Can't Chowhounds Spell ?

[Delucacheesemonger]

Am l the only person who is appalled at the misspellings of some posters to these boards? Would it be only 'Caesar' spelled incorrectly, oh no. It appears that the number of spelling errors in posts is amazingly high. l will not even mention my hate of 'sammies'.

[The Chowhound Team]

We're going to close this thread, because it is getting increasingly unfriendly and not at all related to food.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I can spell. I am number 500. Yeah.

[Vidute]

Huzzah!!

[Mojave]

Haha. "Fivehundreth!"

[afridgetoofar]

Still going on I see. If you're in the UK beware, the dead horse we're beating may end up in your frozen meatballs.

I can spell. I use "big" words, one of which was used in the last few days to mock, by someone too chickensheet to address me specifically, and who encouraged sneering by people who were also feeling defensive in the very fashion I'd suggested was destructive not constructive to such a site. My posts here were gentle, I thought. I prefer to post on the side of people who would be drowned out by snarky elitists if such had their way. I've read here and posted here believing this was a site that welcomed people who were interested in a subject I found relaxing, gentle, nurturing.

MY SO has just suffered a health crisis. I won't have the time or energy to continue here. I'm here now because I'm tired and going for closure where I can find it, as well as distraction while I wait for news. I'm sure the snarky, "I buy organic greens at Trader Joe's and you deserve what you get if you don't have a TJ in your town" crowd would be happy to place blame for SO not subsisting on TJ's fare for his ills, but that's a thread I'm not going to read or to which I'd contribute.

Chow happily. Life is short. Be kind to each other. What else is worth living for, eh?

[paulj]

So you are a sesquipedalian? (I just heard that word on Saysyou. It comes from Latin for a 'a foot and half long'.)

[latindancer]

Hi afridgetoofar,

I hope all will be well with your SO.
Take care of yourself.

[ursy_ten]

No Friiidge! Don't go! I really like what you add to the site. You're intelligent and kind. I'd really miss your voice if you went.

But I kind of get what you mean. Some of the personalities on the internet get me down too. I wish you and your SO well. I wish I could be your friend. My SO is having a health crisis too. We have to sell our house. I'm utterly beside myself. I know what you mean about just wanting a distraction and wanting to just talk about something you love without being worried about how it's going to be taken.

I really hope you get to see this. I don't even know why.

[Vidute]

I hope all turns out well for you and your SO, ursy.

[KaimukiMan]

my thoughts and prayers to you and the SO. Looking forward to your return when the time is right. You are an important contributor, and your name is just too good to let lie idle.

[Chemicalkinetics]

Best wishes to your significant other. Hope you come back often. Take care.

[Vidute]

Please accept my prayers for you and your SO.

Just in case you come back for a look, here's a thread that is distracting with no snarky comments - just bad food-related jokes.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/877176

[Mojave]

I write for a living - I am also an Editor. I'm a member of a number of forums and sometimes I wonder - how did I manage to "do that"? But then I remember, I'm not at work. I don't want to pay the attention to these forums that I do to work.

[MVNYC]

My guess is that those that use rezzie or res for reservation or rec or recco for recommendation simply cannot spell those words.

[MGZ]

Or, perhaps, that is simply how they "say" them.

[ratgirlagogo]

"res for reservation"

I heard this one often growing up, but not meaning a reservation in a restaurant.

[catface1]

nope or should I say no

[KaimukiMan]

Well over 400 replies and the OP has not had a thing to say about even one of the postings. I certainly want to say thanks for all the varied and thoughtful discussion it has engendered.

[HillJ]

Incorrect, K-Man. The OP stopped back on the 18th to comment on Bob W's remark, restating that the intended focused of this OP was on spelling.

[gaffk]

Well thank goodness it's all about spelling. Otherwise, I would be appalled by your "intended focused." But the spelling's good ;)

For those who can't read humour* , my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek.

*To prove not all Americans are lazy

[HillJ]

Maybe we should become better proofreaders.

When this thread hits the 500 plus comments and topples the best ways to eat cottage cheese, I think me and my chow pals will need to abandon ship....at least until the yada yada over spelling returns to a love fest for food.

Fun as all of this was, it's not about the chow.

[catface1]

It"s been good fun and this is what this site should be about.

[HillJ]

catface1, this thread would make an excellent Portlandia sketch. Now that's funny.

[Delucacheesemonger]

Have made multiple comments. l am a spelling freak, always
was,always will be. Felt that this many posts in 3 days is a rarity on CH, thus a topic well examined. 'Sammy' can rot in Hell.

[Vidute]

.

[sunshine842]

LOLOLOL

I think Sammy took that personally.

[Vidute]

Darn tootin'!!

[KaimukiMan]

my apologies. and for the record, i'm no fan of sammies either, at least not the kind that are eaten.

[sparky403]

I don't completely get why people get soo upset about these things? Despite the lack of gramatically correctness I come here to get Ideas - If I understand what people are saying that's good enough for me.

After all it's at least worth what you pay for it right? No one is forcing you to come on line to either read or offer advice are they?

I too am a tad dxslexic and my spelling not the greatest. I make corrections at times because I know it makes people crazy.

For me, as long as it's not too far out of bounds, it doesn't bother me. As long as you know what mean and I have something to contribute - I put it down. I am happy to get information on the same terms.

At the end of the day, I have to worry all day at work about my gramatic short coming and 2nd guess my e-mails. When I come on Chow or other message boads I don't pay as much attention (not going to start either - sorry).

I'd say get over it - I hear the mattress police are looking for new agents though :-)

[GH1618]

Actually, we don't generally get upset. We relish every opportunity to validate our own sense of superiority in linguistic matters.

[gaffk]

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that, as it would have surely gone right through my nose.

[sparky403]

+1 that was a good un'

[Chemicalkinetics]

Ha ha ha.

[MollyKatieMolly]

Dah....those who reply by texting have fingers and thumbs TOO big for their phone keys....nobody can spell anymore. Let alone on a tiny cell phone. I haven't found one text that someone has ever spelled correctly. Ya, am appalled by this as well, but that is the way it is today.

[sunshine842]

you've never received a text from me. Spelling AND punctuation.

[Riccardo]

I once received a puffy press release from a young publicist for a noted restaurant whose reverse-chic signature dish was the chef's "Kick-Ass Chili." I assume all the top foodie media of the day received a copy. In citing the chef's repertoire, somehow she'd spelled that dish as "Kiss-Ass Chili," which I suspect was her last error on behalf of that client.

[Isolda]

No one can spell anymore. Or punctuate. And when I think about it, it does bother me, so I have to sit on my hands to keep them off my keyboard.

I just suffered through a thread in which posters referred to cookware with a "mat" finish, but did I correct them? Nope. I just let it stand because I knew what they meant. Oh, I am so proud of myself! If I can do this, anyone can! Just repeat after me: "There is no apostrophe shortage. There is no apostrophe shortage. People can sprinkle them everywhere, even on their food if they wish. There is no apostrophe shortage."

[MGZ]

"Or punctuate."

I assume you realize that's not a complete sentence. And, starting the next sentence with a conjunction?

I'm on your side about apostrophes though.

[Isolda]

Of course. My post was tongue in cheek, not a formal essay on the national decline in grammar and punctuation skills!

[Jay F]

I write like that sometimes, Isolda. Fairly often, actually. To me, posting on an internet forum is dialog rather than prose. I "talk" the way I'd talk if the person I'm addressing and I were in a room together.

[sunshine842]

yes, yes, yes -- a hundred times yes!

I would never write a formal communication the way I write here....but I write here the way I'd talk if we were all sitting around a table talking.

[MGZ]

That's pretty much been the point in a few of the subthreads - "try" and find your "voice".

[Riccardo]

The ubiquitous, erroneous use of "and" in place of "to" in the phrase "...try and..." still bugs me.

[MGZ]

Assuming you've read all of the posts, you are aware of the idea that colloquialisms count.

[Isolda]

And that natural style is the clearest form of writing. Clear thinking=clear speaking=clear writing. It's when people think they have to sound formal that they end up writing crap.

[Vidute]

I mourn the death of the semicolon.

[GH1618]

I've used a few today, elsewhere on this site.

[Vidute]

Status upgraded to grave and on life support. ;)

[lagatta]

I use them all the time.

[GH1618]

Both perfectly legitimate constructions. The best writers know how to spell and punctuate, but they are not constrained by every stylistic rule taught in elementary school.

[sueatmo]

Either there are too many apostrophes in all the inappropriate places, or there aren't any where they should be.

I ran into the word "palet" recently for "palate."

If you have Google you can check on the spelling of any word you might not be sure of.

I think Isolda's post is perfectly understandable and acceptable in casual usage. Again, we are not writing papers or articles for publication here.

[John E.]

I have a brother named Matte.

(If you ever find yourself short of apostrophes, I know where there a lot of extra's lying around. There is a small store near our house that has handmade signs reading peach's, apple's, orange's, etc.)

[paulj]

Not guilty as charged. :)
American Heritage Dictionary:
one of the definitions for 'mat':
2. Also 'matte', a. A dull, often rough, finish,...

http://forum.wordreference.com/showth...
quoting from the OED:
"Forms: 16 18- matte, 18- mat, 18- matt. [< French mat (1545 in Middle French in this sense; borrowed earlier as MATE adj.1). Compare earlier MATT v.
The forms matt and matte are perhaps based on the earlier French feminine form matte (17th to 18th centuries; the modern feminine form is mate).]"

[lagatta]

Matt in standard UK English. It is also Matt in German. I'd say that in this case the (English) Canadian usage tends more to the US usage (alas).

[paulj]

not matte? Didn't we just establish that all good UK spellings end with 'e', especially if they are different from American usage?

Ever wonder where the extra 't' comes from? Is it needed? Or is a fossil, left over from some early borrowing?

[CanadaGirl]

I'm confused! Are you saying Canada uses matt or matte? I've only seen matte

[paulj]

On Google ngram, 'matt black' is far more common in UK English than 'matte black' and 'mat black'. In the USA in the 1960s all three were equally common, but in recent years 'matte black' has become most common. They don't have a separate category for Canadian usage.

http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?...

[lagatta]

CanadaGirl, I'm agreeing with you - I think usage is veering to the US standard, (that is why I wrote my slightly-snarky "alas").

In French, the word is "mat" (pronounced sort of like "mah", but remember the vowel is shorter) and the feminine "mate", pronounced rather like "mat" in English, (not like "mate" meaning either a companion, a friend or a co-worker).

[Harters]

UK English

Matt - opposite of shiny.

Mat - something to wipe your shoes on before coming into the house

Matte - something in stage or film production to do with the backdrop scenery. Don't ask for more details - you now know what I know about matte.

[Lillipop]

How dare they?

[mimolette]

Just don't let me see sammy, delish, and lately, more and more dieing and should of. This is not a spelling mistake, but why do so many people have a need to promote any vegetable by stating it has low or no cholesterol as if a plant produces any cholesterol ever.

[Riccardo]

It seems to me that "sammy" and "delish" are colloquialisms, not mistakes.

[John E.]

No....they're both mistakes....

[KaimukiMan]

much of the antihapy toward those two words are based on a emotional response to the person best known for using them, Rachel Ray who has a flair for annoying 'serious' cooks with her use of shortcuts, misusing recipe names, and general disregard for basic "good cooking" practices. Personally I've seen her burn a roux, take tomatoes out of the fridge, and explain that its dangerous to buy dented cans. The last one the producers made her retract later in the show, which she kinda did. She said it wasn't dangerous, but she still wouldn't take a chance herself. I wish I could have seen a shot of the producers and legal department at that moment.

[josephnl]

This bothers me far less than the mistakes about cooking science made so frequently by TV chefs. The most annoying to me is when a chef speaking about searing a piece of meat in a hot pan, refers to it as "caramelization". Caramelization is a chemical reaction which occurs when sugars are heated. The last time I checked, meat (without an applied glaze or rub) contains no sugar!

[Riccardo]

Excerpted from Danilo Alfaro's About.com post about the Maillard reaction:

"Also Known As: "Caramelization." Note that while caramelization is not the identical chemical process as the Maillard reaction, only the most pedantic hairsplitter would actually take the trouble to correct you on it."

[paulj]

First line of the Wiki article on Maillard reaction:
" a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar"
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-m...

[sueatmo]

A long time ago I read an article that said that each person had his or her own grammar/spelling/syntax issues and felt the need to point out mistakes people make when violating them. However said people used other grammatical/spelling/syntax mistakes which slipped by them in their own use.

I think it is best if we cut each other some slack. But participating in this forum requires communication. I want to understand what it is posted here. If misspellings make the message crazy sounding or unclear, then communication is not happening. I recommend using the edit button if necessary.

And posting on a forum is not the same as writing a paper or formal letter.

[MGZ]

"And posting on a forum is not the same as writing a paper or formal letter."

I agree. As I noted, I can't help but see it, but I want to get to a point where I "hear" it.

[Gio]

<"...I want to get to a point where I "hear" it.">

But... you won't be able to do that, MGZ. Voices come in all ranges from high and squeaky to low as a basso profundo. Also, inflections, accents and other speech nuances cannot be transmitted to the written word. That's why using all caps is called shouting. There's no other way to express loud.

