Spelling and the internet?

[khanjar]

Has anyone noticed their spelling has taken a bit of a nose dive since they started using the internet ? I mean, hey, I am English, I have always used the English language and at one time I was very good at spelling, I had the mind for it, but since the internet, I have found American spelling colliding with English spelling and as most software is American, I am aware I am being re educated to spell in an American fashion.

Which is fine really as language has always evolved, but what is irritating is where now I don't know how to spell something where in the past I did, as is apparent when the browser shoves little red lines under words to indicate there is a spelling error. Even searching the word online to check the spelling often comes up with different versions.

Anyone else finding this ?

But if your spelling has taken a turn for the worst, how's your hand writing these days ?

 

[Safran]

Not directly related to the topic, but I can recall a youth training I did in 2005 and one of the participants protested that she can not think without a computer

However, as I am not a native speaker of English, those red lines often help me a lot. Or, when they appear under "tumour", "colour" etc. it makes me happy -it means I haven't completely converted to the common language of Europe - bad English :lol:

 

[khanjar]

I must admit although I try, my re education in my vocabulary is a mix of American and the true and proper English language, the internet I accredit for that.

I still type colour instead of color, because it is the language usage that I was brought up with, but there are words I know that have become more American than they are English, particularly the more difficult words with silent letters in their construction.

But the English language is in fact a European mainland language because it is made up of much of Europe, mostly German, Frog, Scandinavian and what is left of the original British language which might also include a bit of Roman Italian, thus indicating which counties conquered our isles and added their bit of language.

 

[Mosaic]

Maybe being a lot older than many of you here at least, I don't have a problem I continue to use the the spelling I was taught many, many moons ago & ignore the redlines that appear - education habits die hard & I am probably very set in my ways. I have my computer set to NZ spelling which is the same as UK for word docs & email, but just run with the ignore on the web.
~Mosaic

 

[nightdancer]

It's also just a matter of changing the dictionary settings and also if there is a word like "recognize"/"recognise", that you can just right click and add it to the dictionary.

What drives me insane isn't the location differences, it's the shorthand's effect on spelling. Wen kidz spel lik dis, i want2 stab mi 3iz out (When kids spell like this, I want to stab my eyes out.)

 

[Zorba]

I'm of several minds on this topic:

1) Text speak drives me batty. So does the sTupId BouNcInG caPitAliZaTioN thing that makes no sense to me whatsoever.

2) Bad grammar, bad spelling, bad punctuation, etc, etc, abound on the 'Net. Mixing up two/to/too, or break/brake or my favorite peeve: lose/loose. The latter aren't even the same pronunciation, much less the same word!

3) With all that said, the English language needs some spelling and punctuation reform. I tend to use what is generally called "Logical Punctuation". Note position of period in the previous sentence. We need another Webster to clean up the spelling some more. Let's at least get rid of the "GHT": Nite, Lite, Frite, Site (both meanings now), etc.

4) For Goddess's sake, why can't EVERYONE use a browser with spell check?

5) Now I'm seeing the same types of mistakes and sloppy habits in mainstream print publications!

6) Because of my Greek language training, I want to get rid of the letter "C"! Its useless.

 

[jjj]

I love my spell checker.

 

[Taslin]

Ah, not so much my spelling as my not caring about typos and grammatical errors. I just dont care about punctuation and grammar on the interwebz...not too many people have complained. I still get my point across.

 

[Daimona]

My spelling have has unfortunately gone from British english to American english during the last decade (I wish I could find a way to turn off the American english dictionary on my computer, as it would make it easier to keep to British english which was what taught in school). At least I hope I don't mix the two in the same documents or posts.

As a non-native english speaking/writing person, I have to be conscious about grammar and spelling when I write or speak to ensure that I will be understood by my audience. I must admit that I smile a bit inside when I am able to correct native-speakers' spelling and/or grammar, as it is a proof that I haven't forgotten everything. I am aware that some may be dyslexic and that not everybody cares, so I don't speak up about it unless it is really bad and I don't understand what is being said (and that being said, I would love to be corrected myself).

