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BBC NEWS | Magazine | Should we simplify spelling?
I think it seems a bit silly really, trying to change hundreds of spellings when English is generally a well spoken and spelt language anyway. Any mistakes should be fixed by improving the standard of English lessons rather than changing the entire bloody language. I also think it would be hell for different accents ("grarss" in the South versus "Grasss" in the North was one example given in the comments.)
What do you reckon?
If this happens, I'm learning French.
Whenever someone brings this up I feel like I'm going to burst a smurfing blood vessel in my head or something. It makes me so pissed off. As you said, it's not the answer to this problem.
Yay for lowering the standard because people are too stupid to make an effort to learn the proper way to write and speak! How low can you go!?
Then how would you choose to simplify a word such as "acquaintance"?
Would it be re-worded as "ukwaintens"?
:eep:
Dhet sawnds lajk u gudd ajdiiu!!! :rolleyes2
(Damn, it looks like Al Bhed, and that's a warning sign!)
Everyone learn English and go from there :)
Our current spelling system is good. It makes it easier to keep the stupid people poor.
English = Esperanto.
It's ALMOST the truth! :D
what?!? spelling is hard?
:cry:Quote:
Originally Posted by ShlupQuack
It's one extra sodding "d"! It's not that hard to remember!Quote:
Addicted - adicted
Three letters? Ohh, that's much too complicated...Quote:
Are - ar
*starts foaming at the mouth*Quote:
Benefit - bennefit
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!Quote:
One - wun
WTF? English is already the easiest language in the world! If they simplify it even more english teachers will be unemployed! :rolleyes2 Politicians!
No! Clearly "One" should be spelled "wan" for the sake of all us Glaswegian folk! ;D
clearly the more you help some people, the more you cripple them.
Hey I went from an Isolating language like Chinese to a synthetic language like english. If I can learn it, somebody who can't be bothered to even know what the two terms I referenced above should be able to grasp the english language.
I'm not even that good in the english languages. For example I have a ridiculously difficult time with english theory (ie grammar); by which I mean the rules for grammar are not actively processed. I learned through observation.
God damn it NO!
If you can't remember t o you must be mentally handicapped.
Yeah, this seems like a good idea. I wholeheartedly approve.
(SPOILER)Yeah, this seems lyk a gud ideer. I howlhartedlee apruv.
I don't wish to live in a country of 3 year olds.
Oh God, they actually want everyone to only speak n00b.
I'll kill them. I'll kill them all. Aye weel keel dem awl. Awl ov dem. Aye weel sack deir blud. They want to make us spell like Ork and Oorook Hai :-(
and you british folk make fun of american spellings 8)
This has been going on in America for years. It's nothing new.Quote:
Originally Posted by rubah
As kikimm said, every time I'm reminded about this crap, I want to break something. However, I know, in the United States, at least, this cannot be legally enforced. As far as I know, English is not the legally official language of the United States (that's just understood), nor is there any legally sanctioned spellings for words in the English language. If people want to somehow revolutionize the English language, they can go ahead and start using their own spelling and hope it catches on.
People have been speaking and writing English for hundreds of years, and it used to be even more complicated than it is now. There's no reason we can't continue normally.
Edit: If, by some incredibly unlikely possibility, this becomes legally enforced in the United States (as certain people have pushed for), I will leave the country without a second thought.
Spanish is the easiest language in the world. English is second hardest. Second only to Russian. Thank you for playing, though. You're not leaving empty-handed because we're going to cut your hands off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Polaris
The reason English is so hard is that there are too many exceptions to the rules. That being said, I'm happy with the way my language is and they better not go messing it up. I refuse to learn it all over again and I will pretend like it was never changed.
On a side note, is everyone stupid, or did they change the drop the E before adding ING rule that I learned in school? I've seen too many people spell "dying" as "dieing," "hiding" as "hideing," and... Well, I think two examples are enough. I'm leaning on people are stupid. We have no place in this world for stupid people. If we hadn't been fighting against natural selection for hundreds of years, these people would be dead, but now we're changing the language for them? Not if I can help it.
Harder then Arabic, Japanese and Chinese?Quote:
Originally Posted by The CeejSpanish is the easiest language in the world. English is second hardest. Second only to Russian. Thank you for playing, though. You're not leaving empty-handed because we're going to cut your hands off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Polaris
lol Spanish??? I'm portuguese and I don't need to have classes to know how to speak spanish so for me it's piece of cake! :cool: If you speak english during 10 years like I do you won't need to know the rules anymore because it'll come out naturally! :p English is really easy when you speak a lot! Try to compare english with german! ;)Quote:
Spanish is the easiest language in the world. English is second hardest. Second only to Russian. Thank you for playing, though. You're not leaving empty-handed because we're going to cut your hands off.
German isn't hard :p
It's harder than english! :jokey:
English is a hard language to learn if it wasn't your first, but changing it would just be dumb.
I like it how it is. :jess:
No it isn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Polaris
The thing that is most unrealistic about the simplification of a language is the excessive amount of translation (yes, I'd consider it translation) that would be required for literature written before the overhaul. Reproducing the vast amount of text already written in modern English would be neither feasible nor practical. If, at some point, a simplified English language did become a standard, English as we know it would become even more impossible for students and hundreds of thousands of books would be beyond their understanding.
