Learn to Spell!

[Ursawraith]

Bad spelling isn't that much of an issue to me, To a point. There is a line which crosses over from bad speller to just plain ignorant. I wholly agree with this rant and I deny any request made with plz or pls period.

[Saleani]

You can't just MAKE UP words!!

Actually, Shakespeare did it all the time. He would verbify nouns, and nounify verbs. A long time ago, in an english class, we went through many of the words and phrases that he created. Did many of them stand the test of time? no. But if you lead someone down a primrose path, you can thank him for that phrase. I vaguely remember that the number of unique words he created was around 2000, but only about 100 are still in use.

So where are new words supposed to come from?

The english language is very much like a magpie. If any of them there foreigners leave a pretty word laying about, we're gonna snap it right up. Any language that prevents the addition of new words is a dead language. Humans make words to describe concepts that are important. To the ancient greeks, the word for drunk and the word for insane were the same: the distinction was not important to them at all. But those same ancient greeks had 8 words that get translated into the english word "love." Loving chocolate is not the same as sexual love, nor the love between a parent and child; and none of those is the word that is used in the new testament in the phrase "love thy neighbor..." My Oxford English Dictionary has something like 215,000 words in it. To get into the OED, a word has to be in common use for over 10 years. Lots of the words in the OED are obsolete and have not been used in a couple hundred years.

Why are word spellings inconsistant and irritating? Part of it has to do with swiping words from other languages (subpoena anyone?). Also part of it has to do with the way the written language was pretty much formalized in the 18th century. German spelling is consistant because 1 guy went around Germany and wrote down all the words being used and made the first dictionary. In England, there were 3 guys who went around doing the same, and they got together and, well, it came out more like 1 word from you, and one from you and around like that, so spelling is not consistant. And anyway, if you got in your wayback machine and went to the 16th or 17th century and tried to tell someone that there was one and only 1 way to spell a word, you would get laughed at. Other silly rules of grammar also came from that era. Why should we not split infinitives? Because one guy, in 1728, felt that latin was the perfect language, and you since could not split an infinitive (because an infinitive would be a single word) in latin, therefore it should be banned in english. Example: to go is an infinitive, to boldly go is a split infinitive; to go boldly would be the preferred construction if you get in an argument with an antisplitinfinitarian.

Do I get irritated when reading mispelled posts? yes, but I live with it. Do I get irritated by reading mispelled stuff in game? no. I type around 90-100 wpm (I am a programmer and I live and die by the keyboard) and I know when I am banging away in the game that transposed letters happen all the time. Since my pinkie is used for the caps key, and its a lot slower than the other fingers, when something is capitalized, so usually are the next 1-4 letters. Since I touchtype, frequently, I put my hands down off by one key (oops, off by one is a common programming error too), so that "stay back" becomes "dysu nsvl." whiskey tango foxtrot? Do you hunt and peck for the keys? Does your correspondant h&p? Please cut them some slack. I encountered one guy in the game who is in a wheelchair and is limited to 1 finger at a time, and that "finger" is a pointer strapped to his hand. Completing a trade with him takes about 2-4 minutes as he has to move the trackball with something like a pencil. Tie a pencil to the back of your hand and try typing some time.

One can sometimes tell who in the game is not a native speaker of english. It takes practice, but if you have studied other languages, you will start to pick out the sort of spelling and grammar errors that, say, a french person would make, or a japanese person. For example, someone who is a native speaker of slavic languages (say, russian) has a hard time with "the" and "a" because those do not exist in their native tongue. In japanese, "no" is placed at the end of the sentence to negate the sentence, a common error would be to place the "no" or "not" in a place that an english native speaker would not place it.

The last gal I dated was russian. We met in a japanese class (go figure). Usually, she asked me to proofread her essays. Her grasp of english is far better than the average american college student.

