# Spelling and Grammar, I'm impressed



## abvidledUK (Mar 22, 2006)

I have to say, that overall, I'm very impressed with the high quality of Spelling (yes, even the US Spelling) and Grammar on these forums.

I think it's down to the fact that most respondents appear to be of the slightly older generation.

I've given up on some of the other (non flashlight) forums, due to the inane Spelling, and atrocious Grammar, from the TXT generation ?

It's a pleasure to read some of the posts.

Clear, concise, and clarity.


----------



## LifeNRA (Mar 22, 2006)

You have not read my post then have you? :lolsign:


----------



## carrot (Mar 22, 2006)

Okay, so a lot of the people from my generation are... typographically challenged, let's say... but that doesn't mean all of us are. I've always tried my best to present myself and my writing with proper grammar and spellling, and so it pleases me as well to see people taking care with their posts.

Those of the (my) TXT generation, as you call it (I like the name!), seem to be lazy and think that "typin lik dis iz 0ky," but in my opinion, it is certainly not. It reduces legibility and clarity, one of my pet peeves. It is rather unfortunate. I hope when my generation becomes old that we don't continue attempt to communicate in such a crude, unrefined fashion. 

I agree, this is definitely one of the reasons that makes CPF so enjoyable... and so addictive as well.


----------



## KevinL (Mar 22, 2006)

Making an effort to communicate clearly and effectively does show that the person is genuinely interested and more importantly, capable of making an effort to do things the right way. As I've always said there are two ways of doing things - the right way and the easy way. 

It says a lot for the readership (and posters) here that they do things the right way. It's not old fashioned. Some things never go out of fashion..


----------



## eebowler (Mar 22, 2006)

I believe it has alot to do with what we're talking about. In another type of forum where people yap and yap about endless nonsense, the're more likely to type in 'text message type language' instead of trying to use proper english.


----------



## dim (Mar 22, 2006)

i aint got no idea watcha tawkn bout
it aint like i gotta use no spell chekin or sumptin
i rite reel good
b-sides, peple from england tawk funny.....spell funny too (colour, metre - whateverrrr)

73
dim


----------



## Tooner (Mar 22, 2006)

Yes, I’ve noticed that this site is better in that regard too. I try to create well-written posts, but I am afraid I probably fall somewhat short. I hated English class in school, and now wish I’d have paid more attention. There is no way I could diagram a sentence. Actually, I have doubts about my ability to construct a proper sentence, much less a paragraph. Plus my spelling is poor and sometimes I’m just too lazy to spell check it. Now what I really need is a punctuation checker. Proper punctuation is really hard for me.


----------



## Flying Turtle (Mar 22, 2006)

While I never particularly liked English classes in school and my grammer and punctuation isn't always the best, I always try to get the spelling right. Misspelled words just seem to stand out. Dictionary.com is a site I visit fairly often.

Geoff


----------



## eebowler (Mar 22, 2006)

dim said:


> i aint got no idea watcha tawkn bout
> it aint like i gotta use no spell chekin or sumptin
> i rite reel good
> b-sides, peple from england tawk funny.....spell funny too (colour, metre - whateverrrr)
> ...


 What did you say!?  

LOL dim. That actually wasn't bad. Thanks to raggie, I understand written dialect much better now though it was tough in the begining.



Flying_Turtle said:


> Misspelled words just seem to stand out. Dictionary.com is a site I visit fairly often.


 Google usually comes up with the right alternative when I type the wrong spelling in.


----------



## Sub_Umbra (Mar 22, 2006)

I think this is an interesting subject. I also hated English class and I'll never be a good speller. What I have noticed is that my composition skills (actually the lack of them) used to make me very self conscious about my writing. I still am to a certain extent but the world has definitely changed around me. My writing skills have improved a bit but in the general population there has been a steady decline since I left school. 

I've also noticed it in conversation. Vocabulary norms seem to have slipped, too. Sometimes I'm surprised at words that I thought were almost universally understood that only draw blank stares. I've heard others comment on this, also. While I'm on the subject of educational decline, let me mention another thing I've noticed. I have run into high school students who didn't know the difference between Africa and South America! Aside from the boring geography class at school I would have thought that by the age of five or six any kid would know the difference between Africa and South America just from watching TV alone.

It seems really strange to me.


----------



## Arkayne (Mar 22, 2006)

bad Speelers of the werld, untie!!!