[MGZ]

I disagree. I think that there has to be a way to get close. I mean, if you normally say "oh my goodness", why type "OMG"?

I agree that pitch may be impossible to convey, but that doesn't mean that you can't hear a bit of an accent when someone spells the word "flavour" and not "flavor". My question, I suppose, at bottom, is, why not attempt to convey nuance and inflection in the ways I've suggested?

As to expressing loud, you have already exemplified one way to do it. Nonetheless, I think that using certain word structures, it is also possible to emphasize "raising one's voice (e.g. "That place makes the worst, fuckin' pizza I've ever even smelled." or "Holy God, do not leave without havin' a piece of the chile chocolate love pie."

[sunshine842]

it sets my teeth on edge, but people actually say LOL and OMG as words.

[MplsM ary]

But for some, saying the word GOD is taboo. I was chastised by a friend's mom for saying "jeez" - 'cause, ya know, I was blaspheming. I do think the G part of OMG started out that way, 'cause it ain't gosh for a lot of folks.

[sunshine842]

Jeez can also be "geez" -- which would be a shortened form of "gee whiz".

Short of full-on profanity from kids, I don't get too fussed either way.

[sueatmo]

But most of us are not skilled enough to express nuance in our writing. We might be able to express emphasis or "loud."

Most of us just do the best we can to be understood. And that's all I think can be expected.

[gaffk]

Weird . . .I "hear" everything I read. Usually in my own voice, but sometimes in other voices.

Wow . . .now I have to go ponder those voices in my head :)

[paulj]

There was a time when reading outloud was the norm. Being able read silently was unusual enough for Augustine comment on it (regarding Ambrose).
http://www.stanford.edu/class/history...

[gaffk]

As kids, we all had to read out loud to mom each day. I'll blame that for my weirdness.

[chowser]

The voices in my head would be censored. I never swear out loud but George Carlin has nothing on the voices in my head...

[HillJ]

The Amazing Kreskin perhaps...us mere mortals once called "hearing it" the telephone..

but you have a solid point about using more description when we type.

[Georgia Strait]

yes - sammies - where does that come from -

and - what about "yummy"
i have rec'd business emails from esteemed colleagues where they say - thx that was yummy --- what - !

clearly i have not capitalized etc - so who am i to complain ; )

[goodhealthgourmet]

For all I know, the communication skills here are far superior to those on other chat boards - I don't have much of a basis for comparison to other online discussion communities because this is the only one in which I participate. I worked in publishing and communications before making the career move to nutrition, so errors in spelling and grammar make me twitchy *wherever* I see them. I do think they're rampant here on CH, and it surprises me to see such frequent misuse and misspelling of culinary terms in a food-centric community. So yes, part of me would love to take a red pen to half the posts I read on any given day. However, this isn't English class, and I'm well aware that most people aren't as anal-retentive and neurotic as I am. To be honest, seeing my own mistakes - which I do make on occasion - horrifies me more than seeing those made by others.

[danna]

"seeing my own mistakes horrifies me more than seeing those made by others." absolutely!

I became aware that I had a tendency to leave the "u" out of hors d'oeuvre. So one day recently I had to type it in an email, and I was concentrating hard on doing the "u" correctly...to the point that ignored the rest of the error potentials and spelled it "hor d'oeurve" Yes...that's 2 errors. And then I sent the email to a friend who is a French professor. Shoot me.

[chowser]

I've grown into some spelling errors that I didn't used to make, too. I knew it was shiitake mushrooms but at some point, started using shitake mushrooms. I don't know if it's part of getting older--I used to be a good speller and now find myself getting stumped on some words. Add posting from a cell phone to that and it's all gone downhill. Seeing my own mistakes also horrifies me more than ones made by others. Well, other than someone calling another person a "looser." I have to admit that always makes me laugh.

[GH1618]

"Lose" seems to me to be the most frequently misspelled word on internet forums, by far. I don't understand it. I suppose it's because some people never read anything but the unedited writings of other posters, so the error gets repeated and reinforced.

[pollymerase]

I don't think 'loose' instead of 'lose' is specific to internet boards. I have an ex-boyfriend who would use it all of the time and it drove me nuts--especially since he was an English major. I also saw it used in a newspaper article today. The article was online, so perhaps it wasn't actual in print, but I was rather appalled.

[chowser]

When I see "loose weight," I always think of post baby waistlines. It doesn't bother me but it does make me laugh about the "looser" part.

Spelling is about memory so it's not surprising that the more we see incorrectly spelled words, the more people will spell the word the same way. I was joking about it being an aging thing but someone pointed out to me that it could be that we're just used to seeing something spelled the wrong way. This thread is making me hesitate to post on the cheese board, I have to admit. Although I've been taking Italian for years, I can never spell parmigiano-reggiano correctly. It doesn't help that the American version is parmesan.

[LindaWhit]

Parm-Reg. ;-)

[Jay F]

I shorten it to P-R, but that's easily confused with Pecorino Romano.

[Jay F]

< Although I've been taking Italian for years, I can never spell parmigiano-reggiano correctly.>

I spelled it parmAgiano for years. Yours is correct, incidentally.

[chowser]

You should have seen how many attempts I made before I finally just googled it.

[paulj]

I often use google search as my backup spell checker. If I can't get close enough for the chrome spell checker, I try a general search.

[ursy_ten]

"Spelling is about memory so it's not surprising that the more we see incorrectly spelled words, the more people will spell the word the same way."

This is true. I've seen "definately" so many times that I sometimes second guess myself when I go to type "definitely"

[chowser]

I do the same. I have to check "desperate" to make sure it's not "desparate" because I see it so often that way (vs disparate which is another problem altogether).

[hyacinthgirl]

It's taken me forever to remember the spelling for that. Eventually I decided that for the American spelling, the cheese was being addressed by a Japanese person who held it in high regard: "Parme-san"

[MGZ]

In a way, to come back full circle and offer synthesis, I think this thread has really lead to a valuable discussion, as you can see peppered throughout, of "how do we post?" and "how do we read the posts of others?".

I agree with Deluca that there are a lot of poorly spelled and written posts. I also agree with many objectors that it is not that fact which matters. At bottom, articulation is the goal. If you want your idea or position to be understood, find a way to articulate it properly. Clearly, there are many posts on this thread where 'hounds used misspellings and poor grammar to articulate their points in a more effective way than would have been possible with the "King's English".

Nonetheless, I reiterate what I have been "saying". This is a dialogue. Speak for yourselves and be comfortable. If some of us bitchy sticklers take a mental red pen to it, you'll never notice or be asked for a rewrite. Use your "voice", express your thoughts, just "try" to pay attention to the totality of the message you are delivering.

Most importantly, Chow on!

[Jay F]

<If some of us bitchy sticklers take a mental red pen to it, you'll never notice or be asked for a rewrite.>

One of my biggest "ass of u and me" assumptions has been that people would want to know that they had spelled something wrong, so they would be able to get it right the next time. Instead, you're considered rude on the internet when you correct someone's spelling.

If you were cooking something and it wasn't coming out right, and someone could tell you just what you needed to know to get it to work, wouldn't you want that someone to let you know?

That's how I feel about spelling and grammar. Why would anyone want to get it wrong?

[HillJ]

When I typed crap instead of crab in the risotto thread I was corrected and we had a good laugh about it. It wasn't rude. It was handled in the moment, good catch and life goes on.

The original reason for this subject, which has since gone in many (interesting) directions was taking aim at how CH's spell-called it appalling! Such use of language doesn't come across as a fun or funny commentary. And if the OP was being funny they haven't said so.

As for your analogy, tell me you have never held your tongue if what someone was cooking came out differently than expected. If the remark would insult someone, I would not go out of my way to hurt their feelings not when humor can do a much better job of expressing mistakes.

[Jay F]

It depends, really. If I'm at someone's house who's serving dinner and something tastes off, I might or might not say something.

My two friends I cook with, we always tell each other the truth about our cooking. But at a more formal dinner, no, I wouldn't. That would be rude, hurtful, etc.

Nowadays, I only bother to correct someone's spelling or grammar when that someone makes a mistake of his or her own in correcting someone else. Or in threads like this, where it's the topic.

[MGZ]

No one ever wants to be wrong, but they like have it being pointed out to them even less.

[chowser]

I don't mind. If it's a typo that's obvious, then it's not worth the hassle but if it's a consistent mistake, it's good to know. I misspelled Michael Pollan's name, years ago, in a post. Someone tried to correct it, not to be condescending, but to be helpful to others and his posts kept being deleted. When I noticed, I told the moderators to change mine. I was thankful. Some people have a good way with words and can point things out, without coming off critically. It's a gift I envy.

[lagatta]

I find that the Chowhound moderation has greatly improved in that respect. A few years back, I had posts removed that weren't rude or off-topic. Now we have a bit more leeway to express ourselves, while keeping in mind that this is a food reference site.

[Riccardo]

Shouldn't it be "...they like having it being pointed out..." or just "...they like it being pointed out..."?

[chowser]

Actually, it would be "he/she like..."

[Riccardo]

In that case, it'd be "...he/she likes..." (not "like").

You're certainly correct, though, that "they" doesn't really jibe with the singular "no one."

[MGZ]

It should be the way I would "say" it. I see that you're a correcter. Fine. But, please digest the entire thread and the ideas others have suggested. Nevertheless, I will gladly let you proof the next formal piece I write - you're good.

[Riccardo]

I'm not usually a "correcter" when in casual, blog posting mode, but this thread's particular topicality has brought out the pedant in me (and in most of us here, it seems).

Let's hope all the grammatical nitpicking is contained in this thread, however!

[Riccardo]

"...please digest the entire thread and the ideas..."

BTW, the OP's topic was spelling, not meaning or ideas. Just sayin'...

[GH1618]

You must be new here. It is not unusual for a thread to wander a bit from the original topic, narrowly construed. The mods have allowed this one to wander around the topic for some time now, they don't consider it to have digressed to far yet, I think.

[MGZ]

That has been part of the discussion. The OP has spawned a few side "dialogues" and relevant ideas for the Site "at large".

[Riccardo]

RE: "...this thread has really lead to a valuable discussion..."

The word you want, MGZ, is "led," not "lead."

[hyacinthgirl]

I keep waiting for the OP to come back and write:
Can't Chowhounders Take A Joke?

[Delucacheesemonger]

Can't Chowhounders take a joke ?

[hyacinthgirl]

That and a nice piece of brie just made my morning.

[MGZ]

Most can, Deluca, but I'm glad you sowed this seed for the plant to grow and branch out. Or, I sp'ose in your case, perhaps I should have said, I'm glad you inoculated the milk?

[GH1618]

Another one that bothers me is when someone (usually British) spells "spelled" "spelt."

[sunshine842]

but that's correct under British spelling rules. They're not wrong to do so -- any more than "tyre", "aluminium", "colour", and "paediatrician" are wrong (they're not -- those are all standard UK spellings)

They're all wondering why you spelled it 'spelled'.

I'm wondering how many of you would, if invited into the kitchen of some little hole-in-the-wall that had just served you the greatest meal of your entire life, would nitpick the chef if he/she didn't use 100% perfect English, whether as a result of it not being their native language, a learning disability, or a lack of education.

[Chemicalkinetics]

I can only imagine GH was being sarcastic. I once said to a British colleague that I could tell that he is from England due to his accent, and he jokely said to me "I don't have an accent. Everyone else does (he was referring all the Americans)."

It did take me a second or two to get the his joke. A funny but yet truthful joke.

[sunshine842]

I used to work for a guy who read a letter from one of my UK clients, looked up at me, and said "what's wrong with this guy? Every other word is spelled wrong!" He was dead-serious.

there were no emoticons and no way to ascertain whether it was sarcasm or not.

[Harters]

In similar vein, sunshine, family members emigrated to America when my niece was about 12. She found school particularly difficult for several months as her work would be marked down for poor spelling. Of course, it wasnt poor - it was simply not the American spelling. One would have hoped that educators would have had more common sense than to simply mark the work down, rather than explaining the issue to her and trying to help her adjust.

[sunshine842]

one of my best chums at university had been schooled in Scotland. She had that problem ALL the time. Bl**dy unfair, really, especially because she knew the material better than anyone in the class.

[GH1618]

I just couldn't resist the tongue twister. As for the English having an accent, according to Shaw (in Pygmalion), the English have so many accents that Professor Higgens could identify the town whence one came, and sometimes the neighborhood.

[Harters]

Not just accoridng to Shaw. British accents can be very complex. Some years back, the police received a tape from someone claiming to be a wanted serial killer (the Yorkshire Ripper). Language experts were able to analyse the tape and take the view that he came from a particular locality of just a few thousand people. In my own area, I can certainly tell if someone's accent is from the southern part of the metro area or the northern or central areas.

[sunshine842]

England is one of the few places where accents shift geographically AND with social class. When you combine the two, it's mindboggling. (but fascinating)

I used to work with a guy from oop north -- we walked into an account, and the customer (who didn't know my colleague) said, Oh, you grew up in the xxxx neighborhood. He'd naied it, in two sentences.

[GH1618]

I didn't say it was wrong; I said it bothers me. I am quite comfortable with most British spellings, and some I even prefer.

