Spelling mistakes

[BrookeBond]

Has anyone noticed the amount of teenagers, and even adults, who cannot spell simple words. Does this worry anyone else or am I being picky? Surely schools are failing?

[annie0000]

Sorry - didn't mean to submit without: ;0).

Easily done even when you are trying your best!

[jake-the-peg]

Sorry Annie forgot the smiley that time! ;c)

"A sad reflection." Raggy?

Was there a verb in that sentence?

[Gromit]

The problem of bad spelling hasn't really got any worse, it is just that it is easier for people to publish themselves these days. In the past, anything that went out to a mass readership was filtered through an editor. Their job was to correct misspelt words. Now anyone can inflict their writing to a wider public (complete with spelling mistakes).

F..Scott Fitzgerald was a notoriously bad speller and Shakespeare spelled his name five different ways.

[4candles]

Our local Co-op has had a refurbishment, with large signs above the aisles indicating the various categories of goods on the shelves. I noticed this afternoon that the sweets, chocolates etc are below the sign saying CONFECTIONARY ;>o

[kempie]

"A sad reflection." - a perfectly acceptable elliptical clause.

[raysparx1]

It isn't just a recent happening is it, take a look here.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Spelling Mistakes/MistakesFamous.htm

[whiskeysheri]

I have to control myself when I visit my 15 year old brother's Myspace page, as his friends don't even appear to be able to spell their own names correctly! He's only just started to use capital letters at the beginning of his sentences since I threatened to beat him over the head with a dictionary.

The one that really gets to me (and makes my blood boil) is "da" instead of "the." Why, why, why?!

[weggiewabbit]

�Dere is lots a bones in da horse�

<img src="http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/3597/bunnyu t2.jpg" alt="">

[weggiewabbit]

Ignore da link!

[stagnalis]

I've now seen people writing in "text speak" on school work
example - cnt instead of can't ...
nor instead of no...

although i'm really bad at spelling it's stupid to write like this
I've seen some people even write there letters the wrong way round!
it's not that they don't know it's the wrong way , they do it because you can get them on messenger and think they look "cool" ..

[crisgal]

oh dear, stagnalis,

"there letters"?

[shylock73]

Precisely jake the peg , not priceisely, watch your spelling

[shanx]

GUILTY ME LORD , must admit i do text a lot and my grammer is getting worse , but i do like to know what everyone is up to because i am nosey , so i hold my hands up

[sophie_1003]

Regarding a spellchecker on here, if you use Mozilla Firefox as your internet browser instead of internet explorer (which comes ready loaded on WIndows) it underlines incorrect spellings in red, not sure if it corrects grammer though. I don't mind too much if I see incorrect spellings on websites like this but when they're on company posters etc they really annoy me.

[Bathsheba]

Or even grammar, possibly?

[sophie_1003]

aww sorry!! Really shouldn't post on spelling threads they're always the place where my own (self professed) amazing ability to spell any word fails me!

[derekpara]

Even people who consider themselves to be good at spelling have a group of words about which they are unsure, and have to check, so no-one is perfect.

The standard of spelling in schools is, in my experience, very poor; but that also goes for geography, history, science etc. Why ? Because the curriculum is too broad, and cluttered with things like ' Citizenship' and PHSE. But the main reason for poor spelling ,in my opinion , is that most children no longer read for pleasure, as they did when I was a child. We learned to recognise words and. of course, recognise how they are spelt. A good reader is a good speller.

[LeMarchand]

My current personal bugbear is the misuse of "less". I've seen a big sign in BP garages claiming their fuel creates "less emissions" and a (VW?) radio advertisement claims using their van means "less trips". Maybe I'm wrong, but I was always taught that in such instances it should be "fewer".

I blame the culture of not wanting to upset children by daring to point out their mistakes.

P.S. Capitalisation is important too. Consider the ramifications in this sentence: I helped my Uncle Jack off a horse.

[Bathsheba]

Excellent LeMarchand! Good title for Lynne Truss's new book! (am worried about that apostrophe now- was the last S necessary?)