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View Full Version : The Anal Retentive Thread (Or so I'm told)



Baloki
08-09-2004, 03:30 PM
This is bound to come up over the next few days so hey:

Do you think that people should use full and proper english with no spelling mistakes on forums, do you think their are compromises and is chatspeak really a viable alternative to real speach and text?

My opinions on this of course are clear, as long as it can be read by the general masses and you can get its meaning its aok :D

Zante
08-09-2004, 03:44 PM
My opinions on this of course are clear, as long as it can be read by the general masses and you can get its meaning its aok :D

I agree. :thumb:

Xander
08-09-2004, 03:45 PM
I prefer when I can read stuff without having to look at it for ages trying to work out what it means. People who type with proper words also instantly look more intelligent and respectable. People shouldn't be bashed for a few spelling mistakes, not everyone is that great at spelling. But when you are typing OMG FFX SUX I H8 TIDUS BECOZ HE IS GAY, I think that can easily be avoided.

TasteyPies
08-09-2004, 03:46 PM
I agree. :thumb:

Fuh shoor

Baloki
08-09-2004, 03:48 PM
OMG FFX SUX I H8 TIDUS BECOZ HE IS GAY

<strike>The problem is thats true...</strike>that can be annoying but to me thats still instantly reconisable, maybe my lanuage skills leave alot to be disired....

Cz
08-09-2004, 04:05 PM
Deliberately typing incorrectly is a bit annoying, but can be a great help to those who are unfamiliar with a keyboard. If you're capable of typing three or four words a second then there's no need to shorten or alter words. However, if you're a slow typer then using OMGWTF-speak makes things a lot quicker.

Nevertheless, I don't like that style of writing at all, and I'd prefer it if no-one used it at all. I'm prepared to forgive a few spelling mistakes/typos if it makes the post easier to read, and as others have said, using proper English makes you seem more mature, and makes your fellow members pay more attention to you.

Nait
08-09-2004, 04:07 PM
<strike>The problem is thats true...</strike>that can be annoying but to me thats still instantly reconisable, maybe my lanuage skills leave alot to be disired....


No, it's the <i>other way around</i>.

Only those who are native-level speakers of english can misspell it so artfully! I know the differences between then than and thon because I'm not native - and I read the difference, instead of HEAR the sameness.

In general, I'm a descriptivist - that means I accept the way people talk and write, because it's natural rather than forced upon them in the guise of manuals for writing well and stuff - and I'll not start bitching about petty little things like misspelling and chat-speak until it becomes incomprehensible - and therefore un-optimal - language, which is the only criteria that should be met when weighing the worth of anyone's speech or writing.

Rainecloud
08-09-2004, 04:44 PM
If everyone had the same posting style, things just wouldn't be fun. Having said that, posts that are totally unreadable (IE - "Leet Speak", or whatever the heck you call it) are very annoying and have no place in forums (in my ever so humble opinion).

*nods*

TasteyPies
08-09-2004, 04:52 PM
in my ever so humble opinion

You mean imho? xD

Psychotic
08-09-2004, 05:35 PM
I sometimes type like that just for fun. Liek omg dis is so funy!!!11!!!!!!!!!

But when someone types a whole load like that in all seriousness, it's irritating to read, but I won't cry all over them for it.

Although I love correcting people's spelling. Well, if it annoys them (some people go nuts, it's great!) :D

Breine
08-09-2004, 07:36 PM
As long as it's understandable it's totally fine with me.

Demerwen Owns
08-09-2004, 09:51 PM
It is of the upmost importance that all communications be conducted in the most precise manner possibly conceivable by the intellect of the poster.

Kirobaito
08-09-2004, 09:53 PM
I can only judge a person by what I read from them. If one such person were to use this "chat-speak", I would naturally have a poor opinion of them. However, if they were to use MOSTLY correct grammar and spelling, I would get the impression that they were an intelligent, well-spoken person.

Everybody should type regularly. :D

kikimm
08-09-2004, 09:56 PM
Usually it doens't bother me, but I do hate it when people go: omg, u r like, teh best, u r so cool. I hate when people substitute whole words with one letter. It's not that hard to type out the whole thing, is it? Especially when they're trying to be serious. Typing like that makes me take them less seriously.

But then again, I have problems spelling (not that I don't know how to, but I type really fast a lot of the times, and that results in me making a lot of mistakes.)

:D

Shlup
08-09-2004, 10:47 PM
As long as it's mostly proper capitals and punctuation, I don't really care. "when r u guys going 2 di" is pretty hard to read.

TasteyPies
08-09-2004, 10:50 PM
"when r u guys going 2 di" is pretty hard to read.


To who? I can read that easily :greenie:

All but DI...whats DI?