I have consulted my The New Shorter Oxford, by the way, and it gives both "spelled" and "spelt" (in that order) as the past tense.

[Harters]

Presumably it only bother you if we've used it in the wrong grammatical context. Or does it bother you even if we spell it corectly, as in:

"She spelled it out for him"

and

"The word is spelt like this"

What "bothers" me is how lazy Americans are when they write my language - it's hardly difficult is it, to include the "u" in colour, honour and, particularly, humour. Or to properly spell words like "centre" and and "fibre." Or litre - although few Americans regularly write this as you still have those pint things, don't you?

[HillJ]

Harters, here's irony for you.

My son returned from France last August after studying at two Universities; Paris & Roubaix. After his gap year, he returned to his American University continuing to use the "u" and now he's frustrated that it should matter to his American professors how he spells.

[Harters]

Great experience, he's been able to have - studying in two cultures.

[MGZ]

I sincerely like seeing British spellings of words. Usually, it gives me a way into "hearing" the "voice" of the poster. Harters, we have contributed to enough threads together that I know where your from, and, in a sense, your "voice". But, for many others (excepting, for example, CanadaGirl, CarolinaDawg, or someone else who has a geographic reference in their "name"), seeing the way they spell things, allows me insight into what they are "saying".

As I noted above, I like the idea of colloquialisms in posts. I think it's great when a 'hound from North Carolina calls us "y'all". My Jersey Shore accent and speech patterns come out when use "'em" in liue of "them" or call a pizza a "pie". I just wish more Canadian posters would dot their posts with the appropriate number of "eh's"!

[Harters]

Fully understood, MGZ. I also like "hearing the voice" (although I have met two American Chowhounds). Interesting stuff this language thing - I've been visiting the States every few years since 1980 and it's only the last couple of trips where I've not been asked where I'm from - with most folk asking "New Zealand, right?". Now, my north west England accent is nothing like a Kiwi one but I can only assume that folk knew my accent was not like British accents they usually here on the TV so, therefore, I couldnt be a Briton. That said, I have to remember to speak slower for my Kentucky lawyer friend when he visits the UK.

I'm getting better at noticing the differing American accents. At least I think I am. Certainly I'm pretty confident that I know when I've moved from the north east to the south east - servers stop calling us "you folk" and start with "y'all".

[gaffk]

Harters, you'll have to visit the mid-Atlantic city of Philadelphia, where the servers will ask youse guys if you want some worter with your meal.

[MGZ]

In a way, gaffk, I think your hinting at an interesting concept. Is there going to be a time when a combination of phonetic spellings, colloquialisms, contractions, and "text speak" become the most effective way to communicate on a site like this? I mean, maybe that would help mitigate some of the problems with misunderstandings.

Somehow, this thread has wound around and has me fascinated with the idea of "voice" in posts. Shouldn't that be more important than grammar and spelling? Is it time to move from treating electronic media as "written" to "spoken" in the way we suggest ideas?

For those of you who like, I will happily correct any and all mistakes contained in your posts. Otherwise, as I've been "trying" to articulate, why not just make it read like you think it? (But, please, for the love of all that is holy no more "IMHO" or "IMO" prefaces.)

[Harters]

Absolutely, MGZ. I think on many discussion board threads, we should try to write as we might speak. Surely discussion is spoken communication.

One of the specific inherent problems with the Chowhound platform is the lack of emoticons. I find it difficult to express myself in the light-hearted, laid-back, self deprecating style (which typifies British humour) without them. As such, I often find I'm not conveying the sense of what i wanted to say as well as I might have - a particular issue knowing that non-Americans appear to be a tiny minority of site users.

IMO, of course :-)

[MGZ]

"I find it difficult to express myself in the light-hearted, laid-back, self deprecating style (which typifies British humour) without them."

I have a similar sense of humor. In part, trying to figure out how to express it is part of why I'm contemplating a new approach to posting.

[gaffk]

I dunno', you always come off as a light-hearted and self-deprecating Brit when I read your posts. But then, that's only my opinion ;)

[Riccardo]

You mean "...you're hinting...", right, MGZ?

[gaffk]

Yes, it is an interesting concept. In high school and college teachers/profs were always initially taken aback by the papers I wrote. My freshman comp prof explained it was because my written speech is so different than my actual speech.

[latindancer]

<with the idea of "voice" in posts. Shouldn't that be more important than grammar and spelling?>

For those of us who remember, and still practice, writing letters and notes and anything else handwritten, grammar and spelling are of paramount importance. Punctuation, proper usage of wording, NOT using a conjunction to begin a sentence, penmanship, etc., are reflective of the person writing it. This is my opinion, obviously not shared by everyone, but it's something I've always taken pride in. I'm not sure why the internet should be any different than writing letters when it comes to explaining our thoughts and what we're attempting to convey.

[masha]

I agree LD. Indeed, since this is a virtual community where most of us don't know each other except from our written communication, how one expresses oneself in writing is the sole means by which we form impressions of who other posters are. If a poster wants to his/her opinions and recommendations to have persuasive value, it is certainly helpful if those posts are not chockful of egregious and distracting misspellings, grammatical errors, and the like. That does not mean that most of us will not overlook occasional mispellings that are obvious typos or the result of "autocorrect." Especially, however, where a poster consistently misspells a word that is integral to the subject matter of the post -- a poster on the France or Italy board, for example, who consistently misspells basic words from those languages, or a consistent misspelling of the name of a cheese on the Cheese Board -- I am likely to discount the views of that poster. So too, when restaurant review posts are full of "delish" and "yummy," I am likely to conclude that the author's sensibilities are different than my own, and be unmoved by that poster's high recommendations.

[donovt]

I fail to see how someone's ability to spell correlates to their taste in food or ability to cook.

[masha]

If Poster No. 1, on the France Board, were to write a post that read, "I really recommend the beof burgiungon at Restaurant X," and Poster no. 2 wrote "I've eaten at Restaurant X and the boef bourgignon is nothing special," I'd be much more likely to respect the views of Poster No. 2, as his/her ability to properly spell the dish would suggest a greater familiarity with French cuisine.

[donovt]

Actually, it would suggest that they are a better speller.

[masha]

Yes, of course the only dispositive conclusion one can draw is that one is a better speller than the other. Poster No. 1 could be a French-born dyslexic who is unable to follow basic rules of French orthography but has an intimate knowledge of French food. And, if I were a frequent reader of the France board and he a regular poster, I might learn to overlook his misspellings, as I would have other data by which to judge the value of his recommendations. If this were Poster No. 1's first post, however, I'd be much more likely to discount his views as a result of the misspelling.

[boredough]

They both spelled "boeuf bourguignon" incorrectly.

[masha]

You are correct, of course. I knew when I wrote that post that I was just asking to be shown up! I should have proofed more carefully.

[boredough]

yes, sorry, but - just as you would understand - I needed to "correct" the mistake :-)

[masha]

No problem. I'm genuinely embarrassed.

[chowser]

The question is how would you feel if others discounted your opinion because of the spelling error, as you've said you would others? Just because a person makes a mistake doesn't mean he/she knows nothing about food. That's why I give people the benefit of the doubt. This site is about finding good food, and the more quickly we dismiss others' opinions, the more likely we might be missing it.

[masha]

In the context that I posited -- a posting on the French board regarding a debate over whether a particular restaurant's version of the dish was a particularly good rendition -- they might rightly conclude that my French was pretty rusty, that I did not spend much time in France, and that someone with a more extensive familiarity with the language also knew the restaurant culture better.

And it's not as though I or most readers go through this kind of conscious analysis when we encounter misspellings or grammatical errors. It's more akin to showing up for a job interview with a gravy stain on your tie. It elicits a subconscious negative impression (even if the interviewee were seeking a job without any interaction with the public so his attire ought not matter).

[lagatta]

Ha! You beat me to that one.

[mcf]

And only that!

[sandylc]

But it's boeuf.

[latindancer]

<it is certainly helpful if those posts are not chockfull of egregious and distracting misspellings, grammatical errors, and the like.>

That is also true for me, masha. For example, I love to read the newspaper. I am continually frustrated by the lack of accurate editing that accompanies the articles I'm interested in. It's not only distracting, when the mistake jumps out at me, but I'm now feeling the writer of the article isn't as credible as I'd like them to be. I'm not sure, based on some of the responses on this thread, if it's something that is now being dismissed as a concept that is unimportant, dated and irrelevant. In other words, in my case with the newspaper, one may state, "it's news who cares about the way it's delivered?". I remember a time when proper spelling, punctuation and grammar was demanded and expected.

[linguafood]

Tsk, tsk. Ending a sentence with a preposition?

" I am continually frustrated by the lack of accurate editing that accompanies the articles I'm interested in."

Uh-oh. Shouldn't that say "... that accompanies the articles in which I am interested"?

It's a slippery slope.

[latindancer]

Why thank you, linguafood, isn't that good of you?
I appreciate your heartfelt and thoughtful correction.

[linguafood]

I know how important it is to you. Any time.

[Gio]

On the other hand, LF, I quote, "The spurious rule about not ending sentences with prepositions is a remnant of Latin grammar, in which a preposition was the one word that a writer could not end a sentence with. But Latin grammar should never straightjacket English grammar. "
http://grammar.about.com/od/grammarfa...

In the study of grammar this universal preposition principle is called a Superstition. As the language evolves more and more arguments are put forward endorsing the use of a preposition at the end of a sentence, with references to its use in Old English. I find this evolution fascinating.

[linguafood]

I find it fascinating that the quote contains a sentence ending in a preposition...perhaps to prove the point?

In any event -- I never had a horse in this race to begin with (sic!). I know my command of English (not my mother tongue, after all) surpasses that of many native speakers, but frankly, I couldn't care less.

Does the almost consistent misuse of "me" and "I" -- i.e. the confusion of subject and object -- in a sentence drive me nuts? Yeah, well, sorta. Do I run around correcting *adults* in order to make myself feel somehow superior to those silly souls who should know the difference? Nah. I keep it to myself.

Must be my overall charm / disposition.

[Gio]

That's what I love about you... your charm & disposition. I wouldn't dream of correcting any one. Who knows why people do/say what they do. But, I do like to read and discover. As I know you do... This thread has many funny aspects, though.

[latindancer]

<I wouldn't dream of correcting anyone>

There are those who wait in the shadows just waiting for the person, they don't care for, to make just one mistake.
It's now their 'pleasure' to set the person straight.
There are a myriad of reasons why people feel the need to correct another person. I normally let the person think they're 'right' (because they have the need) and move on.

[lagatta]

Linguafood, aren't you happy that English is assuming its Germanic bones?

[hyacinthgirl]

I have much less tolerance for poor spelling and grammar in areas where the individual is hired and paid, in part, for his/her writing skills. I am doubly frustrated when there is an editor responsible for overseeing the content, spelling and grammar of a piece and it is still full of errors.
Professionals are judged harshly. Amateurs, like all of us on this site, are forgiven.

[Vidute]

"the writer of the article isn't as credible as I'd like them to be"

"Writer" is singular; however, you've used the plural pronoun "them" to refer back to it.

"I remember a time when proper spelling, punctuation and grammar was demanded and expected."

The subject, "spelling, punctuation, and grammar," is plural; however, you've used the singular verb "was."

We all make mistakes. Just about every post on this thread decrying the spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. of contributors on this board has an error or two in it.

We should stop "casting stones" and just move on. Life's too short to always look for and find fault where no harm is meant.

[latindancer]

Well, thank you Vidute.

I haven't, once, corrected anyone's mistakes on any thread where I've posted.
You're certainly entitled to do so. However, may I suggest, when you're 'correcting' other people and the mistakes they make, I would highly recommend your 'corrections' are correct before you 'cast stones'.

[Vidute]

As I stated, we all make mistakes.

[latindancer]

It's nice you realize the 'corrections' you made, at my expense, were, in fact, mistakes.
I appreciate that.

[Vidute]

It's easy enough for me to admit a mistake. I know I'm not perfect. So, yes, I did make one mistake.

[MGZ]

"I'm not sure why the internet should be any different than writing letters when it comes to explaining our thoughts and what we're attempting to convey."

It's different because it is different. Honestly, I've been a prescriptivist for a long time; however, I have come to realize that this is a whole new medium. It ain't spoken exactly, but it ain't writing letters or books neither. There is a "voice" to be expressed for the benefit of others and we should try to keep that in mind. Proper (American) English certainly works, but it's not the only thing that works.

[latindancer]

<There is a "voice" to be expressed for the benefit of others and we should try to keep that in mind>

I do keep that in mind. I, personally, will gravitate and be excited to hear from one poster over another because of the way this person writes their post.
There is one poster, in particular, who writes about his love of wine. His posting reflects culture, wisdom and extreme knowledge about the wine(s). His posting also reflects tremendous knowledge in the usage of the language in which he writes. He's simply more credible in my eyes. I'm certainly no expert when it comes to wine. However, I'll read his posts just to enjoy his writing about it.

[GH1618]

When we write "color," etc. we are not being lazy, nor are we writing your language. We are writing American.

By the way, even British pub keepers are attached to their "pints," I have heard.

[Jay F]

When I see "colour" (or another "u" word), I pronounce it en Francais, which is what it looks like to me.

