Spelling and grammar on this forum

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It is not just general grammatical spelling mistakes that bother me. There are also instancies of not having the correct spelling for the names for towns and cities.

 

[Barton Keyes]

It's also important to avoid cliches like the plague.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

It's also important to avoid cliches like the plague.

....and cynicism.

 

[SS4]

Of course is also the issue of where you draw the line, especially regarding acronyms. For example TVM (Ticket Vending Machine?) is ok but is FWIW (For what it's worth) and the old favourite RAS (Redundant Acronym Syndrome) syndrome

 

[HugePilchard]

I fink dat da spellin on dis forum is awl rite, innit?

But seriously... it's OK. There's certainly very few posts that make me want to scream in frustration. The only real bugbear I've got is that a few people seem a little hasty with the spacebar, and are keen to ge tit in befor ethe end of the word they're still in the middl eof typing!

The use of acronyms is growing these days, especially whenever you get people together with any sort of specialist knowledge. In my line of work, the number of TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) and ETLAs (Extended Three Letter Acronyms) is astonishing, and in some cases it gets to the point where one uses an acronym so often that you forget what it actually stands for! I guess an extreme case of this is the word 'laser', which is now in such common parlance that many people forget it's YABA (Yet Another B***** Acronym) at all!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I fink dat da spellin on dis forum is awl rite, innit?

You appear to have fallen into your own trap. Whether it is the Queen's English or a Caribbean patois, correct spelling is essential. You should have used the correct terminology..." A fink dat... NOT...I fink dat

On a less jovial matter, I agree that acronyms are most annoying.

 

[HST Power]

But then you would be referring to the Arsenal team who play against Newells Old Boys in a certain South American country, because one of those Arsenal players has the Christian name Jesus....Jesus Galliada (full back).

Did you notice that the FULL STOP was put OUTSIDE the bracket of the word in the last sentence

Too much grammar, I give in!

 

[blackfive460]

Well we seem to be having plenty of fun with this!

Seriously though, this forum is really a credit to the majority of it's members, most of whom seem well able to string a sentence together without too much trouble.
Certainly there are a few who seem unable to do that and in some cases it may be due to a genuine problem but, reading some posts, I'm fairly sure that some are simply down to laziness.
People need to realise, not just when using this forum but also in daily life, that if you expect others to take what you write seriously, bad spelling and grammar, lazy writing in general just won't do.
It isn't rocket science.
Use a spell checker. All browsers seem to have one available but you can always write your post in an external programme which has one then copy and paste.
The most important thing to do though is to read what you have written before hitting the submit button. Read it out loud if you can, you'll be surprised how that helps to spot mistakes although you may get some funny looks if you do that on the train!

 

[Yank 119]

Seriously though, this forum is really a credit to the majority of it's members...

the majority of IT IS members? :cry:

Couldn't resist. The its/it's thing is an epidemic. People seem to love the apostrophe for some reason.

It's a lost cause. The only thing I have to say about spelling/grammar is that while most people consider it unimportant, those who do have the knowledge may judge others for their mistakes or apparent lack of knowledge.

 

[blackfive460]

the majority of IT IS members? :cry:

Couldn't resist. The its/it's thing is an epidemic. People seem to love the apostrophe for some reason.

It's a lost cause. The only thing I have to say about spelling/grammar is that while most people consider it unimportant, those who do have the knowledge may judge others for their mistakes or apparent lack of knowledge.

It's one of the things I try to get right too.
Maybe I need to take my own advice?

 

[Eagle]

Some kinds of grammar are just lost over time anyway. I'd be happy if the subjunctive were to be used more often, rather than just by me. And I'm always a little annoyed that there are few people for whom the difference between who and whom is not lost. And surely my insisting on preceding gerunds with possessive pronouns, not objective pronouns, doesn't make me a grammatical dinosaur? O tempora, o mores.

(Yes, I really use all these nuances in normal speech too. Without thinking. There's still hope.)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Eagle, whilst both of us keep up our grammatical standards, we are leading by example.

Blessed are the wordmakers, for their knowledge will be encyclopedic in verbosity.

 

[RyanB]

What gets me is when you chat with people online you get people using Leet (or 1337 if you're a right nerd) speak, you have a goddamn keyboard in front of you, it's main use is so that you can write words properly!

 

[HST Power]

Blessed are the wordmakers, for their knowledge will be encyclopedic in verbosity.

I think that all Indians should be made to say that phrase three times aloud before they can apply to work in a call centre.

 

[Crossover]

So, is this going to turn into the most grammatically correct thread on the forum?

