I am growing more and more frustrated with some of the blogs that I read. My frustration is not with the content but with the inability of some bloggers to spell/spell check their work.
It really is distracting to me to try and read a post in which every third word is misspelled. There are posts that I stop reading midstream because I find the mistakes to be unacceptable. That may sound like snobbery, but it just irritates me to no end to see the repeated and regular misspelling of word after word.
I like words because they can say so much. There are so many that can be used to illustrate a thought, idea or experience. However that process is stunted by those bloggers who fail to check their work.
Be accountable for your words. It really isn't hard to check your work. Show a little pride in your work and produce a cleaner product, it is worth it.
12 comments:
Jack -- ironically, I've got to point out that I was a "Pear" in your response to my comment in your last post.
I once blogged about how my University of Toronto English Department alumni newsletter updated its readers with:
Pear _____ works as a proofreader for ________ Books....
Spelling errors irk me greatly; I don't use spell check, I just use my own editing skills/Webster's if necessary. I will overlook some bloggers' errors just because of the powerful messages behind their words. I've come to realize that the fingers often type faster than the mind thinks, and thus typos...
(or else people just don't know to differentiate between: its/it's; yours/your's (which if they'd check, doesn't even exist!); they're/their, etc.
Pearl,
The occasional typo is fine. What bothers me are the bloggers who do this consistently and never seem to care.
As a former copy editor, I explain it this way: grammar is a courtesy you extend your reader. It helps your reader understand what you're trying to say without having to stumble and re-read. It shows you care about not wasting their time.
If you were rude to someone who visited your home, you probably wouldn't expect to keep seeing them. There's only so much abuse a person can take. The same rule applies to your blog.
Some mistakes I can take; others are annoying (such as the its/it's, your/you're, etc.), but I can usually handle. Basic words, however, get to me.
Recently, I saw sentences spelled 'sentances' - that irked me for some reason.
Some of the words I have seen misspelled most recently include:
embarassmant, wierd and and obseekweeous
The one I hate the MOST is when people use loose instead of lose. I see this everywhere and it drives me absolutely insane!!!
Ummm... wait a sec. How could someone who was actually USING the word obsequious be so far off on how to spell it??? Are you sure they weren't joking?
Funnier was when someone commented on "sentances" by saying it was "embarassing" - others commented on who he'd shot himself in the foot (he says it was a typo).
Much, much agreed. I don't know why I haven't put up something similar on my own blog! Spelling is one of my pet peeves--there is no excuse for poor spelling, in my mind.
I would go so far as to posit that poor spelling is a sign of poor education, but these days I think that it's more laziness. Typos are fine; not knowing how to spell a word (especially simple words) is inexcusable.
JG,
If I hadn't seen so many other spelling mistakes I would have believed that they intentional misspelled obsequious.
One I have noticed recently is a confusion by some bloggers of the words "then" and "than" as in:
I am a better speller then you are.
I had never noticed it until the last couple of years, and I even taught college courses and graded essay exams for years and never saw it. I don't know why it seems to have become an issue, and the people that do it do so with such authority that it is clear they don't know it's wrong.
It gets on my nerves, too... but hey, at least folks are trying to express themselves, albeit ignorantly. LOL!! ;)
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