[sunshine842]

ah, but in French, it's spelled couleur, which is pronounced differently yet.

[Harters]

Yes. It is odd. Beer in pubs and milk are, I think, the only things we still measure in Imperial. Don't understand it myself - metric is so much easier.

[jiffypop]

Oh-so-many years ago, I learned to read from books that my aunt had brought home. She was an Air Force wife and had taught in Japan, Germany, and other countries. The books she gave me were British. In a few short months, I went from reading on a 1st grade level [at age 6] to 8th grade level at age 7. And I took the British spellings with me. So, my 2nd grade teacher had this kid who'd never been out of the country using 'colours' and writing 'labour' and so on.

She decided to skip me - so I never attended 3rd grade. But even though most of my British spellings are gone, I still 'rationalise' many things, and wear the color 'grey,' not 'gray.'

I'm almost [gulp] 60 years old. At this point, it's not going to change.

[KaimukiMan]

Funny you should bring up grey, it is one word that americans do spell both ways, although with a decided preponderance of the 'ay'.

[Riccardo]

How is it that Americans are "lazy" when they correctly use the U.S. spellings for color, honor, etc.? Are we also being lazy when we correctly refer to "aluminum" (which in the U.K. is an entirely different word, i.e., "aluminium").

Though English is your language, it's also mine, but with different spelling rules because I'm American.

[donovt]

Maybe because he was only joking?

[Harters]

On the "aluminium" question. Yes, absolutely lazy. Another letter missed out - surely it can't be that hard to put just one letter in? And, of course, you don't pronounce the word correctly - but that's almost another conversation.

[sunshine842]

Harters, my friend (and I mean that sincerely) -- I know you know that it's been a parallel language development...just as there are differences between French in France and in her former colonies (Canada, Haiti), and Spanish in Spain and her former colonies (Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America), just to name a few, there is a difference between English in England in her former colonies.

It isn't lazy or slack...or even better or worse...it's just different. It always sounds/looks "wrong" because it's not the way to which we are accustomed...but we have to just step back and remind ourselves that the ones doing it "wrong" are accustomed to something different, and that they think WE are doing it "wrong".

(I've gotten to the point I don't even notice "which" English something is written in -- but I do have to consciously go back and check myself to make sure that it's consistent through what I wrote. Sometimes I'm even successful.)

My ESL students unequivocally choose US spellings over UK spellings, because it's easier and more apparent to a non-native ear. That's not lazy, either -- that's "how can I make myself understood in a second language without making myself look like an illiterate fool."

[Harters]

Your observation about the ESL students is interesting. Increasingly these days when I see a translation into English by fellow Europeans, it uses American words and American spelling. I presume the same may well apply in those international companies where the language of business is English.

I would take the sincere view that the march of American cultural imperialism is unstoppable and that it will not be too long before the use of British English is just an old-fashioned anachronism - even in Britain. To my mind, it goes hand-in-hand with other Americanisations of our society. Whilst I may not think this is a "good thing", I do think it is inevitable - inperialism is a powerful and insidious force. Not for nothing, do you see references to the UK being the 51st state - not serious politics at present, of course. But it will be interesting to see how those thoughts develop if we decide to leave the European Union.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainme...

[sunshine842]

how are the current-century Americanisms any worse than the Britishisms of the last two centuries?

[sandylc]

Harters and Sunshine, I always find it interesting when my husband's counterparts in Europe use words, slang, and phrases in English that I only vaguely remember from my childhood. The English they have learned in non-English speaking countries is out-of-date. Sort of another twist in the evolving language tale.

[gaffk]

Well that's just silly. Everyone knows Canada is the 51st state.

[CanadaGirl]

Gasp!!!!!

[GH1618]

I don't agree. I think of Canada as our most important trading partner, and a solid ally when it matters.

[chowser]

"inperialism is a powerful and insidious force"

Tell us about it! That's why we're all speaking some form of English and some countries drive on the "wrong" side of the road.:-) British English, of course, is evolving, unless you're sill using "olde" and "ye" in your speech.

[Harters]

By the by, no-one ever said "olde" and "ye". Although, in medieval times, they were written when the French speakers in the nobility started to write in English, rather than Latin. This was the closest they could get to the sound of "old" and "the" which are not usual pronounciations in French. For example, the French would not usually pronounce the last letter of a word, so added one to "old". And "th" in French is a hard "t" as in Thierry.

[sunshine842]

but they were a part of *written* speech -- and much as we all think of a forum as being a conversation, it is still the written word.

We differentiate between your and you're and yore, for example, even though those words would be distinguishable only by context if this were an oral conversation.

[Harters]

Yes, that's what I mean. In speech, a person would have said "old" as we pronounce it now. But, in those times, it was written as "olde" as the way a French speaker could interpret it. Prior to this, English had only been a spoken language as written documents were generally in Latin.

[MGZ]

But, sunshine, why not consider the idea that "written" speech and "spoken" speech are merging as this new medium develops? Ultimately, this creates the most expressive form of communication. I am not a fan of "text speak", but I am also not such a curmudgeon that I don't accept that it is going to change the English language (and others, I assume).

My considerations, as noted, have led me to the conclusion that the future is going to be "posting" in a dialogue form. Emoticons are so Nineties - you know? Effective online "talk" is going to be best accomplished through a written articulation of the way each of us speaks. I think we need to put down the mental "red pen" and instead focus on developing our "voices".

Keep in mind that I have both written and edited for publications. When I graduated from law school, during a time when most of my contemporaries could not find work, I was recruited by multiple firms because they wanted me to write. Nevertheless, I am pretty certain that "written" speech, as we have learned it, will have a limited application soon. The world is always turning . . . .

[masha]

MGZ, this observation is spot on, even as it applies to the workplace, where email has largely supplanted the telephone. I have clients of long-standing from whom I might receive a 1 -sentence email to which I might reply with the one-word response "yup." Of course that is not how I would communicate with someone with whom I had a less comfortable relationship.

[MGZ]

I'm a "yep" guy myself.

[masha]

Yep is fine. Just so long as you are not a "+1."

[MGZ]

Would never "say" it, so I'll never post it.

[bcc]

"Ye" is simply an orthographic misapprehension of the word previously written "þe" with the letter thorn. Both the thorn and the eth (ð) were replaced with "th". In the late middle ages the thorn started to be written with top curve left open, and it was then misinterpreted as a "y".

[GH1618]

Only in the UK do people refer to it as the "51st state." Americans liken its status to that of Puerto Rico.

[sunshine842]

yeah, unless you get hung up on little things like voting, taxes, and immigration visas.

I don't know a single American who refers to England as the 51st state -- that would/will? be PR.

I don't see the US or the UK wanting to take on the governmental responsibilities of another country, nor of the UK or the US wanting to give up its sovereignty.

More closely allied? Maybe. Merger? Not. gonna. happen.

[GH1618]

It's not merely another letter, it's another syllable.

[John E.]

I used to make a whole grain porridge with many different grains and still have some spelt in the cupboard.

[lagatta]

Thats nothing, I was going to fry me some smelt and a friend said; "what a horrible name for such nice little fish".

True, but after I'd cooked them, the kitchen smelt for days.

[l0b0SKI]

Ha!

[grampart]

Enuff allreddie!!!

[MGZ]

gramp - Which horse is dead? The original Mare or all of the fillies and colts spawned therefrom? Personally, I think there is a substantial amount of relevant and useful thought being put into several of the subthreads.

[grampart]

If you say so.

[sunshine842]

you're not required to read any of it.

[afridgetoofar]

The discussion continues, I'm surprised, I truly expected the moderators to have shut this down by now. It speaks well of the participants for trying to reach some understanding of why this particular issue has drawn so much attention and response.

The OP opened with a seemingly vitriolic salvo. There was a negativity to the wording. It was a plea for others of like mind to validate the dislikes expressed, and struck nerves, obviously, and perhaps intentionally. It could have gone very badly.

Fortunately, people are sensible and have senses of humor and perspective. The ongoing discussion took the original question and enlarged upon it with some interesting, funny, and enlightening responses. Good for Chowhounds!

The danger I, and obviously others, see, in this sort of post, is the implicit discouragement. Not encouragement, discouragement: "If you can't spellcheck or your grammar isn't what I find acceptable you're not wanted here. I want people who write as I do to post here, not you. You are beneath my notice (and yet I notice you)."

Open forums like this are becoming rare, and discouraging anyone from sharing their wisdom, their wit, their experience, because they don't use spellcheck or are led to believe their input won't be valued, will be overlooked, is disheartening.

Everybody deserves to be heard. Anybody writing with good intentions and enthusiasm about a particular subject should be heard and encouraged. Not patronized, and being corrected doesn't have to be patronizing, but welcomed and enjoyed. If a person feels a poster should be ignored, ignore them, don't say you're ignoring them when obviously you've read what they have to say and have decided they should be denounced for how they said it, and asking others of like mind to also denounce them.

If a person doesn't feel welcome, they leave. Some less quietly than others.

[linguafood]

Word.

[KaimukiMan]

well put afridge

[sunshine842]

but if someone reads beyond the heading, they'll see that the overwhelming sentiment is "it's okay -- as long as we can figure out what you're talking about, we're probably not going to say much"

[John Francis]

Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch.

261 posts in about a day - is that a record? I won't comment on that as I was suckered in too. :-)

[HillJ]

not to worry, "What to eat with Cottage Cheese" is 500 comments strong.........food still rules the roost around here.

[KaimukiMan]

yes, and other long posts too, but its the rapidity in which this posting drew comments that is unusual in this posting. I think some of those cast iron threads run to 800, but they didn't get there in a day.

[HillJ]

The What to eat with CC OP has been around a long time. So you can be a firework topic or you can be a trinity flame that burns forever.

Either way, what we eat, where we CHOW is hopefully burning brighter than how we spell and talk about the talk.

[MGZ]

Hill, I agree that the subject matter and the basic information exchanged is the ultimate purpose. Nevertheless, I think that discussions withing the community about how we choose to exchange it and articulate it are relevant to the community's overall value. I think that the fact that I can use the words "shit" or "fuck", in proper context, is a value because it permits beneficial exchanges without undue censorship (I mean sometimes a place is just flat out "shitty".).

These types of "conversations", hopefully, allow 'hounds to consider how they post, which is just a bit less important than what they post. Moreover, if they consider the two together, it makes the entire Site more valuable and more engaging. I think that being an ass to someone because they have inferior knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation compared to one's own is a lousy thing to do. But, don't you think it's occasionally valid for us to opine on how we post what we post?

[HillJ]

Yes you have nailed the whole shebang, MGZ. I'm in no way saying discussion isn't worth having. No point to say that. However, as a member in the community my exercise remains understanding how a poster complaining about the behavior of fellow posters (even in a general sense) believes their pet peeve is any more valid than being offended by its observation. It's a circle of nitpicking.

I struggle with the nitpick. What can I say.

[MGZ]

I agree that nitpicking is distasteful, but sometimes, given how "organic" these threads can be, it can trigger some of the contributions we have seen here. I tried to approach and frame it that way and, clearly, so have many others. Consequently, the initial issue/question creates value beyond the intent of the OP and everyone can benefit - if they read the posts throughout. For example, in another context, see where the OP started and wound up, due to the discussion launched: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/890128

[HillJ]

The basis of discussion learning how to prepare a dish over the basis of discussion for human behavior...apples & oranges..or in this case...roasted chicken over sammies.

And, I appreciate your kindness MGZ.

[Harters]

Internet communities develop their own language and standards. It can be difficult for new members. I'm a longstanding member of a another board (not food related) - by its nature a number of members do not have English as their first language. Even more of an issue, certain issues crop up with regularity - with new members wanting to discuss them usually not realising they have been done to death many times in the board's 10+ years. The key is to understanding these issues and to be tolerant. I'm not a teacher but I suspect those who are recognise the difficulty they may have in trying to enthuse a new group of students every year with the same subject.

In similar vein, that board's platform bars the use of certain words turning them into *****. It can be annoying but there's usually a way round it. I recently tried to post to Trip Advisor and was unable to do so because I had used what they described as a profanity. The word was "ass" which may be something of a profanity to American speakers of English, but is not a profanity to English speakers of English. Particularly when this English speaker of English was using the word in the context of it being a donkey.

[MGZ]

As I noted, I appreciate how threads like this contribute to the overall approach that we may take to posting. I think that it would be fantastic if we were able to create an internal, non-moderated set of standards that we all felt comfortable being part of.* Sadly, these threads are basically the place of exchange for only a limited number of seasoned 'hounds who have a deep attachment to the Site. Ideally, there are others who lurk and learn. All we can really do is express our opinions and let the dialectic process permit others to find their balance point.

*Ended sentence with preposition!

[Chemicalkinetics]

First, let me apologize because I am very sure that I am one of these horrible spellers. I will do a better job in the near future. Second, this is a forum and a journal club, so people do not take the time to spell check. Third, "sammie" is not really a misspell.