----------



## Sub_Umbra (Mar 22, 2006)

I also wanted to mention that in some of the CPF threads where members reveal more info about themselves I've been really shocked to find out just how young some of the posters are here. I read their posts for months and their style and content never gave any indication of their age.


----------



## magic79 (Mar 22, 2006)

carrot said:


> Okay, so a lot of the people from my generation are... typographically challenged, let's say... but that doesn't mean all of us are.


 
You are a great example Carrot!

I got a reply from a "customer service" person (in title only) from a vendor that sometimes posts here. It said, in part:

"...I don't think I do that, but, whatever."

Any guess as to the age of the writer?


----------



## zespectre (Mar 22, 2006)

I was on another group and someone hit one of my peeves (to, two, and too). I gave them a gentle correction and got LAMBASTED (the usual excuses, how do you know what his native language is, etc.) until the OP posted back and told them all to shut up as he was trying very hard to learn correct english. 

Having related that little story, I too would like to cast a note of gratitude out to everyone here for attempting the task of improving things and not taking the easy (lazy?) path of "l33t sp33k rulz d00d". (You know I actually winced after I typed that).


----------



## jarobi (Mar 22, 2006)

At least my generation will have wireless and laptops with extra large keys to look forward to in our nursing homes...


----------



## The_LED_Museum (Mar 22, 2006)

I tend to misspell words like "toliet", "blub", and "kapeesh"; but I get most of the rest correct. :thumbsup:

Words like "to", "too", & "two" are known as homophones - words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

Allow me to demonstrate:

"*I went too the beach at to o'clock two lie in the sun.*"


----------



## abvidledUK (Mar 22, 2006)

jarobi said:


> At least my generation will have wireless and laptops with extra large keys to look forward to in our nursing homes...



I'm hoping for voice recognition by then.

Trouble is, the young un's diction and vocabulary at times is as bad as their Spelling and Grammar.

(Some of them, that is)


----------



## Brighteyez (Mar 22, 2006)

The keys aren't the problem! If they'd just quit using the small type on the screen, life would be much better 



jarobi said:


> At least my generation will have wireless and laptops with extra large keys to look forward to in our nursing homes...


----------



## 270winchester (Mar 22, 2006)

One thing is that people on this board, since they are into lights and electronics, are typically more educated than people say, on Rainbow Six type of discussion boards. Flashlights are expensive and not every buck-toothed elementary school graduate would be into it.

Another thing is that believe it or not, since there are more international/multi ethinic composition ofthe fourm brings us a BETTER grammar/spelling trend across the board, since people from other countries who can afford this expensive toys and have internet access and know English probably know English better than a lot of English speaking people.

just a thought.

Nick


----------



## greenLED (Mar 22, 2006)

Carrot is a great writer; you guys should check out his blog. 

affect vs. effect, anyone? :cringe:


----------



## Kiessling (Mar 22, 2006)

Yeah! Thanx guys for making it easier to learn English for the non-native crowd here ...  ... appreciate the efforts!
bernie


----------



## zespectre (Mar 22, 2006)

greenLED said:


> Carrot is a great writer; you guys should check out his blog.
> 
> affect vs. effect, anyone? :cringe:


 
Ooooh damn, you just hit another of my peeves  

Of course some day I'll learn to stop spelling Until as Untill along with others that crop up when I get in a hurry <sigh>.


----------



## Brighteyez (Mar 22, 2006)

I have dealt with a lot of people from Germany both verbally and by e-mail, and quite honestly it was starting to get to point where I was able to distinguish the e-mail from some of my German contacts because it was more grammatically correct that the e-mail from their native-speaker counterparts (regardless of whether they were from an Oxford or Webster English country). So from my standpoint, I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the comprehension of English from a reasonably educated person from the pre-unification portion of the country formerly known as West Germany.



Kiessling said:


> Yeah! Thanx guys for making it easier to learn English for the non-native crowd here ...  ... appreciate the efforts!
> bernie


----------



## carrot (Mar 22, 2006)

greenLED said:


> Carrot is a great writer; you guys should check out his blog.
> 
> affect vs. effect, anyone? :cringe:


Thanks, greenLED. 

Affect vs. effect... Their, they're, there. It's, its. Pear, pair, peer. Hear, here... more words that tick me off when they're misused. There's probably more too, but I can't think of them right now.


----------



## TedTheLed (Mar 22, 2006)

"Next to TedTheLeds posts, Flashaholism and that Candlepowerforums is a battery leak stain. Your museum Urine potato, is fine. I'm not kidding. I'm not your light monkey. If you voted against me, hope you noted your reasons. Your anonymous as judges but your still flashlight industry people. I am funning. If your not paying attention, go outside, the Streamlight is real bright."