People pushing for simplified English are examining the problem from only one angle. It is possible that it would help students learn to read more easily, but what would they even have to read?
That annoys me:mad: it seems people are just too lazy to bother learning now just because its a bit hardQuote:
Originally Posted by Rye
Except punctuation of course!
omg this iz soo cool now evreewun can yuz aim langwedg in reel life!!!!!!!
Language should evolve and change naturally. It should NEVER be controlled.
*agrees* I found Ms Bell's spelling so foreign to myself that most of the time I barely skimmed what she wrote. I think the idea is very narrow because as mentioned, what about all the various dialects, not only that what about adults who already know how to spell in English?Quote:
Originally Posted by Rye
Anyways, I think Rye summed it up well. Fortunately, English, unlike French, does not have a governing body regulating it (as far as I am aware of), thus making any attempt at such change more difficult.
I'm surprised they didn't make it :
are=r
you=u
etc, etc.
But this is ridiculous. I want to kill someone. :(
We're already the most retarded and hated country in the world, and we can't afford to lose our only ally England because some dumbass can't use spell check.
The spelling and grammar of the English should probably change over the years, but not in an instant, and people should certainly not be allowed to spell words however they want. Lots of confusion, there. Rules must be maintained.
Spelling is a complete mess in English, as is grammar. Those are issues that simply do not exist in other languages (or at least, not to such extents). Now that English is a nearly universal language (and not the domain of Brits and Americans only), it will be bastardised, without doubt.
It will be bloody and many people will scream. :)
Spell words however they want? You mean like in Old and Middle English before they actually develped correct spellings for words?Quote:
Originally Posted by War Angel
I read this post and only saw R=U :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Khaotic
To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised if the woman advocating simpler spelling also campaigns for R=U.Quote:
Originally Posted by GoldenbokoI read this post and only saw R=U :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Khaotic
People don't seem to have too much difficulty learning the language in its present state, so there's no real need for any change. Plus, it's a stupid, stupid idea. :greenie:
Am I the only one that noticed what they suggested we change the word 'becoming' to?
(SPOILER)Lol @ adult references :greenie:
What do I think? "Stupid", that's what I think.
I wuz jus conseedering weder dis wud wurk in real life or not, n i jus realisd dat a lot of problams wif da english languaje is dat I lack the vocabulery.
so iven if u simplefided spelling it wudedt help me wif words I didnt no.
Also it doesent help with pronownsing it I-der. Finallee wut abowt homofones? in dis systim homofones wud not be sensibowl becuz ud spell dem all da same way.
duh.
Dude, just plain old 'come' will do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Firo Volondé
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Seriously, what are they going to do next? Change Japanese into a series of emoticons?
:greenie::tongue::):(:|
will soon mean
Yes sir I would like another eggroll
Even if it were changed, they cant force billions (i think) of people to change the way they spell and teach thier children to spell. soon enough they'll have a simplified simplified chinese
Ok, I tried desperately but I cannot resist....DUMBEST IDEA EVER!!!! How can people learn something better when they do not learn it CORRECTLY GEEZ I MEAN FOR SMURFING SMURFS SAKE HOW DUMB DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO NOT BE ABLE TO LEARN A LANGUAGE...in 3 months I learnt enough Japanese to be able to help myself learn the rest...Japanese is damn hard to learn what 3/4 alphabets, grammar that made my eyes cross and my tongue knot...Whatever happens to the English Language I will forever teach my children how to speak and write properly...I didn't suffer 7 years of speech therapy for my perfect pronounciation and smurf knows how many years studying English to be told I have to become a damn RETARD.
Mini explosion over, carry on nothing to see here.
JEEZUS KRIEST?
The New English looks really ridiculous! The old one isn't that hard anyway...it's all Greek to me!;)
Hey! Letters like u and r can mean words, like you and are!
If this were to actually happen, I would cry. I love the English language when it's used even semi-formally. The sad thing is, it's being oversimplified it's already stupid. Using a 'z' in the place of an 's' in plural form is far too common, along with 'u' for you, and 'r' for are. For crying out loud, some people can't even type/write full words anymore, thanks to the overusage of 'lol', 'brb', 'roflmao', etc.
It makes me cry on the inside.
That's why you won't see me abbreviate like that. Hell, I don't even use emoticons. I have them disabled by default and only enable them when I'm quoting someone who used them.
I can't stand people who type like that. It's just stupid.
Yeah, occassionally in IM, I do use LOL, but only when I'm really laughing out loud and it's really hilarious. I can't stand people who say it after every line regardless of who said it.
lol thats stpd lolQuote:
Originally Posted by The Ceej
Yeah, that pisses me off when people do that too.
Is roflsaurusrex still good?
what about omfgaslwtfsarsstdhobbitsex?
=(
It wood bee rofflesoarussrex and ohemeffgeeayesseldubbleueteeeffesarsessteedeehobbitsex.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pureghetto
It's already happened. It's called the internet.
Languages are beautiful the way they are. Transforming them into a generic mesh of rules would take away the whole fun of learning them.