 

[Darshiva]

Daim, in light of what you just requested, you should have used 'has' (past tense) instead of 'have' (present tense) in your first sentence.

Now for my pet peeve - my laptop. I have no idea whose idea the magically relocating cursor was, but they must be put to death at the first opportunity. I have to rewrite approximately 60% of what I type due to my cursor suddenly disappearing from the end of the word I am writing and suddenly appearing halfway through a word two sentences to two paragraphs ago. Sometimes it likes to relocate (it just now skipped 2 paragraphs to the middle of 'using' which I just edited out. ) to the 'send' button & wait for me to hit the enter key. An infuriating 'feature' on an otherwise fantastic laptop.

 

[gisela]

Daim, in light of what you just requested, you should have used 'has' (past tense) instead of 'have' (present tense) in your first sentence.

Isn't it actually because " my spelling" can be replaced with "it", and "it has" is correct, but not "it have"?

Reading danish online is awful, really awful. The language is so full of letters that are said in a different way or resembles other letters so people with no training to write just don't spell very well. For me it is really horrible. As I am a foreigner here, with a similar but still different mother tongue, I go out of my way to learn danish properly. Therefore it makes me so annoyed with all the bad spelling going on. I am a visual learner and the more I see a word misspelled, the more confused I get.

The internet has given people who wouldn't otherwise be "published" a place to write publicly. That is both good and bad, as I indeed know that people can be brilliant even if they don't spell well.

Myself, I write way more than I used to. I never liked to write, but I was pretty good when I did. Through this forum and Bhuz, my english is kept active, which is wonderful. Spelling is kind of the same as before. My punctuation is as awful as it ever was :lol:

 

[Darshiva]

Strictly speaking, you're accurate but not correct. The 'replace word with' is a device used to remind you what to do in certain situations, but since she was speaking in the past tense, she needs to use the past tense version of the word.

English is a pain.

 

[gisela]

But... (sorry I am not being a pest. I just like to discuss language and make sure I understand why )

If she would have said " I have gone from using british english to american english" that would still be past tense. My point is "has gone" and "have gone" is the same tense, it just depends on who have/has gone.

 

[Darshiva]

Good point. Like I said, english is a pain.

 

[Zorba]

Darshiva - see if there's a way to turn off the touchpad. That happens to me too, and it drives me bat$h!t!

 

[nightdancer]

It's also a pluralization issue. For a singular object, it would be "have". For plural object, it would be "has".

"My horses have" and "My horse has" is a good example.

Just throwing that out there to make it a little more confusing.

 

[Kashmir]

My spelling have unfortunately gone from British english to American english during the last decade (I wish I could find a way to turn off the American english dictionary on my computer, as it would make it easier to keep to British english which was what taught in school).

If you are using Microsoft Word you need to set the language of the Normal style in the Normal template (Normal.dot pre Word 2007, Normal.dotm 2007 & 2010). PM me if you need help.

Google Chrome - the only browser I know with a spell checker only has American English. Booo!

 

[Kashmir]

Good point. Like I said, english is a pain.

Try Hungarian - apart from the "standard" three persons (I,you,it) in singular and plural there are two extra persons used for social status - and the verbs change depending on whether or not the object is direct or indirect. But at least there is no gender distinction. Then there is Arabic with gender distinctions - and duals.

Really, English is a very, very simple language that is extremely forgiving with bad grammar and spelling - which is possibly why so many people are sloppy.

Language with "logical" spelling either have not been a written language for long (most English was spelt as it was pronounced - only the pronunciation has drifted) or has not been exported far. Take Arabic again - Egyptians pronounce it in their own way – but keep the “standard” spelling – such as Raqia. This means you can work out a word’s roots easily. Same with Hungarian, many combinations of letters are not written as pronounced (népdal is pronounced nébdal) – despite it being a recent written language because to do so would make it hard to work out what a new word means (nép = people, dal = song ie folksong).