[LindaWhit]

"I will do a better job in the near future."
~~~~~~

But in the far future, you're just not going to care and go back to misspelling? ;-)

[Chemicalkinetics]

<But in the far future, you're just not going to care and go back to misspelling? ;-)>

Not quiet. I am thinking more like the cell phone plan or cable plan. I will give you a very good deal in the first 3-6 months. I will get you hooked, and then I will charge you a high price for my spelling. :P

[LindaWhit]

I hate when you do that. I'm gonna have to threaten to drop my high end subscription service to your spelling in order to get you to give me a good deal. Hopefully you'll fall for it as well.

[Chemicalkinetics]

<I'm gonna have to threaten to drop my high end subscription service ...>

Heh heh heh. I have totally heard of this tactic against cable and phone companies, but I have never tried it. :)

[jiffypop]

Find something else to worry about. As a professional editor and writer [waiting for the communal dissection], I find it a waste of time and energy to comment or criticize other people's grammar and spelling. As long as it's understandable, I ignore other people's errors. As for my own, I type quickly and sometimes my laptop doesn't keep up.

However, I am also the moderator of an online forum related to a particular healthcare topic. Every once in a while, someone posts a nearly incomprehensible message - poor grammar, full of misspelled words. Each time this has happened, the post is also full of fear and concern. The writer deserves to share in the discussion and I would NEVER dream of correcting a single word. Being literate or intelligent confers greater responsibility, and less arrogance.

BTW, I've only just recently learned what a SAMMIE is.

[Lizard]

jiffypop,
You raise great points. Only earlier, I was trying explain the issue of stakes to other posters. Indeed, a near incomprehensible message to inform people why the poster paid x tip or felt slighted by y friend is simply too low stakes for me to follow up in either a correction (rarely if ever my MO) or query for clarification. A medical board? A different thing entirely. If someone is panicked and further marginalised by a deep absence of communications skills? I'd be more than happy to help. But is Chowhound really such a forum? One is a luxury, the other is a lifeline.

[Jay F]

I think I'll spell wrong and use bad grammar, then, since this is only Chowhound.

[Lizard]

I can see how you might have drawn this conclusion, but note my comversation earlier in which I explain why I'm not going to chase up an incomprehensible poster for further information.

I'm a big advocate of proper spelling and grammar. I believe these aid in communication and that the onus is on the writer, not the reader. I will skip over posts that are a garbled mishmash, and I will not pursue them. However, if someone were truly in crisis, I'd overlook it. Does that explain?

[HillJ]

When you tried explaining your position to me, I wasn't thinking of NAF discussions about tipping or poorly communicated food-related relationships. Although trying to understand a poster you are having a discussion with on any board is useful.

But what if someone is struggling with directions to a restaurant or poorly communicated a recipe. But, if you don't frequent Regional, General Topics or the Home Cooking boards, then....my question wouldn't apply to you.

Chasing up an incomprehensible poster isn't something I run across on CH though. If there is a minor error, usually a fellow poster or the individual themselves has corrected it in minutes.

[SWISSAIRE]

So is it spelled SAMMIE, or SAMMY ?

And according to what Ditctionary ?

( And who cares ? )

[Tripeler]

As far as I'm concerned, there was only one REAL Sammy.

[SWISSAIRE]

Spot on !

[TeRReT]

ugh, my friend's father in law's oyagi gag is さむい　Davis Junior when he feels cold. He always says it, over and over.

[sunshine842]

I'm sorry -- but I have no idea what this means, or why it's funny.

[Vidute]

I beg to disagree. This is the real Sammy!
edit:(nickname for the Samoyed breed)

[Tripeler]

My Sammy certainly pre-dates your Sammy.
Funny, when someone on a thread started calling them Sandies, this is the picture I posted in response.

[Vidute]

Koufax?

[Tripeler]

Yup.
By the way, who is your Sammy, the white dog?

[Vidute]

I'm in love with Samoyeds and am looking into adopting one. I found that photo while I was researching the breed. His "smiling" face always brightens my day.

[paulj]

Why is it ok to use cute nicknames for people and dog breeds, but not food items?

Sam -> Sammy
Samoyed -> Sammy
sandwich -X sammy
sandwich -? sandy

[Vidute]

Doesn't bother me; maybe the OP can reply?

[mucho gordo]

Now, that's my kind of Sammy.

[Vidute]

:D

[GH1618]

Some people are interested in language, though, and to those of us who are, there is a lot of interesting discussion in this thread. It seems to me that criticizing people who like to discuss grammar and spelling is pretty much the same as criticizing other people's grammar and spelling.

[HillJ]

Did this OP begin with an interest in language? I don't believe so. It began with an OP stating how appalling CH's spell and the words some use to describe a sandwich.

This thread started out on a fairly critical point. It's also good to know that just as many posters found the topic off point, humorous and silly.

Would the CH Team actually pass an OP that spoke only to how much CH's enjoy language?

[GH1618]

Spelling is an aspect of language usage. Whatever the intentions of the OP, the thread has attracted a lot of people who seem interested in questions of spelling, grammar, and usage, and there's nothing wrong with people discussing a subject in which they are interested among themselves.

[Gio]

Well, HillJ, you know how at CH one thing leads to another and pretty soon there are several discussions in the same thread but with different subjects other than the OP. Unintentional derailing I call it. It happens frequently on the Home Cooking board, for example. And thus we learn.

[HillJ]

I wasn't commenting on what CH's like to discuss or that we learn from these discussions. Those points are always clear.

Does the criticism of posters spelling and or word choices really matter generally speaking? Can't we take a minute to ask, what did you mean? Because if we are holding each other to how we spell and the words we use, how about being told your spelling is appalling? Should we be offended by the OP's lack of patience? Should they be taken to task? Should we hold their use of the word appalling to the inth degree? What a waste of time that is....and yet, here we do.

That's what I meant. I do not understand why this matters (that much) on this casual, food loving website.

My issue. I grant you that.

[LindaWhit]

"Well, HillJ, you know how at CH one thing leads to another and pretty soon there are several discussions in the same...."

SQUIRREL!

[linguafood]

Hahahahahahahaha.

[LindaWhit]

I love Dug the Dog, and when CH convos get sidetracked, he's always what I think of. :-D

[Jay F]

+1.

And you spelled "grammer" wrong on purpose, n'est-ce pas?

[GH1618]

That was a mistake. I've corrected it. Thank you.

[linguafood]

Whew. And another orthographical world crisis just barely avoided.

[l0b0SKI]

I apologize, I had a crap education and can not spell, or use punctuation and grammar correctly.

But I have to agree I hate the word 'sammies' almost a much as I hate the word "wrap".

[MplsM ary]

With 193 replies it seems evident that if we start talking about spelling or grammar we stop talking about food.

Misspelling doesn't get 2 me... but cht spk duz.

[lagatta]

You obviously don't attend your local St. Jerome's Day banquet, celebrating translators, editors and other paid sticklers.

[Sherri]

Ahhhhhh, I missed my calling, "paid sticklers" indeed. Do you suppose this could be another name for teachers? I used to teach at a professional culinary school and, believe me, this is home to the most creative spellers on earth! One young man, a brilliant chef, managed to misspell "cilantro" four times on the same menu.

I will admit to cringing when I see "your" instead of "you're" in "you're going to the store" or "I left it over their on the chair" etc. In fact, this was part of my lessons since I already know the downfalls of spelchek.

For those who do not value correct spelling, is this the impression you wish to leave with the recipient of your written word? It is a part of your persona to those of us who hold your menu/catering proposal/etc in hand. To those who do not care about correctness of the written word, I ask why you wish to limit your employment possibilities?

Edit: both my late husband and a son were/are dyslexic so I understand and appreciate the difficulties of creative spellers everywhere.

[HillJ]

Sherri, you're not going to get disagreement that in the workplace, on a resume, putting your professional cred out there that spelling matters but why place so much emphasis on spelling and personal word choices on a casual food forum like CH? Posters have already illustrated a dozen reasons why misspelled words happen and as for what words we might use to explain our thoughts--good grief we need to concern ourselves over that too? This is a hang out, a place to have fun, to RELAX and share our common love of food. Do we get paid to hang out here?

So, is it necessary to head into employment examples?! Heck half the people logging into CH have said they are working while enjoying the boards (myself included). Maybe multitasking just makes some of us poor spellers.

[Jay F]

Hil j riet howevr uwant. hu carz

[HillJ]

apparently plenty of folks...funny man ;0-)

[Jay F]

its wut u get 4 takin sum1 hu carz enuf 2 geddit rite 2 task.

[HillJ]

its wut u get 4 bothering. true dat.

[paulj]

How do we distinguish between 'you're' and 'your' in spoken English? Why do we need a spelling crutch?

[dave_c]

All this talk of sammies has me craving a po' boy piled high with deep fried shrimps and dressed with evoo. Yummo! It's too legit to quit. I feel like a winner of a chicken dinner. :-) lol OMG

[alliegator]

BTdubs, dont forget the Donkey Sauce! It's rightchis. WWGD? Wot would Guy do?

[KaimukiMan]

Dave

I admit, the first time i saw "evoo" i thought it was an foodstuff I had never heard of. But then i once spent 20 minutes looking for lemon zest in the spice section of the supermarket. DS or DF or DM, can't remember which D it was, had to spell it out for me.

Live and learn, live and learn.

[Baskerville]

Seeing a Chowhound lament "grizzle" on his or her steak is one that really gets me.

[grampart]

Really! One has to be upset to find bear hair on any dish!

[lagatta]

Or any greying hair, even of humans. Whether they are bare, getting their dicks in a row, is another matter all together.

[grampart]

Back in the days of typewriters, a local baseball coach sent out a letter to the fathers advising that the time was growing short to make final plans for the teams upcoming trip from Florida to upstate New York. It began, "The time has come for us to get our dicks in a row.....". I don't think anyone ever let him forget it.

[Gio]

hahahahaha......... poor guy.

[pinehurst]

Do I notice spelling errors? Sometimes, especially when they're humorous (as in one CH searching for a "bowel" vs. "bowl" from which to eat).

That said, in the realm of things that tick me off, CHers generally don't, except for the rare newbie that uses

ALL CAPS ALL THE TIME AND NO PUNCTUATION WITHIN THEIR GARGANTUAN PARAGRAPH.

:-)

[sunshine842]

I was trying to remember the details of that one-- and no, it never got corrected, and the OP continued to refer to it as a bowel throughout the entire conversation.

[alliegator]

My spelling skills are just fine, it's the typing part that messes me up :)

[sunshine842]

Evan win ewe yews a spill chucker, eat ease steel pausable two heave miss steaks, win awl worlds our spilled rite.

[beevod]

When I see a misspelling I go nukular.

[Harters]

Isn't that a rong spelling?

[alliegator]

I'm shore nukular is the rite way...
But look it up if it gits u angry.

[MplsM ary]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/634888

[blue room]

We all went to school to learn to read and write! Of course misspelling isn't immoral, but it's literally childish, isn't it?
Poor spelling is poor communication, and communicating is *all* we are doing here, right?
It seems extreme to be "appalled" by mistakes though -- to me it's just something I notice, like a smear on a surface or a loose hem.

[Motosport]

I worked as a proofreader for several years. Spelling and grammar errors leap out at me. It is a curse.
Then there are the there, their, they're offenders!!!

[Lizard]

http://www.someecards.com/usercards/v...

[mcf]

I've become one of those in my dotage... homophones have become a spelling issue for me, and I am mortified when I read and see them later on!

[sedimental]

mcf, I think you should try to not be so homophonic ...hehehe...

[mcf]

Oh, I tolerate them, even love them. I just have noticed how often I type the wrong one nowadays! ;-)

[KrumTx]

There are differences between there, their, and they're?

I don't know what your talking about :))

[sunshine842]

oh, just take a gander at these:

http://theoatmeal.com/tag/grammar

[Gio]

This one should be in the Chow mission statement...

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apostrophe

[Gio]

Usualy I oevrolok mis-spleled wrods sicne I hvae no tipnyg scllis wahtosver nad I msut rley on splelchek. Hoevwer, I dno't lkie teh ues of "taht" for "'tahn" or "wdnar" fro "wodner".

[blue room]

Gio! You mean all this time we should have been addressing you as "Igo" ?

[Gio]

I'm arfaid os...rue bloom.

[sedimental]

Wow, you have a bad case of Lizdexia.

[Chemicalkinetics]

This is some funny shi*ts. :)

[selfportrait93]

Love your reply, Gio.
By the way, I also fully understand everything.

[Gio]

The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid: Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

[KaimukiMan]

I'm so glad you found that Gio! I was thinking of it, but couldn't remember enough of it to Google it (ok, I had 3 margaritas with dinner, that didn't help.)

[Gio]

I read recently that the Cambridge conclusion may just be an urban myth after all. But, it certainly gives one pusae, deosn't it? (3 martinis have the very same effect...)

http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/so...

[KaimukiMan]

vrey much lkie magraritas, both cause extreme distress for spell check/auto correct, and the more you have the harder it is to read! An order of magnitude thing i think.

[Bkeats]

Well since its an "italian" salad usually found in Italian restaurants, I will henceforth call it "Cesare" salad. Sounds so much better. Che - ze - ray salad.

That will fcuk with everyone. Note the misspelling which actually isn't but is the name of a clothing chain so the mods should leave that untouched as a proper name.

[linguafood]

The mods have no problem with the word "fuck".

[sunshine842]

or any of the other 6 dirty words. :)

[linguafood]

What's a dirty word? :-9

[sunshine842]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbZhpf...

[linguafood]

Oh, I'm quite familiar with Carlin's skit. I just have the same problem with designating certain words as "dirty".

[sunshine842]

I agree, frankly, but the joke fit.