As for what kids learn and how they learn? I am not sure, but when I was in college the first time, students that were as little as 1 year younger than me had been brought up with some different theory of spelling/learning words and their spelling was a lot worse than mine. I don't remember learning to read and write, so I cannot tell you what method worked for me. I gave up whining about bad spelling about 20 years ago. If I hadn't, and the ulcers didn't kill me, the blood pressure would have killed me long ago. There are many different forms of learning disability that we are finally recognizing. 20-30 years ago we would not have cared, and just called them stupid (like my ex). You are not stupid. You are different. Some people can learn many languages very easily (like me), some cannot (like my sister). Some can listen to music and repeat it flawlessly (like my sister), some cannot (to which my ex would say to me "you white people really don't have any rhythm"). Some people can watch a dance performance one time (like my ex) and repeat it flawlessly, others fall over if they try to dance (stop looking at me like that). Some people are good with math, some people are not. Intelligence comes in many shapes. Perhaps knowing when to shut up is one, which I am not good at, so I better stop now.

[Chenier]

I think you have a very good point Ngreth.

While there is certainly phrases people use in game that annoy me, life is too short to get worked up about them.

***
Shakespeare was a hack. A great hack, but a hack. Shakespeare was to the Elizabethan era as Jerry Bruckheimer is to today; as sensational blockbuster entertainer out to make money.

Just a thought. I don't think he meant 12 meanings for every phrase he wrote. He was just a good writer.

[Cubwynn]

But those same ancient greeks had 8 words that get translated into the english word "love." Loving chocolate is not the same as sexual love, nor the love between a parent and child; and none of those is the word that is used in the new testament in the phrase "love thy neighbor..."

Much to our detriment... I wish we had more words for love. Too many uptight, close-minded people, and brainless infatuated children have ruined our word.

EDIT: and yes, Shakespeare was a hack. He was the Andrew Lloyd Webber of his day.

[Verdandi]

Rouge. *scowls at you, ready to attack*

Doesn't bother me that much when people have misspellings in conversations. Spelling comes naturally to me but not so much to everyone else. I don't expect those who find it harder to sit there stewing over each word to make sure they get it right. I'm a rotten public speaker but I doubt audiences (when I have them) really want to wait while I carefully speak each word and choose the next.

When people who aren't native speakers can still get their point across to me in writing, well, they're doing better than I could in any language other than my native one, so I'm not going to complain. But rouge just...just...gets under my SKIN. Rouge definitely doesn't carry a dagger.

If I'm feeling grumpy, when someone asks for something with "plz" I tell them to spit out the bixie and speak clearly. That usually confuses them long enough for me to make my getaway.

[Tinile]

When someone types "plz" or "pls" they usually have them same feeling behind someone typing please. Now, I am usually a person that types out full words, and I feel grateful when I get plz/s. I get bugged all the time from people that don't even try to say plz, not even a P.

In this typing world in which we live, we try to create shorthand for many common words. LOL and ROFL are very widely accepted. No one ever complains that people are using abbreviations for those. There is no difference with Plz. It's an abbreviation. It's not worth sweating over.

[Nhin Impious]

No one ever complains that people are using abbreviations for those {LOL and ROFL}.

Lilosh will be along directly, I'm sure. (He highly objects.)

I've had instances where I've asked people to rephrase or re-say something because I simply could NOT understand their terrible spelling, abbreviation, or combination thereof, and I've been treated like an idiot for having to say I don't have the innate ability to "read anything as long as the first and last letters are correct." I have visual impairments so that if you tell me "send it to my email address il01steve@something.com" I'll repeat back to you "that is i as in ice, L as in Lima, zero, one, S T E V E?" Otherwise I'm likely to read it as ii0lsteve or... who knows what. Thanks be to Innoruuk for letting us set our fonts to something with serifs, so I can SEE my ones and l's and capital I's. Combine MY visual impairment with YOUR inability to spell and we have a problem. Combine YOUR inability to spell with someone who isn't a native English speaker, or who is Deaf, and once again we have a problem.

Never has a misspelling got anyone killed.