Logical spelling for English would mean either many words would have several different spellings or most people would not be covered in the “standard” spelling. This way everyone loses – but you can often work out meanings and history from words. Cupboard anyone?

 

[Mosaic]

Try Hungarian - apart from the "standard" three persons (I,you,it) in singular and plural there are two extra persons used for social status - and the verbs change depending on whether or not the object is direct or indirect. But at least there is no gender distinction. Then there is Arabic with gender distinctions - and duals.

Really, English is a very, very simple language that is extremely forgiving with bad grammar and spelling - which is possibly why so many people are sloppy.

Language with "logical" spelling either have not been a written language for long (most English was spelt as it was pronounced - only the pronunciation has drifted) or has not been exported far. Take Arabic again - Egyptians pronounce it in their own way – but keep the “standard” spelling – such as Raqia. This means you can work out a word’s roots easily. Same with Hungarian, many combinations of letters are not written as pronounced (népdal is pronounced nébdal) – despite it being a recent written language because to do so would make it hard to work out what a new word means (nép = people, dal = song ie folksong).

Logical spelling for English would mean either many words would have several different spellings or most people would not be covered in the “standard” spelling. This way everyone loses – but you can often work out meanings and history from words. Cupboard anyone?

OK I'll bite I believe the word cupboard originated in the Middle Ages, it was a board or table where cups & mugs were kept, this soon became an open shelf type of dresser, the cups/mugs were usually placed on the open shelves, so still a sort of "board" for cups
~Mosaic

 

[Daimona]

Daim, in light of what you just requested, you should have used 'has' (past tense) instead of 'have' (present tense) in your first sentence.

:redface: Thank you, Darshiva! (Just a test you know.. I really do know the rule - I just forget to apply it when I'm tired or change my mind in the middle of the sentence. *note-to-self: Be more aware of this when tired* :redface: ):

I have
You have
He/She/It has
We have
You (pl.) have
They have​

As for the magical moving cursor, do as Zorba says. It is easier than keeping your fingers/hand off the touchpad while writing.

As I am a foreigner here, with a similar but still different mother tongue, I go out of my way to learn danish properly. Therefore it makes me so annoyed with all the bad spelling going on. I am a visual learner and the more I see a word misspelled, the more confused I get.

Gisela: I'm with you getting confused of reading bad or incorrect language when you are trying to learn. I've actually discovered that I need to be picky of the language used in books and novels I'm reading in English. The main reason I choose to read a book written in English, which also has been translated to Norwegian, is to improve my own language. I've seen books that I could not continue to read because they would ruin everything I've learnt so far.

Try Hungarian - apart from the "standard" three persons (I,you,it) in singular and plural there are two extra persons used for social status - and the verbs change depending on whether or not the object is direct or indirect. But at least there is no gender distinction.

:think: They never touched that subject at the 2h Hungarian-German language course I once attended (not having learnt German prior the course made it a bit more challenging though :lol.

If you are using Microsoft Word you need to set the language of the Normal style in the Normal template (Normal.dot pre Word 2007, Normal.dotm 2007 & 2010). PM me if you need help.

I have British English and Norwegian (bm) as default in M$ Office, but if a part is written in American English it is identified as that because I've ticked the check box for identifying language automatically. (I write different languages daily, so changing the normal template would be p.i.t.a. )

Really, English is a very, very simple language that is extremely forgiving with bad grammar and spelling - which is possibly why so many people are sloppy.

You may be right about this. Norwegian is also considered a relatively simple language (though, some of the foreigners I work with that are trying to learn Norwegian probably don't agree), and I am seeing the same trends here. Ordinary people are being understood despite getting sloppy and don't bother to correct themselves (whatever official language they write, as you may know - we have two official versions of Norwegian; one is constructed and based on dialects, the other is a remnant of Danish which has been modified heavily) - and then there are all the dialects themselves..

The grammar question of the day:
Is it correct that all countries, languages and nationalities are always capitalized in English?