[linguafood]

Carlin's always a great fit. Shame he's gone.

[sunshine842]

I hadn't watched that whole bit in a long time -- I still laughed out loud.

[Harters]

FCUK - French Connection UK. Almost needless to say, the branding was almost certainly intentional. The joke's worn through nowadays and the company generally brand themselves simply as French Connection.

[Debbie from Valley Village]

No, they can't. Either Chowhounds can't spell or they are so used to having a spell check program to help them they don't recognize when the program is giving them incorrect information.

My husband (no youngster, I might add) consistently types the same words incorrectly over and over and over again. It drives me mad. However, it doesn't bother me with anyone else because I just assume they are trying to write as quickly as their mind is thinking and it doesn't always work out as it should. Just suck it up and move on!

[westsidegal]

i think, that, being a cheap drunk, and doing most of my posting after having had a couple of drinks,
my spelling is adequate for the task.

i write here the way i speak: run on sentences, parentheses instead of "real" punctuation, spelling substandard, but still, most of the time i get my point across.

[chowser]

Thanks for the laugh. I try to remind myself not to post after having a glass of wine but it's harder to convince myself not to post after a glass of wine. At that point, I think I'm perfectly coherent, just as I'm convinced I've become an awesome dancer. ;-)

[SWISSAIRE]

Some North American slang words appears to have different spelling.

A long-time American friend of my wife's was visiting us in the 2010 Summer, and enjoyed our French-oriented cooking and choice of restaurants, here and in Alsace. At one restaurant in Alsace, I noticed some sitting nearby listening in on our guest's animated conversation.

At one point she used the word " Yummy " which spawned a rather negative reaction with another diner sitting nearby.

Fiirst he feigned quiet shock by flickering his right eye-lid, similar to one of Benny Hill's skits. Then holding the table with both hands, he rolled his eyes up until the whites of his eyes were showing, swaying as though he was going to pass out, muttering " Yum-me " quietly, in a low voice.

Those at his table found it amusing, but my wife and I did not and gave him a long, negative stare. That ended it.

I told our friend about it later, and since we don't use it, asked her how to actually spell the word. I was told it could be spelled " Yummy, Yum-mi, and Yum-me . . . . depending where one is from, " which I found confusing. Where did it come from ? California, Mason-Dixon line, New York ? She did not really know.

So I will continue to use the US spellcheck online with CH.

[westsidegal]

i have to learn how to execute that reaction.
it expresses exactly how i feel about the word

[linguafood]

I don't get it. What does that have to do with spelling -- a word overheard in a conversation?

Huh?

[SWISSAIRE]

The point being made is how does one SPELL that exact American word correctly ?

It may be English, and used in place of " Delicious, " but the word is not used commonly outside of the United States.

[John E.]

Does the word have an offensive meaning in parts of Europe? Or is it just a general dislike of hearing a slang word used by an American?

[SWISSAIRE]

The word does not have an offensive meaning here that I am aware of.

I believe that your second observation was the actual intention of the other party. Sad, but true: It happens.

[jmcarthur8]

I had no idea that it was slang! I thought yummy was just a word. That's interesting!

[almond tree]

According to Merriam Webster, it's not slang and is spelled only one way -- yummy.
And the diner who made fun of the American woman -- not to mention his table companions -- was appallingly rude!

[GH1618]

According to the Oxford American Dictionary, it's "informal." That seems to me to be a better characterization than "slang."

[linguafood]

I believe it is spelled yummy. But I'm German, so what do I know.

[lagatta]

Oh yes it is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yummy_mummy

Not about food in that case, but definitely a connotation o luscious. Also found at Canadian websites.

[CanadaGirl]

It's very common in Canada.

[sunshine842]

oh, it's extremely common in England.

[boredough]

Just to add to this serious discussion :-) .....
A similar word is used in France - see:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/When_the_fo...

If you pronounce 'miam miam' as "meeYAHM meeYAHM", it almost sounds like "yum yum" .

[sunshine842]

and it's used *all* the time - there's even a restaurant of that name in a nearby town.

[Njchicaa]

Who cares? This is a place to share our experiences with food, not an online spelling bee.

[juliejulez]

This is my response as well.

And, for the record, I am an excellent speller. I still don't give a flying you-know-what if someone else can spell or not. This is an internet message board about food, not a job resume. I feel like people who do care about it are just trying to make themselves feel superior over others, and that attitude is never attractive.

[l0b0SKI]

Thank You. I can not spell or use grammar or punctuation correctly. I know I had a crap education.

But I still love to cook and eat good food.

[mcf]

I sure hope you are. These boards are supposed to be fun, and spelling ability is something some folks are born with and some aren't, like eye color.

Appalled is such an awful state to find oneself in.

I'm with you on the "sammies" thing, though. ;-)

[Bill Hunt]

Ah, the "sammies." Until another poster said that "sammies" was the correct spelling, I had thought that it was "sammys." Sheesh, what did I know?

Hunt

[BangorDin]

Everyone has the occasional typo, but there *is* a difference between "the man came in" and the "the men came in", and it could be important. "Pit the prunes" or "put the prunes" in the butter, oops, in the batter. I'd figure cooks especially would see the value in precision. 50 isn't 500.
Our thoughts are here to touch others in some way. I owe you some respect, I'll try to be as clear as possible, not sloppy.
I understand not quibbling over spelling, but I don't believe it isn't important!

[Chatsworth]

Spelling mistakes happen. What bothers me is the lack of punctuation in posts/texts/responses etc. Incidentally, yes it is etc, not ect :-)

Please use capital letters and fullstops (aka periods).

And please excuse any spelling mistakes in this post.

[Vidute]

What about punctuation? ;)

[Chatsworth]

That too!

[Vidute]

Well, since you requested that punctuation mistakes be excused, too, I won't take you to task. :)

[Bill Hunt]

No! Not punctuation too?

Oh, the shame of it all. The humanity!

Hunt

[FriedClamFanatic]

actually, I thought it was etc. with a period/full stop; not a comma

[alwayshungrygal]

etc. with a period is correct, as it is an abbreviation, not a pause (which a comma indicates).

[Bill Hunt]

One potential pitfall, could be if one is using a smartphone with "auto-correct," or "auto-complete." While I am not a great speller, and rely on various forms of SpellCheck, my Droid drives me crazy - crazy, I tell you! I cannot tell you the really odd spellings (and words - or part of words), that it adds in on its whim. Think that there might be thread on that already active?

Hunt

[Monch]

Careful of those auto-corrections, Hunt.

A very talented Chief Engineer, who has "Michigander" as his first language, sent a first-time client a detailed and heartfelt apology for a techinical oversight relative to some shipped product.

He apologized for any "incontinence" this oversight had caused.

He SHOULD have sent the email to me....because I almost peed my pants! I threatened to send the client a pallet of Depends, with my engineer friend's compliments.

[Bill Hunt]

Well, had I been the recipient of that apology, and at my age, I would have understood... [Grin]

Hunt

[KaimukiMan]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884465

[HillJ]

In the current Home Cooking thread on risotto I misspelled crab as crap...several x's. Returned the following day to a comment pointing it out and we had a good laugh about it.

Crap, crab, on a good day...it's excellent crab salad!

Learning to laugh about these issues will always be my preference. The nitpick really is a bore.

[gaffk]

I was an English major, so I usually spot the misspellings, poor punctuation and other sundry grammatical errors. However, I only point it out in these contexts . . . when the error creates a humorous (or humerus) result. Crab salad sounds wonderful, crap salad not so much.

[Bill Hunt]

<<crap salad not so much.>>

I see that you have had the misfortune to dine THERE too.

So sorry,

Hunt

[HillJ]

That's why we laughed. Better for digestion anyway.

[EM23]

Yes! If the correction is made in good humor, that is cool.
I am not bothered by spelling errors on message boards, nor am I interested in correcting someone publicly, but, as I learned a while back, there are some people who are just waiting to pounce. When I misspelled Chipotle on a thread last year a regular poster made a comment about how much it “annoyed” her when someone misspells Chipotle – poor her! I reckon people like that are crabs and live a pretty crappy life:)

[tracylee]

Years ago, on a different message board, we moderators had a good laugh about a recipe for Low Carb Crab Dip when we privately changed the bs to ps.

[ursy_ten]

It used to bother me more until I became the mother of a beautiful little soul who has a learning disability. She tries hard but she just doesn't have the brain wiring for it. Spell checkers help a lot, but some things slip through. It's MUCH more work for her to express herself in text than the average person, but the more she does it, the better she's getting.

She's also a sensitive girl, and a perfectionist, berates herself for making mistakes, and gets discouraged easily.

This perspective totally changed any kind of nitpicking tendencies I might have had. I'm just happy she's out there still having a go, despite occasionally being disparaged for it by the spelling / grammar police.

I want her to be in a world where she feels welcome to participate, whether her attempts at communication are perfect or not. She still deserves her voice and she deserves to have that voice valued every bit as much as someone with perfect spelling and grammar skills.

[hyacinthgirl]

Thank you for that. It's a good reminder that we're all coming to the internet from our own circumstances.

I occasionally feel a knee-jerk twinge when I see someone post one of my own spelling pet-peeves, but I also know that, personally, I'm usually on Chowhound on a quick coffee break and by the time I've read the comments and decided to post, I need to type quickly, and often fail to take the time to doublecheck the grammar and spelling of my own remarks. I'd hate to think that someone out there is taking a red pen to my statements. Then again, if I'm able to make one person feel superior, maybe that counts as my good deed for the day?

[GH1618]

Most misspellings are mere typos, and easily overlooked. But one that always annoys me is the frequent writing of "loose" when the writer means "lose." This happens far too often to be a careless mistake.

[Jay F]

I'm not usually inclined to say anything about someone else's spelling. As GH pointed out, everyone makes typos, so with a few exceptions, I dismiss most misspellings as typos (that headline with "avacado" did make me feel I had to sit on my hands, though, I must admit).

The only thing that really bothers me in reading online forums are paragraphs longer than four or five lines. My brain is simply unable to penetrate longer paragraphs. I read the first two lines, maybe the last, and I'm out.

[melpy]

Schools are teaching that a paragraph is anywhere from 3 sentences to 10 sentences. In college we were told 7-10 sentences.

[Jay F]

If we were taught anything about the length of a paragraph, it had more to do with expressing a complete thought than an number of sentences.

[sunshine842]

We were taught that a paragraph had to have at least 2 sentences (Chicago book of style, early 80s)

[TrishUntrapped]

Darn, now I have a compulsion to say my pet spelling peeve, mind you just as an educational tool to those who don't know any better:

prix fixe

Yes, it is pronounced Pree Ficks,

but it is spelled prix fixe

not pree fixe
nor pree fix
nor pre fix
nor prixe fixe
nor prix fix

[ricepad]

How 'bout "pricks fix?"

[TrishUntrapped]

That would be the "boudoir" spelling.

[pine time]

...or an ED drug.

[plasticanimal]

How about "fixed price"?

[Harters]

In the UK, we'd rarely use the French phrase but, more generally, "fixed price". Which is, perhaps, a bit odd, as France is only 22 miles away and we happily use the alternative French phrase for a fixed price menu of "table d'hote".

[iL Divo]

"I will not even mention my hate of sammies"
^^^you just did^^^

I misspell all the time in/on here.
nothing to do with spelling difficulty
everything to so with sausage fingers and
being really bad at proofing my posts.

also I know for me, for instance with texting, you tend to omit and only put the minimal letters/characters so the receiver will understand without writing it all out properly. now you can scold me on that sentence because I don't even know what I'm trying to say.......... "cn u cal me L8r, I wana tlk 2 u abt Mk&Jef" instead of can you call me later, I want to talk to you about Mike and Jeff.
I catch myself doing the easy way out often now, problem I agree.

[sunshine842]

my kids laugh at me because I spell out and punctuate text messages.

[Lizard]

I do as well. Although I don't have kids who laugh at me for doing so.

[Sooeygun]

Occasionally, I think of using a text-speak short form and after typing it, I laugh at myself, erase it and type it out in full. Most of the people I text with are the same. If I sent something full of text-speak, they would think someone had stolen my phone (or stolen my brain).

[pollymerase]

Ha! I laugh at my mom because she doesn't spell out her texts! I'm probably much older than your children though, so I never got into the whole text speak thing. I like to blame my mom's usage on her having to manage teenagers and other young adults at her job.

[John E.]

I think the spelling and writing on Chowhound is actually quite good when compared to other sites. I used to be a regular on a news site and the spelling, grammar, puncuation and word usage (or misuage) was appalling. Part of my real life involves writing and editing so I have learned to make the effort to write posts that contain as few errors as possible. I have occasionally noticed errors after the editing period has expired and have felt chagrined. Then I realize nobody here is playing the role of 'grammar/spelling cop'. The only time these kinds of erros bother me is when the person pointing them out consistently has erros in their own posts.

[gaffk]

I see what you did there . . . subtle.

[wincountrygirl]

no spell check

[Lizard]

Delucacheesemonger, you are most certainly not alone. Given that text is the way we must communicate here, it is a shame that more people do not take care. The occasional typo is one thing, but in some cases, it is really challenging to decipher the post. But as also noted, compared to some other sites, this place is impressive.