Beg to differ. Sure, "most people" can pick out words even if they're misspelled; but then, "most people" can spell, too. If it's not fair for me to expect you the minority bad speller to accede to the majority, then it's not fair for you to expect EVERYONE out there to be able to read your writing with "just a little effort." There will be times when people can't read what you're saying, and it won't be because you're stupid, or they're lazy.

If you want people to make allowances for your differences, then you have to understand that not everyone has the ability to make every allowance. Don't treat me like I'm hateful because I say your writing is hard to read, and inquire as to whether it's an innate disability on your part or what the issue is, so that the two of us can determine who needs to do what, and we can talk.

However sympathetic I may be to someone's plight, in the end it doesn't matter WHY they're a bad speller, if it hits a certain point I simply can't figure out what they're saying. Mix that with the attitude that "if you won't try to understand me you're mean, and rude, and evil" and you know what?

I'll just do what I should have done at the beginning of this post. Walk away.

Nhinx Aph-si-on

[Dunthor Warsmith]

When someone types "plz" or "pls" they usually have them same feeling behind someone typing please. Now, I am usually a person that types out full words, and I feel grateful when I get plz/s. I get bugged all the time from people that don't even try to say plz, not even a P.

In this typing world in which we live, we try to create shorthand for many common words. LOL and ROFL are very widely accepted. No one ever complains that people are using abbreviations for those. There is no difference with Plz. It's an abbreviation. It's not worth sweating over.

heh ... took me about a year to not be riled every time I saw "lol", and "rofl" can still annoy the heck out of me at times. Do I complaint to someone's face about those in particular? No. But it can and does change my attitude toward people.

If someone starts talking to you (I mean face to face) with "Hello","Hey","Wazup?", or "How are you doing?", each sets a different tone for the conversation, and your views on the other person. I'm not saying any is better than any other, I'm just saying they're all different. Some people are infurated by some forms of spoken communication, and some people cannot understand some forms of the spoken English language. Its no different with typing.

Your word choice, and how you present those words, is one of the windows that person has into your presented personality. It seems natural (to me at least) that the forms of communication you chose to use would be something you will be judged by, by everyone you interact with.

Very few people speak perfect English; very few people type perfect English. We each choose, somewhat consciously somewhat unconsciously, how we personally are going to butcher the language, and that choice influences how others see us.

I can usually understand what people are trying to say when typing, although there are times when I run into someone's language that I just cannot parse. To me, "plz" is very, very different from "please". {"you","u"}, {"2","two","too","to"}, and many others are each different to me. I do react to them differently - the specifics depend on context and the situation - and I personally see nothing wrong with that. You choose your form of expression, I choose my interpretation of that expression.

[Lilosh]

Aye, when people respond with nothing other than LOL, it burns me.


I mean, people LOL after really innane stuff, so it's no compliment.

When you sit there and read "I have to go to my grandmothers funeral LOL, be back later", you'll see what I mean.


LOL has become way overused, and people use it as filler in conversation. It's the equivelant of Umm or Uhh in public speak. It's dead air, and empty language.


"Incoming orc lol"

-Lilosh

[Draggar]

In my above rant, my biggest complaint is a macro that hasn't been spell checked! If you have the words "Incomming!" in your macro, it is just incorrect, fix it. I have told many people it is spelled incorrectly and they just don't care! I do not honestly wish anyone to leave the game, and I applaud anyone who is attempting to learn a new language, because God knows I would have a terrible time playing EQ in Arabic, I just do not speak it that well.

Sounds like those kids in elementary school who think it's cool to be out of the spelling bee..

"OK, Johnny, spell CAT"

"Heh, K-A-T, ALRIGHT! I'm OUT! he he he (I know there are two T's, shhh!). Heh heh heh."

Come spend a day with me as a cel phone tech, you'll be cringing by the end of the second hour.

"Can I axe you a question?"
"My phone cuts in and out (ok, how does it cut in?)"
"Cut my service back on"
"I brung-ed in my phone..."
"My phone is broke, it's been dropped calls"

Need I continue?

