plus a couple of people on here who have posted saying they don't like text speak I have seen typing FWIW, IRC etc Now this may not be classed as text speak but it kind of is the same thing?

I don't like big long blocks of text as it does make it hard to read.

Oh and if i've made mistakes in my post (which i'm sure I have) you can kiss my

 

[mummykay]

Dunno, spelling is more of an issue to me than grammer but can see where u comin from

Lyk dis kinda tlkin annoys me, purely cos it takes longer to make sense of

 

[LisaJ1986]

I use Gonna, and Lol, but that's it! I have absolutely no understanding of text speak at all! I just cannot translate it!
I'm quite particular with things like capital letters at the beginning of sentences, and using , or . and most definately ?

I remember not long after i left school there was something about allowing text speak in exams. I'm not sure if it ever went through though.

 

[Squiglet]

I don't agree. Jeds grammar and spelling is far worse than mine but he can speak other languages better than me.

I also don't think good grammar and spelling is a sign of intelligence.

Think you misunderstood me Lou...well I didn't make it overly clear either

The kids here in Spain have far more in depth teaching into their own grammar than my friends kids do in the UK and any further languages they learn they learn it heavily on the grammatical side. The same way we learnt French at school.

But I never said it was a sign of intelligence I don't think it is.

I didn't misunderstand you, you didn't explain it! tut tut

And the comment I made about intelligence wasn't directed at your post, thats why I left a gap and put it down a bit. It was just me saying something extra in general

My bad

And for the record... I failed miserably at French at school, now speak fluent Spanish without lessons and my grammar is still poop...

 

[poppy160]

It bugs me..But I think that's more my problem
I don't see why people don't use capital letters at the beginning of sentences or names, and text speak is awful, it seems so childish and pointless!

 

[SKINNYLAD77]

Mine is awfull and as for my spelling

Just rubbish at it

 

[Kittykins]

I notice but don't mind odd spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and typos in posts on here - it would be odd if I didn't notice them as I'm a university lecturer who teaches English, and I'm also the editor of a literary journal. Besides, we all make mistakes sometimes, particularly if we're typing quickly. As soon as I'd submitted my PhD thesis I noticed three typos, and I'd proof-read that at least a dozen times.

However, I can't stand it when people post in text-speak or don't use any punctuation at all. I can't read the former and the latter either don't make sense or are ambiguous. I figure if somebody can't be bothered to type words out, I can't be bothered to read their post. If the meaning of a post is unclear, I'd rather not risk offence by replying to what I understand is meant by it. I don't mind accepted abbreviations ('pg' for pregnant/cy, or 'm/c' for miscarriage) or TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms!) on an internet forum, in fact a lot of the time it makes posts easier to read quickly - although if every other word is a TLA it gets a bit hard on the eyes.

Believe it or not, I have had undergraduate essays submitted in text-speak - for an English degree (so to daftscotslass - yes, almost certainly someone had at your university too)! I even had an entire essay of gobbledegook with the cover note "SorE ths SA = l8". I had to return it unmarked, obviously. No way was I going to try to read 2000 words of sh*t... I can't and won't criticise anyone on here for poor use of English (if someone prefers to type in text-speak, that's their prerogative, and if they're happy with the fact that fewer people will read and reply to it, who am I to tell them they shouldn't?) but I draw the line when it comes to students!

By the way, at some point in the first term of a first year course, I invariably end up giving them an introductory grammar lesson - it does seem that grammar just isn't taught in schools at all now.

 

[Minxy]

Squiglet, I just thank fuck you use paragraphs; I'd never make it through one of your essays otherwise

 

[Squiglet]

Squiglet, I just thank f**k you use paragraphs; I'd never make it through one of your essays otherwise

Why do you think I do...?

 

[trixipaws]

would u believe, trixipaws who never uses capitals and dots txt spk all over the place- got an A in a-level english language- and LOVED the subject. trixi can do standard english if she chooses

one really interesting point i remember being taught in sixth form was that there IS NO "correct" or "proper" way to speak- only "standard". standard isnt superior (altho it is taken more seriously and it must always be used in formal and legal situations)

one particular thing that stood out to me was when we were studing black vernacular english ("he be coming over later", rather than "he is coming over later", for example) LOGICALLY makes more sense than standard english. if anyone has ever studied spanish or french their grammar for tenses and 1st, 3rd person etc follows a pattern, whereas english does not. english is a VERY hard language to learn as a second language as its so disorganised.

some spellings are stupid, because, until a certain point (cant remember exactly, i left school 8 years ago!) think its the 18th century- there was no such thing as "correct" spelling, people could spell how they wanted to. when they made all the "official" ones, some of them were chosen by some folk who obviously had a funny way of spelling- for example the word "through" its strange. i usually put "thru" instead

i love english language its so fascinating. but i love the diversity too- and that each form is an art within itself- yep including txt spk.

does anyone study english language now? i wonder if they study txt spk, in my day mobile fones were relatively new so the phenomenon hadnt really kicked off