[sunshine842]

I'll +1 you on that point.

I'm a contributor on another board where there's usually one or two posts per day in which the spelling, grammar, and punctuation are so awful that you seriously wonder if the poster is even considered literate.

I just skip those and move on.

[HillJ]

Doesn't it seem simple enough to ask the poster what they meant if you don't understand what they wrote?

[Lizard]

Actually, the point is, why bother? I have enough on my plate these days without troubling myself over a post fails to communicate an idea. The onus is on the writer to reach the reader, not the other way, and most certainly not when the stakes are non-existent and there is no guarantee that the follow up will be any more comprehensible.

[linguafood]

Sorry, but you missed the word "that" here:

"I have enough on my plate these days without troubling myself over a post fails to communicate an idea."

Whenever someone starts criticizing other people's mistakes, they're bound to make mistakes as well (nobody's perfect, eh?), thereby just asking to be criticized themselves.

I mean, yeah -- we got your gist, but still.

Kind of a royal waste o'time, in my ever-so-humble opinion only, of course.

[Lizard]

Erm, when did I say I was responding to correct the odd typo? Moreover, I believe I wrote in an earlier post that I understood those. I'm certainly not fussed by them. So your decision to correct is not really making a point.

My grievance is with those posts that are incomprehensible. And yes, the threads are about give and take, but when someone starts out with something baffling and exhausting, why bother to follow up when I have a wide selection of posts to read and enjoy not to mention conversations I could follow up?

If the stakes are truly high, I will ask, but let's not kid ourselves. This is a food board. And if you think that I must consider this the most critical site of my life in order to continue posting, then I have no way of finishing this sentence with a thought that could possibly reach you. Or HillJ. I am sorry if my suggestion a follow up was not worth it offended you.

[HillJ]

Then I'm left a bit perplexed (I'm afraid I usually am) since I thought the whole point of participating in a community board was to communicate with one another. Give & take. But if at the end of it all the answer is why bother, then I'll just wonder why we bother responding to threads of this nature but can't take the few seconds required to show a little patience and understanding. When the nitpick is easier than the fix, I'm lost.

[jlhinwa]

Well said. I totally agree. (And this from someone who hates to send emails or texts with typo's and grammatical errors, even when in a hurry.)

[Lizard]

Patience and understanding is one thing; reading over a post multiple times in order to decipher its meaning is another.

[HillJ]

No offense taken, Lizard. To each their own.

[TrishUntrapped]

I was an English major in college, and choose not be appalled by spelling mistakes on this or any other "chat" board. If the content is coherent and well reasoned, I'm good with it.

On the other hand, If it's not a worthwhile point or comment, I don't care how well the poster differentiated between its and it's, or to, too, and two. No standing ovation here.

I make my fair share of mistakes because I type extremely fast. C'est la guerre.

[tracylee]

I find it amazing how many people have a dinning room, or refer to dinning in some other way. It isn't just here. It seems to be very common.

[eclecticsynergy]

Some have very noisy families... ;>

[sunshine842]

Say again? Couldn't hear you over......

XD

[afridgetoofar]

I've known some people whose dining room decor was quite loud.

[Harters]

I claim to be:

1) Not a very good speller

2) Not someone who spells all words as Americans might spell them, as I'm a Briton.

3) Not have very good keyboard skills.

On the other hand:

4) I try my best to convey the sense of my post with rambling on paragraph after paragraph

5) do not use textspeak

6) am quite a lovable sort of person - the sort you want to have hanging round a discussion board.

7) Have never used the word "sammies" in my life, although I do use the British equivalent of "butties". Kinda cute, eh?

[sunshine842]

Harters, I taught myself UK spelling when I was traveling frequently to the UK and working with a couple of very large UK corporations.

Then I moved to France and began the headlong-immersion system of learning a new language, in addition to the smatterings of German and Spanish I studied at university.

When I was a kid, I won the county spelling bee four years out of four.

These days, it's *probably* spelt/spelled correctly -- but it may or may not all be in the right language!

[afridgetoofar]

As a raw youth I spent some time in England. The first time I was asked, "Have a bacon buttie?", I was for a moment startled and a tiny bit offended.

[sunshine842]

but if someone asked me that right now, my very-quick response would be "yes, please! And a mug of strong tea....and some HP, please"

[afridgetoofar]

I asked SO, "DO I have a 'bacon buttie'?" I was reassured it was just fine (ah, youth), and when the meaning of the original question was translated from English to American I enjoyed the first of many bacon butties washed down with a good strong cuppa.

[sunshine842]

so you were oop north, then...!

[Harters]

Presumably. If it was "dahn sarf", it would have been a bacon sarnie.

Near to where I used to work, there was a little takeaway cafe named "Belly Busters Butties". Finest takeaway bacon butty you'd ever want - fatty, undercooked, slathered with "red sauce", pappy sliced white bread. Just perfect.

[sunshine842]

and way, way sarf, a bap. (same sandwich, same bread -- it was a buttie at the office of my colleagues in Warrington, and a bap at the other company in Chichester)

I really don't care what it is - -so long as it has good British bacon! (but I confess to having folded to the north because it's just not right without lashings of HP)

[Harters]

Ah. I can do a whole 20 minute set on British names for a bread roll. Where I am, in North Cheshire, it is a barm cake (usually shortened to just barm - as in "A bacon barm, please, with extra bacon and brown sauce" - see Belly Busters above).

If I go 15 miles north, it becomes a bap. And 15 miles east, its become a cob. The way you order your bacon sandwich defines if you're from round these parts, or an outsider from 15 miles away. Except, of course, when the filling is a burger, when the bread is always a bun. Oh, and a bread roil, that you might be served in a restaurant, is always a bread roll.

Language, eh. Doncha just lurve it.

[LindaWhit]

I totally agree with your #6, dear Harters. ;-)

[afridgetoofar]

As do I, Harters. Charm and wit impress me more than spellcheck software. :)
.

[blue room]

It's not the incorrectly spelled words that bother me -- it's the 2 unused hours of edit time that go by after the errors!!

[lisavf]

As words are my business, spelling and grammar errors bug me to no end. But since it's my personal pet peeve, I just ignore it because I know I am being overly critical, and in the long run it doesn't really matter. There is one poster who seems like a highly intelligent person who has a really annoying and grammatically terrible habit, so bad for me that I really dislike reading that person's posts even though they are often filled with good information. It hurts my head, it's that bad (to me). But I would never point it out, as much as I really, really want to some days.

Some misspellings which drive me crazy: seperate, ingrediant, sandwhich. But it's not just chowhounds. It's everywhere. I'm sure there are things I do which annoy others to the breaking point ;-)

[jmcarthur8]

There is one who writes really long posts, which are pretty interesting, but the tenses, dropped pronouns and odd grammar uses confound my brain. It's a very distinctive style of writing, though, so perhaps making oneself so easily identifiable sets one apart from the hoi polloi.

[paulj]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6582... :)

[jmcarthur8]

Wow. I never thought of it like that. But don't you think it sounds odd to say 'sets one apart from hoi polloi'?
That'll take some getting used to.

[masha]

Actually, I'm more troubled by the posters who have been persuaded by Madison Avenue to believe that "gift" is a verb, since this involves a level of deliberate choice. Not sure when the word "give" became obsolete.

At least the spelling errors are often excusable as inadvertent errors from typing and proofing on line, especially if one is using a tablet or phone, coupled with the frustrations of autocorrect. (My ipad invariably autocorrects my CH name to "Marsha" with an "r" every time I have to sign in, which I then have to manually correct back.)

[jen kalb]

"gift" as a verb is one of my pet hates I laughed at it at first and figured it was coming from non-native users and would not continue, but unfortunately the "gifters" seem to be getting the upper hand over the "givers" these days.

The spelling that bothers me is careless spelling on the foreign boards of place, restaurant and dish names, which reduces the effectiveness of search -and mistakes in the title line most spelling errors are a function of quick typing or typing on a phone etc, Im guilty too but thats distinguishable from not taking the trouble to get the important words spelled right

then there is "palette" used to mean "palate" which has overtaken "mesculin" and its brothers as my pet word usage mistake here

[linguafood]

Punctuation's not as important to you, then?

[ratgirlagogo]

I will offer one from my late (English teacher) mother - the use of "healthy" food rather than "healthful" food. Who cares if the food itself is in good health? Aren't we more concerned with the health-giving properties of the food?
I hasten to add that even though I think she was completely correct in a logical way, that particular ship has sailed. "Healthful food" is pretty awkward sounding even to me.

[Vidute]

Actually, I care if my food is in good health. I prefer that the meat and eggs that I eat come from animals that are healthy and not from animals that are riddled with disease.

[westsidegal]

they certainly aren't in good health at the time you eat them.

even the ones that were in good health at the time of slaughter may well not be healthful in terms of your consumption of them.

[mcf]

As long as they're in good health and humanely handled right up until they're processed, I'm good with that.

I'm not going to feel bad about having been born atop the food chain.

[ratgirlagogo]

Yes, this was my mother's point. A healthy vibrant oleander or poison ivy plant will not be a healthful addition to anyone's diet.
Whatever - I really do cringe at stuff like "eating healthy" or Top Chef challenges where they have to make "healthy" versions of "unhealthy" foods. But I can't think of another way of saying it that isn't stiff and unnatural-sounding.

[afridgetoofar]

Nutritious? That was my mom's yardstick, she never said healthy or healthful, but food must be "nutritious."

Pretty good word for a lady who wasn't edjumikated. She probably couldn't spell it. She was smart, wise, and kind, though, and cooked nutritious meals for her children. :)

[sunshine842]

nah, that one I'll stick with healthy -- because yes, it is important that the plants and animals were healthy before they landed on my plate, and that's one that is just too hard to swim upstream.

[paulj]

According to Google ngram, 'healthful' reached the peak of its popularity around 1860, and has declined since then. 'healthy' (in both uses) has always been more common.
http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?...

'healthy food' and 'healthful food' were equally common until the 1970s. Also healthful has been more common in American English than British English.

[Harters]

I cannot recall ever hearing "healthful food" in British English. The more I read this board, the more I realise just how many differences there are between my language and the American language. I suspect it may reach a time when it should be called "American" rather than English.

[sunshine842]

Ask Microsoft -- it's English(US) or English(UK)

The textbooks I use for my ESL classes also print variations, labeled American or British English, as applicable (yes, even though that spelling is used many places OTHER than Britain! The publishers are British, so they label it how they want...)

[linguafood]

Here's a question -- when did "invite" become a noun? A couple of years ago?

[paulj]

My 1982 dictionary designates the noun use as informal.

[linguafood]

I thought you *were* a dictionary, paulj '-9

[paulj]

from the 1982 American Heritage Dictionary:
"Usage: Gift (verb) has long history of use in the sense "to present as a gift, to endow." .. In current use, however, gift in this sense is sometimes regarded as affected and is unacceptable to a large majority of the Usage Panel."

If gift as a verb fell out of style, why can't it come back into use?

[jen kalb]

because there is a perfectly good transitive verb (give) that covers the situation and is distinguishable from the thing given. You can't gift a gift without sounding silly, but you can give a gift. I dont remember "gifting" as far back as the 80s in any sort of use in the US - although I think I saw it in Japanese or Indian english before American usage started.

[paulj]

India? Well, then Dickens must have used it that way. :)

[mwhitmore]

Agreed. And 'contact' is not a verb. Got that from a proto-Hound, Nero Wolfe.

[sunshine842]

Merriam-Webster seems to think it is: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contact (definition 2

)

And the OED cites its usage as a verb back to the 19th century:

http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/40022?r...

[MGZ]

Dictionaries have become almost completely descriptivist, acknowledging that English is a living language - and has been for centuries. Just because "gift" or "contact" were not verbs a decade or more ago, no longer means that they are not verbs today (or that "facebooking" won't be tomorrow). My guess would be that nearly every word on this list: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/word... began life as only a noun or a verb and prevailing usage simply changed and each is now both.

[GH1618]

Yes, but "gift" was used as a verb by P. G. Wodehouse much longer than a decade ago. Garner, no mere descriptivist, writes that "'gift' ... has acted as a verb since the 16th century."

[MGZ]

I wasn't trying to be time specific - just employ a rough, rhetorical example. I think we're saying the same fundamental thing.

[MplsM ary]

Gift as verb is not new... in the 60's Mom always wanted to know what Santa had gifted me with each Christmas.

I think aversion comes from advertisers and marketers overusing gift as a verb, especially for those not used to hearing it.

[sunshine842]

The Oxford English Dictionary cites usage of "contact" as a verb in the early 18th century. It's been used as a verb for about 180 years.

[LindaWhit]

Neither is "Facebooking" but that has come into play recently as a verb.

[melpy]

In Spanish "gift" and "give" are two separate verbs. Perhaps it has occurred due to language crossover. Like the pluralization of already pluralized Italian words.