Cloud_99
08-09-2004, 11:20 PM
I always try and speak in full and proper English, with all my grammar, punctuation and spellings correct, but sometimes I make spelling mistakes as do others we're all human, so that sort of thing I don't mind.

What I hate is people who abbreviate things to such an extent that no one can read it. And don't get me started on l33t speak that's just irritating.

But basically if I can read it then it's fine.

Jebus
08-09-2004, 11:46 PM
Even if I can read it, it irritates the hell out of me. I can't stand to read it.

When children are taught to spell they are taught "Hello, how are you doing?" Not "helo how r u????" You were brought up with proper English (if you're American then it may be incorrect, but at least its coherent) so I expect you to use it.

Sacred Phoenix
08-10-2004, 01:12 AM
As long as I can read it and there are minimal spelling errors. However when people use the wrong tense of a word or put the wrong their, there or they're, that drives me nuts. I try to do my best when typing, and you won't catch me ever using numbers for words, cause that's just dumb, honestly how much longer would it take you to type an extra few letters? :whaaa:

TasteyPies
08-10-2004, 01:34 AM
Liek whie wood u h8 taht? teh wurds r koo.

TasteyPies
08-10-2004, 01:48 AM
:mad: Are u evn lisening to me? its as if im talking to teh wal :D No seriously, I more respect people if good grammar they have :p

I think it's better to have good grammar because if I start talking like that, and handing in essays and term papers with that kind of grammer, I would fail with flying colors.

Omfg liek taht iz soh TRU!

But most people know not to use bad grammer on homework :p

An meybee sum peepull dun wahnt reespecht?

-N-
08-10-2004, 01:54 AM
Your title is a fragment. :p

We had the Grammar Gestapo for a while, and everyone knows how that turned out. So, don't be an EGGhead.

Storm
08-10-2004, 02:33 AM
People should use forums as a method of improving their writing skills, not making them worse. I don't understand the logic in using crappy internet slang. This would never happen if we were all Vulcans.

Dixie
08-10-2004, 02:41 AM
Please don't do this:

U R TEH HAUTTIE BOM BECAZ I IZ LIKN U SO PLZ GO OOT WIT ME AND IF U DONT I WIL H8 U 4EVR LOL!!!!!!!

I think stuff like that is spam.

Giga Guess
08-10-2004, 03:01 AM
I can TOLERATE anything, so long as I don't need a translator. I am horribly anal about my spelling though. If I notice anything wrong, or misspelled, I always go to Edit (Admittedly, some escape my watchful eye, too). I agree that it's interesting to have a variety of posting styles, but like I said, when you spend a half hour translating a post, it's not an enjoyable experience. And that's what this is all about. Fun! So I guess it's up to the user, but know that I usually just skim over 1337 speak.

Kirkpatrick
08-10-2004, 07:12 AM
Typos don't bother me too much, because, by definition, they are just unintentional mistakes, but if a post is full of them, it shows a carelessness on the poster's part - it really doesn't take much time to look over the post (I just fixed 'take', and 'just' :p).

leetspeak and chatspeak (or whatever 'r' and 'u' and '2' fit into) just bother me, because there's no need for them; when I have to read a post three or four time to understand it, I get irritated.
Also, the short forms (r, u, etc.[:p]) don't make a person sound as intelligent as one with proper grammar and spelling, and it seems kind of disrespectful that someone doesn't take the time to type out an extra two letters and make their post easier to read and comprehend.

But really, as long as the forums aren't littered with it, it doesn't bother me much.

-N-
08-10-2004, 07:15 AM
I dunno, The Signpost's leetspeak in Steve Martin's "L.A. Story" was pretty funny.

"R U OK? DON'T MAKE ME WASTE LETTERS."

Nait
08-10-2004, 08:41 AM
The world would be better with spelling reform!

In many ways, most of the short-cuts made by people when they write in chat-speak are LOGICAL and consistent. Unlike English orthography, which is a mess. Like an old dog who's blind, can't hear, has pneumonia and wails in its sleep, but no one BOTHERS to get it to the vet. That's what English orthography is.

Chat-speak is like a puppy. Kinda the same as the old dog, but at least its FRESH and can learn new tricks.

But I'd rather have a cat, which is spelling reform. Too bad Englishs speakers are so entrenched in their belief that spelling is a sacred cow that they never will get around to it. Five hundred years from now, people when people say:

/a eo e jo to:in/

they will still spell it "Hey, how are you doing", which is /hei hau a: j<s>u</s>: d<s>ui</s>N/ today, approximately.

Meat Puppet
08-10-2004, 09:24 AM
I hate it when people over-use 'teh'. One admin at some chatboard somewhere had come to replacing every "the" for "teh" in his sentences purposely. It just got so annoying I had to complain about it and get banned :(