 

[beanie]

would u believe, trixipaws who never uses capitals and dots txt spk all over the place- got an A in a-level english language- and LOVED the subject. trixi can do standard english if she chooses

one really interesting point i remember being taught in sixth form was that there IS NO "correct" or "proper" way to speak- only "standard". standard isnt superior (altho it is taken more seriously and it must always be used in formal and legal situations)

one particular thing that stood out to me was when we were studing black vernacular english ("he be coming over later", rather than "he is coming over later", for example) LOGICALLY makes more sense than standard english. if anyone has ever studied spanish or french their grammar for tenses and 1st, 3rd person etc follows a pattern, whereas english does not. english is a VERY hard language to learn as a second language as its so disorganised.

some spellings are stupid, because, until a certain point (cant remember exactly, i left school 8 years ago!) think its the 18th century- there was no such thing as "correct" spelling, people could spell how they wanted to. when they made all the "official" ones, some of them were chosen by some folk who obviously had a funny way of spelling- for example the word "through" its strange. i usually put "thru" instead

i love english language its so fascinating. but i love the diversity too- and that each form is an art within itself- yep including txt spk.

does anyone study english language now? i wonder if they study txt spk, in my day mobile fones were relatively new so the phenomenon hadnt really kicked off

That is one of the many reasons I love you

 

[widowwadman]

Another one... "Do you want it personalized?" Ermmm, nope actually I'd like it personalised, thank you!

It makes my blood boil!

Interestingly, it's the Americans (or to be precise Microsoft and their spell-checking software) which came up with the suggestion that British English favours the "ise" spelling. If you look at the Oxford English Dictionary, which is pretty much the English Dictionary, you see "ise" and "ize" co-existing happily in British English.

 

[widowwadman]

But I have to say that in general native English speakers seem to have a terrible grasp of their own grammatical language, which in turn hinders them from learning other languages.

Not sure about that. I've got a better grasp of English grammar (as in knowing and being able to quote the rules) than I have of German grammar, even though English is only the second foreign language I learned (Latin was first which helped enormously). You don't need to know the rules conciously in order to apply them correctly. That's one of the things which are so fascinating about language.

Also, a lot of the "wrong" grammar used by youths nowadays, is not wrong in itself, as they still use a consistent system, but it's just different from the standard variety, and basically just language evolution at work. It sounds wrong to the speaker of standard English, and I firmly believe that Standard English should be used in writing over any regional dialect or sociolect, but these sociolects are still valid forms of English in themselves.

God, I miss studying linguistics.

 

[trixipaws]

That is one of the many reasons I love you

list the others, please! lets see if we can get my head wedged between the walls, ceiling and floor

 

[trixipaws]

ooh widowwadman u said it better than me. well oops i shouldnt say better should i! LOL i miss linguistics too!

 

[Misslarue]

I can't stand text speak, I don't even use it when I'm texting. It's annoying and hard on the eyes!
I always try and use grammar and generally re-read my post/emails before sending (although I do miss mistakes on occasion! )

I won't read huge blocks of unbroken text, I'm sorry but it hurts to read!
As for spelling, F7 people!

..................also someone posted earlier about native speakers and learning other languages.
The problem with native English speakers is that they don't need to learn another language. Apart from Mandarin, which only by sheer weight of numbers is the most spoken language in the world, English is so widely spoken (more countries than any other language) that the lazy natives do not need to learn another!

 

[widowwadman]

ooh widowwadman u said it better than me. well oops i shouldnt say better should i! LOL i miss linguistics too!

Thank you. Only seen your postings after I hit "send" and thought "damn, she was quicker", but decided not to delete mine anyway.

To answer your earlier question, at my uni we did a little bit about text speak in a seminar about varieties of the English language, and I'm pretty sure that David Crystal has a chapter about it in either the Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language or in the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (which are both really nice reads anyway)

 

[kalia]

[quote="kazzie-bo"o3d35te]

ps i hope my grammar is ok and i haven't made too many spelling mistakes!!

I mean this in a friendly way so please don't be offended but that really made me laugh because you didn't use a single capital letter!

Sorry, I checked back and that is a lie - you wrote 'HATE' in capitals

hahahahaha that is sooooo funny!! i know, i never use capitals when writing on the computer, not even on emails etc only if i am using word!! i just can't be bothered to keep pressing shift i will try in future to use them, just for you I can make it my new years resolution!! at least it should be easier to keep!![/quoteo3d35te]

Aw bless, but really you don't have to! What you write is completely understandable so it's no big deal

 

[Krystal]

As for spelling, F7 people!

I just typed up a post and pressed F7 and.... nothing happened

 

[Misslarue]

As for spelling, F7 people!

I just typed up a post and pressed F7 and.... nothing happened

Sorry hun, I should have said, if you write in word or in your email ie outlook (not sure about hotmail/gmail ) But it works in word/microsoft based etc

Or if its only one word I need to check I just google it