Why I do it

[Spellmaster]

Let me explain why I post my corrections of grammatical/spelling errors. There are three types of mistake I correct: 1) Americanisms, ie program instead of programme. This is because a nation's language is central to its culture, and in Britain we are seeing our language rapidly being taken over by American English. People moan about losing our identity to Europe without realising that it is already being lost to the USA. I know that language evolves and changes, but wht we are currently witnessing is the wholesale abandonment of our language, which will be a terrible thing for our culture. It's about time some of you stopped slavishly following whatever the Americans do spelling-wise (and that's not anti-American, it's just that we're not American and should stop pretending we are). 2) Mis-placed apostrophes. The apostrophe is a valuable grammatical tool, but nearly every AB user seems to think it denotes a plural. It does NOT. c) Howlers. Someone this week spelt interrogate as interergate. This the type of mistake that can make someone appear illiterate when they are not, and can prove expensive in, say, a letter to a prospective employer. I know for a fact that employers like people who can spell correctly and not make such howlers, so to correct them might seem annoying but could prove to be helpful. Spelling is a bit like driving - no-one likes to be corrected over their mistakes, but better for those mistakes to be corrected than for you to look stupid in someone's eyes later on, when it might matter more. Finally, good spelling and grammar help people to be understood better and to communicate more effectively. What a pity that some of you, supposedly seekers of knowledge, don't seem to realise this.

[woofgang]

see people and places, why do you do it?

[AB Editor]

Note that I contributed to Einstein's question
question 30628
before seeing this post.

You make your point at length. It might help your cause to acknowledge that your view of "our language", "our identity" and "our culture" is just that - your view. Other views do exist. Also that your methods can and do irritate some people every bit as much as their bad spelling and appalling grammar irritates you! Surely you don't want that, do you?

[Spellmaster]

AB editor, the distinction between British English and American English is perfectly clear, as any good dictionary will make clear. It is not a matter of my interpretation as you imply. You might be perfectly happy to sit back and let us become the 51st state but I am not and I will do my damndest to prevent it happening.

[smorodina]

I disagree completely with these absurd attempts to freeze English. It's been tried before and failed. English is a changing medium and will continue to be so. The English of past generations does not suit many people's needs today. More to the point, if English is going to remain a global language its various forms need to standardize, and that does not mean to the ludicrous British version. The spelling of any language should give the reader a fighting chance of pronouncing it and English generally fails on this count. Many other languages have a much closer correlation between spelling and pronuncation ' French and German, I think, and certainly Russian. Webster made a brave attempt at reforming spelling in America, but he was not able to go nearly far enough. So we can start by embracing the changes brought over from the US and maybe one day get to grips with all the other absurdities epitomized by such impossible constructions as the 'ough' group. The English ARE generally lazy at learning other people's languages and seem to think it's a great sport to laugh at foreign speakers struggling with the spelling/pronunciation of English. Let's make life easier for everyone with a major spelling reform.

[3s_a_crowd]

Ok Spellmaster you've told us what you do. But why, why, why do you think that you should be doing this and why do you think that people want to be criticised by you. Do you walk down the street shouting at people with dirty shoes or those who are not wearing a tie?

[woodpam]

Surely, the purpose of language is to communicate, which requires the receiver of the message to understand it. Therefore perfect spelling and grammar are not essential in order to make good use of this site although I agree absolutely that there are circumstances where a higher standard is required.
When I first started using this site I saw many posts which were pleas for help with homework; some of them with dreadful spelling. In answering these, various respondents would use the misspelled word in the answer but spell it correctly, a gentle and helpful way of rectifying the problem.
I am confident that my spelling and grammar is reasonable average and I don't mind being directly corrected. However if I lacked confidence in this area and made a lot of mistakes I think a more subtle approach would be less hurtful.
It is a concern that some contributors may think that their input is not up to the required standard (or that the people who use it are rude) and not return to the site.

[woodpam]

Put your red pen away! I've spotted at least 2 mistakes in my answer....

[strozzi]

Spellmaster, I agree with your statements about what is wrong with peoples spelling and grammar but what I cannot understand is why you have chosen this site to conduct your crusade. Maybe I'm wrong in thinking that you have just singled out Answerbank and perhaps your campaign is carried on over the whole of the www. In my opinion what you are doing here is displeasing too many people.The site is about raising questions and posting answers. If the owners of the site wanted a spellcheck I'm sure that they could have provided such a facility. If you stopped what you are doing there would be none of these little squabbles as has been suggested to you on a number of occasions in the past. I'm big enough and old enough to be of the opinion that if we ignored you, you might go away. I do however think that unlikely because there will always be new site users who arrive here and are assaulted by your postings that in most instances have no relevance to the question that has been asked.