[HillJ]

Since this ticks you off to the point of sharing it in an OP let me direct your gaze to the Avocado thread on HCooking which ran with the word spelled incorrectly in the comment area but was eventually corrected in the subject line and not one CH mentioned it within the thread.

You find this appalling? It's a sad day on CH when how we spell reaches epic pet peeve status.

As for hating on words (like sammie) that individuals use, what a waste of time...hate.

[Bob W]

Not nearly as much of a waste of time and not nearly as appalling as the "What's so great about [insert food like red velvet cake]?" threads.

Misspellings of restaurant and food names obviously have a practical impact on the utility of these boards.

[HillJ]

Where does the nitpicking end?

..it doesn't.

[KaimukiMan]

it's the "...what's so grate about..." threads that great on my nerves.

[kengk]

"As for hating on words (like sammie) that individuals use, what a waste of time...hate."

Waste? You must have overlooked the part about it keeping me warm at night.

[danna]

I, for one, very much enjoyed that turn of phrase and hope to remember to use it.

The OP should check out the mountain biking board I frequent. The your /you're situation is bleak.

[FriedClamFanatic]

Alas, after 16 years of studying English in school, HS, and college..i never took a typing course. So....I have to watch the keyboard while I type with 2 fingers, and a few..actually more than a few..typos creep in. Alas, sometimes my finger reaches for the "enter' button too rashly.
After I graduated magna cum laude from an Ivy League School and got my MBA from Wharton, I decided to go on and get a PhF in typonese

I learned a long time ago on the internet it's not how you say it, it's what you got to say.

[Lizard]

FriedClamFanatic, I think those things are not as separate as you believe. Style, grammar, and spelling aid in clear and effective communication of the idea.

[FriedClamFanatic]

OMG.........were you my sophomore HS English teacher? I remember those same words. And If you are......Gawd Bless you for having lived such a LONG and productive life!

[JerryMe]

Bwaa haa haa - It bugs the crap out of me and I'm reminded of a note left by Sam I Am in regards to spelling on this site. I agree!

[kengk]

Misspellings do not bother me. Cutesy slang gets on my nerves but I keep it to myself. The rage keeps me warm at night.

[MGZ]

Just remember, one man's "cutesy slang" is another man's attempt at incredibly subtle humor by employing colloquialisms based upon the sit'ation.

[linguafood]

Which is why I hate the often BUT not always useful autocorrect function on macs. Yes, I *intentionally* wrote "wah", not "way", or "faves" -- not "faces".

>Shaking fist in no particular direction<

[MGZ]

I'm no fan of autocorrect. In fact, it has driven me nuts. I have a both a Mac and a PC on my desk in the studio and I much prefer the PC, old as it is, for any "writing" I do.

I have undertaken, over the years, to try and express my voice in my posts. That means, employing a dialogue type writing style based upon what I hear in my own articulations. As one who, in his everyday speech, is equally as comfortable with ten dollar words as he is with ten cent mutterings, I suppose it may come across as odd and, perhaps, turn some off. Nevertheless, I have begun to realize that, as someone who does not employ emoticons, it seems to convey my basic thoughts and implications most effectively, for me, in this medium. (But, see, http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/890885 )

[linguafood]

I fecking hates it, dis auto"correct".

[kengk]

I recently got my first iMac and while the autocorrect is wonderful for "hard" words; I go back and read things I have typed and find many instances where I have used the completely wrong word. Never sure if it's my brain or the computer.

[MGZ]

The "MS Word" style "highligting" words without correcting them is much more useful, to my mind. One gets to see what's wrong without the machine making assumptions based upon likelihood. I think that that is how the Safari browser on my aged MacBook works.

[paulj]

Chrome underlines words it does not recognize. I'm so used to it that I don't think much about who or what is doing the correcting.

[westsidegal]

found the same thing.
sometimes the damn thing simply won't allow me to use the word i an trying to type.

[CanadaGirl]

I am angered by autocorrect on a regular basis. It refuses to accept my Canadian spellings as correct. One would think that after a couple of years of my keeping centre, flavour, and colour autocorrect would give up and accept my correct (for where I am) spelling. Grrrrrrrrrr!

[westsidegal]

so much for artificial intelligence

[sunshine842]

there was an entire thread here not too long ago about disastrous food-related autocorrects.

[lagatta]

Canada Girl, change it to UK English. Don't worry, it won't force you to write "tire" (the noun) as tyre. And mine has never forced me to write gaol instead of jail.

[GH1618]

In what context is autocorrect forced on the user? Is there really no way to disable it?

[CanadaGirl]

iPhone. As far as I know, it is permanent.

[GH1618]

Thanks. I wonder if I update my iPad software whether that will afflict me as well

[CanadaGirl]

Autocorrect has been there all along. I had a quick look at your profile and am assuming you're American. In that case, you won't be bothered by autocorrect's lack of Canadian spelling :)

[GH1618]

You're right. I have it and I disabled it.

[GH1618]

Will this do it for you?

http://www.seangw.com/wordpress/2010/...

[CanadaGirl]

I found the setting, but I changed the language to British English and it now has fewer problems. I actually like the predictive nature of autocorrect, I just wish it would accept my correct spellings. British English fixes some, but not all of my problems.

Thanks though :)

[goodhealthgourmet]

Autocorrect is easy to disable on an iPhone, I did it less than a week into owning my first one...
Settings > General > Keyboard > Auto-Correction (slide to "Off").

[Jay F]

How to disable autocorrect on iWhatever:

http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Autoco...

NB: I've never tried it. I don't have any iWhatevers.

[KaimukiMan]

do i detect a touch of Twain?

[MGZ]

Well, the thing is, my education and professional experiences make it impossible for me not to see errors. However, as I said, I'm starting to get to a point where I can look past 'em. At bottom, this Site is a place for conversation.

Additionally, I have long suggested to other 'hounds, when they get upset about posts they have read, to "try and read it in the my voice and not yours." Given all of these factors, I started to try and employ an approach that could, perhaps, imply dialogue to suggest tone and humor while maintaining the way I speak in "real life" or maybe hint as a character as the situation may warrant..

It seems to me that "how" we approach our communications here is more important than simple precision in our spelling or grammar.* I guess what I mean is "try". Try to think about what you're communicating. Try to reread/proofread whenever possible. Feel free to be clever when you like and assume that others will be savvy enough to understand. Feel free to be as opinionated as you want, but be aware of how you're expressing it. Things like that. . . .

*Precision in explaining details about a meal or how to roast a chicken, however, is essential.

[blue room]

The rags keep my worm at right...? or left?

Miss Spellings do note brother.

[Bob W]

You may hate "sammies," as do I, but at least sammies is the correct spelling of sammies. 8<D

[Delucacheesemonger]

Very cute !
Fortunately l was speaking of spelling not grammar or diction.
Since l learned that a good friend won the US Spelling Bee when she was a teenager, l am now very careful with my spelling.

[linguafood]

So.... where exactly does the space between cute and ! come in?

[almond tree]

Interesting that CHs have such a devil-may-care attitude toward spelling in English, the language of the site and presumably the native tongue of most of us posters. And yet there is an active thread with close to 300 posts correcting our French. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/658294
Oh la la! C'est incroyable!

[Mojave]

Trés bien!

[INDIANRIVERFL]

Since I use the computers at the office, they are primarily search engines and do not have an automatic spell check. I hate to admit how many times I have to go back after posting to edit spelling, grammar, and sentences that run on and on and on and.....

Yes, it does erk me a little. But I also allow for tiny pads and phones, trying to finish your post before the light changes, and too much rum with too late a night.

My biggest peeve has been the abbreviations. I just jot them down and Google them when I am finished. And I usually forget them the next time I come across them.

Note: Went back 5 times correcting this short missive. And I am relying on somebody pointing out the mistakes I missed. Enjoy.

[grampart]

You missed erk/irk. ; >)

[linguafood]

"irk" :-)

[afridgetoofar]

Should your first sentence be punctuated with a question mark, as it is a question? ;)

I foresee another locked thread. To answer your question, though, while I may, no, it doesn't appall me, or bother me. I don't correct spoken grammar, either. Maybe it's because I'm old and have had experiences far and wide with all kinds of people, but I've come to appreciate the great variety of spoken and written communication. I enjoy the sparkling intelligence and wit that is conveyed often without proper spelling or punctuation, with dangling participles and misplaced modifiers and pronoun errors, run-on sentences and all such that can be the result of, oh, English being a second language, or simply an enthusiastically carefree exchange. Dance like nobody's watching, and write with passion and enjoyment too, people will get the gist of it and they'll hopefully enjoy the moment with you. Nobody is typing posts here with the intent of being graded or published, so why break out the red pen? :)

[linguafood]

Yes, and nothing is less simpatico than someone who feels the need to correct other (grown-up) folks. The only motive one can presume behind such action is the need to feel superior. Surely, you don't?

Just a thing to keep in mind :-)

[afridgetoofar]

Um, this reply was to me, so I hope you don't think I was *correcting* the OP by pointing out the period vs. question mark punctuation. I was *teasing* the OP gently, is all, since that was the theme begun here. ;) I have a terrible tendency to run-on sentences, and am hardly a grammar maven; my mixed-metaphors drove my English teachers mad and I never have stopped using them, partly because it's fun to watch people wonder what on earth I could have actually meant. :D

[linguafood]

Yeah, I was too lazy to scroll up, which is what you hafta (SIC!!!! OMG!!!!!) do these days to reply to the OP.

Not intended as a dig at you, just a general observation '-)

[WNYamateur]

No, the motive is not necessarily a need to feel superior, just someone with more concern at the moment about the misuse (abuse?) of the language than the feelings of the author.

Like me.

I wonder if you'd be so understanding if you lived in Buffalo and had to hear "should have went" every day.

[almond tree]

When we all know it's supposed to be "should of went" ... :)

[MGZ]

Isn't it "shoulda went"?

[WNYamateur]

Actually, it's "Should of went".

[LindaWhit]

This is the written form of nails on a chalkboard for me.

[Jay F]

For me that is "loose" when they meant "lose."

[sandylc]

How about "diddent" for "didn't"?
Or was for were?
Or bring for take?

Those are some of my nightmares.

[Jay F]

I don't think I've ever seen "diddent," Sandy.

[sandylc]

I mixed in a verbal one. When we see it in print we will know the end in coming! (Oops, except for this time in print, ha.)

[paulj]

' the end in coming' -
'in'???

[chowser]

When people talk about "loose weight", I immediately think of post baby belly as in I want to lose my loose weight.

[Lizard]

...

[Lizard]

This speaks to me. Perhaps to you as well, Linda?

[LindaWhit]

I do have to say I'm glad I didn't go to a school where the teachers were able to paddle you, Lizard. :-) Unfortunately, using a Clue-By-Four on some people just doesn't work.

[sunshine842]

damn. Y'all mean it ain't shoulda gone?

[Jay F]

If you and I were cooking together, linguafood, and you were about to make a mistake in cooking -- chopping, timing, slicing, whatever -- wouldn't you want me to tell you? Well, as strange as it may seem to you, there are those of us who care as much about language as we do food.

That's right. It's about caring, not correcting.

Just a thing to keep in mind.

[chowser]

If someone were writing a dissertation, then I'd definitely point out errors. If someone were practicing English by writing directions to make a dish and had errors in preparation, I'd correct the English and not the cooking error, if it were just an exercise. In cooking with a friend, I wouldn't correct the grammar. Context is important. If we spent our time, as many have here, to correct others' errors, we'd never get to talking about the food. Few are completely error-free and even the corrections can be incorrect.

[sunshine842]

I tend to overlook spelling, unless it falls under one of these categories:

1) it's so grievously misspelled that it's difficult to figure out what they're actually talking about...

2) it's so badly misspelled that the poster has actually spelled a different word....

or

3) the misspelling is far enough off that it's affecting a search for the proper term (Google will infer a lot, but it has its limits)

Beyond that, if I can figure out the sense, I tend to let it go. Autocorrect plays some pretty silly games with things that very intelligent adults type, and we tend to all be multitasking when we're here, so attention tends to lapse, especially when there's not really any repercussions.

[ratgirlagogo]

I'm active on two other boards which both have a couple of prolific posters whose posts fall into category (1) most of the time. Even worse, the content of what they are saying is interesting and important, so not something the rest of us want to simply skip. Only one of these folks is not a native speaker of English - they are just horrifically careless typists who will reform temporarily when the incoherence elicits a storm of WTFs from the rest of us.

Nobody here is anywhere near that bad. I consider CH a remarkably literate board overall.

[afridgetoofar]

I see the OP has corrected the original punctuation error. Good for you! Here's your gold star. <licking gold star and sticking it to the monitor for you> :)

I had a friend in college who was an Eglish major, intending to embark upon a career of teaching English as a second language. She often said I was good practice for that, despite my having grown up in the U.S. and, well, being in college myself.

I can spell "sandwich", but always have that moment of doubt as to whether there should be a second h, after the w.

[eclecticsynergy]

You could use that extra h if complaining about what made your meal so darned gritty...

[mpjmph]

Just to confuse you, we have a sandwich restaurant here (Chapel Hill, NC) owned and operated by a guy named Hich. The place is called SandwHich.