Ted"Rotten"TheLed













with apologies to Johnny Rotten and his Rock Hall of Fame non-acceptance letter! (available upon request) :rock:


----------



## magic79 (Mar 22, 2006)

The_LED_Museum said:


> Words like "to", "too", & "two" are known as homophones - words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.


 
Right you are!

Interestingly, there are some homophones that (I think) we native speakers don't immediately recognize.

My wife is Vietnamese. The other day she emailed me:

"I put my name on the once off list at work." 

I was puzzled for a short time. Then it hit me! 

She put her name on the *WANTS OFF* list ! We had a good laugh about that one!


----------



## PhotonWrangler (Mar 22, 2006)

I'm also very pleased with the quality of the conversations here, both the spelling/grammar as well as the general thoughtfulness of the posts. This place feels like a civilized society, especially compared to the annoying and sometimes brusque shorthand of "texting."

Coming here feels like dropping by a cozy lodge and hanging around the fireplace with good company.


----------



## eluminator (Mar 22, 2006)

I have a spell check button on my Google toolbar. So I cheat. Actually I used to be a very good speller, but age has taken it's toll.

I agree the messages are quite readable here. The bad grammar I've seen in some forums I've assumed was due to a lot of foreigners there. I'm probably wrong though. As some have noted, the foreigners do quite well here. Probably just stupid Americans.

I'm not as particular of others spelling as I used to be, as long as the sentences make sense.

I saw an awesome series on PBS called "The history of English" that taught me a lot of interesting facts about the language. It used to be phonetic, before the printing press gave us dictionaries and the "proper" spelling. Before that, writing in English or any other phonetic language was very much like using a voice tape recorder today. Your writing captured the sounds of your speech. Two people with different dialects would spell differently, and quite properly so.

Chaucer, who was one of the greatest of all English authors would sometimes spell the same word differently on the same page. 

When dictionaries became common, there came into being the "proper" spelling, no matter how you pronounced your words in your particular dialect. 

And then English underwent a profound change and words were pronounced differently. The stupid "dictionary" spelling didn't change though.
That explains why English speakers pronounce the letter "i" and the letter "e" backwards from everyone else in the world. It's also why we spell rough the way we do. Originally rough had the guttural sound the letters imply. But not any more. So why not just spell it ruff? Chaucer would have.


----------



## pathalogical (Mar 22, 2006)

I think most spelling/grammar mistakes occur because some of us are using our work computer and are replying between calls and customers and dealing with, well...work. Also, I think sometimes we have several points to make and can't type as fast as we are thinking, so we tend to do a hack job on the keyboard. I feel bad when I click 'submit reply' and then notice that I made a spelling mistake. I quickly hit the 'edit' button. Spelling mistakes are ok, but bad grammar is more difficult to figure out.


----------



## magic79 (Mar 22, 2006)

Ever wonder why Antelope is "An-ta-lope" and Penelope is "Pen-el-oh-pee"?  

English is difficult to learn as a second language, but Vietnamese is damn near impossible! :huh:


----------



## PhotonWrangler (Mar 22, 2006)

pathalogical said:


> I feel bad when I click 'submit reply' and then notice that I made a spelling mistake. I quickly hit the 'edit' button. Spelling mistakes are ok, but bad grammar is more difficult to figure out.



I make spelling mistakes because I have a spongy keyboard... yeah, dat's da ticket...


----------



## abvidledUK (Mar 22, 2006)

I'll bet that you Spell Check and Grammar Check your posts to this thread of mine more than usual !!


----------



## Delvance (Mar 22, 2006)

I actually used to type "lik dis bcuz i was 2 lzy & playn online fps g4m3s rquird sp33d & it was teh in y0".

Wow, that was a long time ago, possibly 4 or 5. I guess i'm one of the younger members here. Most here seem to be engaged, married, married with children etc. I can't wait till i have my own happy little family mhm.

Anyways, i think i started typing correctly a few years ago. Realised that by typing correctly etc, i was actually improving my typing speed for projects/assignments etc that had to be done on the computer. Since then, i've never typed like a mong again.

Another vote for being impressed by CPF's language, grammar etc. Posts are almost always easy to read and understand, and generally well structured. Sometimes i have to read twice, but that's usually due to techy stuff involved in the post.