[chijiki]

I'm not from the UK originally and I'm always happy for someone to help me learn the spelling, grammar and punctuation of your language. I don't take offence when they do as I know that I have a lot to learn. This site has been very good for me as I've been able to learn and contribute. I do find it offensive though when amongst the answers to questions there is often a post about the language as if the site is being monitored for correctness of the language. I don't think that is required and I can understand why so many people dislike the practice. I have tried hard to make this posting correct and I hope that Spellmaster will not find the need to point out any errors to me. Spaseeba !

[Spellmaster]

Chijiki, without wanting to sound patronising, your English is excellent and I only wish native English speakers had your attitude. Smorodina raises an interesting point, but I do take a different view. I made it clear in my original posting that English is an evolving and changing language. However, what is currently happening is not a result of people's desire for standardisation, it is a result of the overpowering onslaught of American culture; I think it would be a shame if this were to continue, as it would remove much diversity and richness from our lives. In support, I would cite the fact that it is not just spelling that is rapidly changing in the UK, but pronunciation too. it is becoming commonplace to hear Americanisms such as 'a-dult' (ie emphasis on the 2nd syllable) instead of 'ad-ult', 'meet with' intead of simply 'meet', even 'fall' instead of 'autumn'. These are just a few examples. Frankly, English has succsseded in becoming a global language without being standardised completely, and I see no need for it to do so - what is wrong with diversity? I am sorry that others cannot see the destruction of English culture taking place around them, but I will continue to fight it regardless of what others, in their blindness, can not see.

[chijiki]

When we learn English at college in Russia we are allowed a maximum of five errors before failing an exam. Those errors could be spelling, grammar or punctuation. The standards are very high and I have since discovered much higher than in your English schools.

[Spellmaster]

That, chijiki, is because other countries value their language; in Britain, we have contempt for it, as most of the replies to me confirm. Thank you for your entries, I hope they make some of the British people who read them actually think for once.

[Squirrel]

Right, I think I can see what you're getting at; - it feels like the country is being taken over by American ideas? I admit that I, too, do occasionally flinch when I hear someone say things like: "We're watching a movie" or "Where are your shoes at?" or even that thing where the last word of every sentence becomes a question: "So I went down to the mall, and I bought some stuff, you know? Then I went back to Bob's place and we watched TV..." (OK, maybe not American in origin). I catch myself using American words sometimes; it's probably an unavoidable adjustment that will become more popular with time, though I doubt there will ever be a shortage of Spellmasters willing to maintain proper British English!

[Spellmaster]

Mall is a very good example, thank you Squirrel, as everyone nowadays pronounces it in the American way, ie maul (there, so much for people who say American words are pronounced as they are spelt!) instead of rhyming it with pal. Yet in monopoly, whoever heard of Paul Maul??

[smorodina]

Well I'm not going to agree with the spelling point and I certainly don't have contempt for the language. I'd be more concerned about the inability of a large chunk of the country to correctly conjugate verbs, especially 'to be' in the past tense (you was?) - and that's not an American import, it's home grown, or the bizzarre substitution of the phrase 'was like' for 'said'. Odd. chijiki - privet! I couldn't agree more that posts about incorrect language are inappropriate in questions on other topics - ���� ���� ��� �� ����� ��� �����������

[xyzzy@bok]

..mightier than the sw0rd moog. :-)

[chijiki]

Smorodina�����! � ���� ��� �����. ������� �� ������ ����������?
Please, enough is enough.

[Moog]

Now you're comment (witty as it was) looks foolish xyzzy

[melv]

Americanisms. I must admit I am totally anti Americanisms.The worst being "I aksed him..." AKSED him????? This may only occur in Jerry Springer, but Ive noticed the younger generation starting to use this terminology. Ridiculous. However, as anti-Americanisms as I am, it was with horror that I noticed that I have been spelling program the American way instead of programme. This may have something to do with my job, working in e-commerce, with computer progamming, however there is no excuse for this. Just goes to show that Spellmaster is right, Americanisms are slipping in without anyone realising...