(And no, these aren't the Spanish speaking people either, they at least try).

I know, I got 360 verbal on my SAT's, my reading / writing skills aren't the best (but they have gotten better since I found out I like to read), but come on! This is just plain ignorance!

"Can (or better yet, may) I ASK you a question?"
"My phone cuts out"
"Turn my service back on"
"I brought my phone in..."
"My phone is broken, it's been dropping calls" or "It drops calls"

[Draggar]

Aye, when people respond with nothing other than LOL, it burns me.


I mean, people LOL after really innane stuff, so it's no compliment.

When you sit there and read "I have to go to my grandmothers funeral LOL, be back later", you'll see what I mean.


LOL has become way overused, and people use it as filler in conversation. It's the equivelant of Umm or Uhh in public speak. It's dead air, and empty language.


"Incoming orc lol"

-Lilosh

Try IM'ing with my 17 year old sister in law. I think she uses LOL more than all the other words combined.

"LOL Hey Yo! LOL! Whazzap LOL!"



Thank god I find myself in mostly mature groups where LOL isn't the main word.

Also, being in character, this is giving me good fuel to bug Lickity in game.

/tell Lickity Dood! Coold U plz buff me's? Tank U!

[Draggar]

You use the words that are already there but have been bastardized or forgotten. We really don't need that many new words.

Isn't that what they do now anyway? We use Latin words to make new words most of the time, or we name them after someone.

[Draggar]

Rouge.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So-and-so says out of character Level 45 rouge LFG!

Draggar says out of character We have level 45 makeup now? Cool!

(From webster's.com)

Rouge -

rouge ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rzh)
n.
A red or pink cosmetic for coloring the cheeks or lips.
A reddish powder, chiefly ferric oxide, used to polish metals or glass.

v. rouged, roug·ing, roug·es
v. tr.
To put rouge onto: rouged her cheeks.
To color or prettify as if with a facial cosmetic: “Their job is to rouge up the war... to turn the horror into cheering press releases” (Richard Corliss).

v. intr.
To use rouge.

rogue:

rogue ( P ) Pronunciation Key (rg)
n.
An unprincipled, deceitful, and unreliable person; a scoundrel or rascal.
One who is playfully mischievous; a scamp.
A wandering beggar; a vagrant.
A vicious and solitary animal, especially an elephant that has separated itself from its herd.
An organism, especially a plant, that shows an undesirable variation from a standard.

adj.
Vicious and solitary. Used of an animal, especially an elephant.
Large, destructive, and anomalous or unpredictable: a rogue wave; a rogue tornado.
Operating outside normal or desirable controls: “How could a single rogue trader bring down an otherwise profitable and well-regarded institution?” (Saul Hansell).

v. rogued, rogu·ing, rogues
v. tr.
To defraud.
To remove (diseased or abnormal specimens) from a group of plants of the same variety.

v. intr.
To remove diseased or abnormal plants.

Thank you, move along.

Although , there are many shortcuts that we all use.

TY, TYVM, PST, WTT, WTB, WTS, PLS (I will NEVER use PLZ) in a real time game, it's that, real time, and the time it takes to say 'Thank you' you could be dead. (But I do make sure to thank people for each buff, even /ooc for MGB's.

[Ngreth Thergn]

I do NOT mind being corrected, becasue I know I have a spelling issue.

I do not mind being asked to clarify, because I know I have a spelling issue.

It is just when people imply or say I am unintelligent that I mind

[Lothay]

So where are new words supposed to come from?

Mommy-word and Daddy-word loved each other very much... *giggle*

Actually one can make a verb out of another word. It just often sounds silly, and should be avoided.

More commonly one makes nouns, adjectives or adverbs from a verb. (The technical term for this is a gerrund. While I'm sure there is a term for turning a noun into a verb, my sleep-deprived brain refuses to dredge it up.)

And while playing, I'm the single worst typist I know. I'm not a very good typist under the best of circumstances, and under time pressure my spelling becomes attrocious.