Of course is also the issue of where you draw the line, especially regarding acronyms. For example TVM (Ticket Vending Machine?) is ok but is FWIW (For what it's worth) and the old favourite RAS (Redundant Acronym Syndrome) syndrome

Ah, one of the lecturers at my uni would have your head off for RAS Syndrome! Just like people who say PIN Number (Personal Identification Number Number) or that something is quite unique (it's either unique or it isn't)
For any fellow geeks, Windows XP is built on NT Technology, right? Wrong! You are saying Windows XP is built on New Technology Technology!

Oh how we love this English language!!!

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Personally, I am a bit of a stickler for spelling and grammar myself, but if I have typed quick I do make the odd miistakes as well (as I am doing even now!!!). I also seem to have developed an annoying habit of hitting ; instead of ' so end up with the likes of "hasn;t" - the number of times I end up editing posts to sort such minor things out!

I am probably guilty of using some TLA's (such as btw, tbh etc) but on the whole I avoid it - even when texting I usually type things in full unless I'm a few characters over a text limit and will shorten things a bit.

On the whole, I don't think spelling/grammar on here are too bad and I can forgive odd mistakes (although they may niggle a little) but posts where people haven't even tried can be annoying, but they are few and far between.

Now, let us see if anyone can find mistake with anything in this post

 

[valenta]

So, is this going to turn into the most grammatically correct thread on the forum?



Ah, one of the lecturers at my uni would have your head off for RAS Syndrome! Just like people who say PIN Number (Personal Identification Number Number) or that something is quite unique (it's either unique or it isn't)
For any fellow geeks, Windows XP is built on NT Technology, right? Wrong! You are saying Windows XP is built on New Technology Technology!

Oh how we love this English language!!!

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Personally, I am a bit of a stickler for spelling and grammar myself, but if I have typed quick I do make the odd miistakes as well (as I am doing even now!!!).

I'm terrible with the keyboard aswell!

 

[OxtedL]

You wrote "instead of" when you should of written "instead have"... :roll:

 

[SS4]

For any fellow geeks, Windows XP is built on NT Technology, right? Wrong! You are saying Windows XP is built on New Technology Technology!

Real geeks use GNU/Linux

 

[ralphchadkirk]

Real geeks use GNU/Linux

And the NT actually stood for N-10, the codename for the intel processor. After NT was used, Bill Gates then said it could also be New Technology.

 

[Crossover]

You wrote "instead of" when you should of written "instead have"... :roll:

Funny :P

Real geeks use GNU/Linux

Shush :P

And the NT actually stood for N-10, the codename for the intel processor. After NT was used, Bill Gates then said it could also be New Technology.

Learn something new again - either way the point still stands, maybe just not about NT hehe

 

[90019]

Ah, one of the lecturers at my uni would have your head off for RAS Syndrome! Just like people who say PIN Number (Personal Identification Number Number)

Sports SUV anyone?

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I always thought that "cool, Daddy" was the precursor of a raised level of sperm count. But maybe not in the terminology used in the conversation that recently occurred outside a branch of Primark.

 

[Eagle]

Sports SUV anyone?

I should do a search on this forum for all instances of "DMU unit", "train TOC", "HST train", "PFN notice", and name and shame.

 

[HST Power]

"HST train" and name and shame.

That one always makes me laugh!

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

...... and name and shame.

This is the correct way to use poetry as a two-edged sword in metaphorical meaning. A dramatic use of the last four words.

 

[The Barlow Boy]

Acronyms were mentioned a little while back.
My favourite is still the one written on a whiteboard at the bottom of the steps on platform ten at Clapham Junction many moons ago which simply stated:
PAOOO, PLFA.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Acronyms have now spread into most areas of the written word, from their original useage in specific industries. The use of them whilst making text messages would now appear to be the norm and children use them frequently in situations such as this.

When I first joined the forum, I expected the use of these acronyms within the terminology used by the rail industry....but not by members of the forum as part of normal grammatical useage.....FYA, AFAIK, etc.

As I am writing this, there is an advertisment at the head of the screen:-Grammarly...Instant Grammar Checker ... Is this a premonition?

 

[HugePilchard]

As I am writing this, there is an advertisment at the head of the screen:-Grammarly...Instant Grammar Checker ... Is this a premonition?

The sites that serve the adverts are quite cunning, in that they can tailor them to the page you're looking at. If you were to start looking at, say, one of the threads about T-keys, then it wouldn't surprise me if you saw adverts for locksmiths, or other key-related things.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The sites that serve the adverts are quite cunning, in that they can tailor them to the page you're looking at. If you were to start looking at, say, one of the threads about T-keys, then it wouldn't surprise me if you saw adverts for locksmiths, or other key-related things.

George Orwell would have most probably considered such a device when he wrote 1984 as being part of the methodology used to monitor people.

 

[90019]

When I first joined the forum, I expected the use of these acronyms within the terminology used by the rail industry....but not by members of the forum as part of normal grammatical useage.....FYA, AFAIK, etc.

LOL OMG WTF, FYI TLA FTW, ITR?



FFS.