I remember a few years ago, i was chatting to my bestie and i typed "your" instead of "you're" (i actually forgot the difference and my brain had settled on using "your" for every context...due to me typing like some crazed fanatic online gamer for several years beforehand), he promptly told me off, gave me some ribbing on that one :laughing:


----------



## eluminator (Mar 22, 2006)

magic79 said:


> Ever wonder why Antelope is "An-ta-lope" and Penelope is "Pen-el-oh-pee"?



Simple. It's to confuse foreigners. 

Learning a foreign language is a real educational experience. First you discover all the absurd idioms in the foreign language and wonder how crazy the native speakers must be. Then someone points out the equally absurd idioms of your own language, and you wonder how you could have failed to notice for all those years.

Learning a foreign language seems like a daunting task to me now, but for children it's easy. Mere child's play.


----------



## TedTheLed (Mar 22, 2006)

You can lead a horse to water,

but a flashlight must be led.


----------



## offroadcmpr (Mar 22, 2006)

When I am on instant messager I relax my spelling a little bit. I won't capitalize letters as much, and I will use a little bit of slang. But when ever I am on this forum I try to use better grammar, mainly because it is easier to read, and thats what everybody else seems to be doing.


----------



## atm (Mar 23, 2006)

I think in an international, english language based forum, it is more considerate to try and use "proper" english to make it easier for those who's english isn't so strong to uderstand what's being said. A whole lot of slang, abbreviations and such like must be a nightmare to follow if you are only familiar with the basics of correct english as may be taugh in language classes. Such things can even be confusing for people from different english speaking countries.

Smilies can be helpful to get the tone of a message across also!  

Andrew


----------



## TedTheLed (Mar 23, 2006)

Wasn't it Henry Higgins who said;

"..the English don't really care what you have say, actually, as long as you pronounce it properly." ?


----------



## TedTheLed (Mar 23, 2006)

a game: do you know the meaning?

"Icteric—a prehistoric dinosaur with leathery wings." 

"Icteric—a rhythmic beat, a stroke or blow; also sunstroke." 

"Icteric—pertaining to, affected with, or service as, a cure for jaundice." 

"Icteric, Hans—a 14th Century Danish explorer, discoverer of the Isthmus of Mikwen." 

"Icteric—nasty, bilious, filled with bile or fetid materials." 

* * If you want the right answer...look it up.


----------



## JimH (Mar 23, 2006)

For the spelling challenged and typo prone, there is help. The help I use is a program called "Spell Magic". It's incredibly easy to use, and you can spell check in any application.

I always check my PM's and replies before I click "Submit". As a matter of fact, I just found two spelling errors and two typos in this short reply.


----------



## cbxer55 (Mar 23, 2006)

Coming here feels like dropping by a cozy lodge and hanging around the fireplace with good company.
[/quote]

Cigar and Cognac, anyone??:lolsign:


----------



## cbxer55 (Mar 23, 2006)

Me thinks Eluminator is quite the loquacious individual,no? 

Definitely not a popinjay!:huh2:


----------



## drizzle (Mar 23, 2006)

Add me to the list of those that appreciate the good spelling and grammar here. If you are used to reading books rather than cell phones then a grammar or spelling mistake is like hitting a speed bump.

I have one pet peeve when it comes to spelling and I occasionally see it on this board. I sometimes see the word "lose" (the verb meaning the opposite of find) spelled as "loose" (the adjective meaning the opposite of tight).


----------



## abvidledUK (Mar 23, 2006)

JimH said:


> For the spelling challenged and typo prone, there is help. The help I use is a program called "Spell Magic".



I use a program called "School" !!!


----------



## thesurefire (Mar 23, 2006)

I'm definitely of the TXT generation too, and like to think I generally spell well and get my point across without making people exert to much effort. I just copy and paste my post in wordpad before I post it. Very short 1 to 3 line posts are an exception, but I try my best to spell properly.


----------



## drizzle (Mar 23, 2006)

abvidledUK said:


> I use a program called "School" !!!


  
Cool! Is it open source? Can you get it on Kazaa?


----------



## abvidledUK (Mar 23, 2006)

drizzle said:


> Cool! Is it open source? Can you get it on Kazaa?



Methinks you miss the point entirely !!

 

:hairpull: 



I took me 14 years to download !!


----------



## eluminator (Mar 23, 2006)

Am I the only one that still uses the Google toolbar? It used to be "de rigueur" with I.E. to stop popups. (Sorry about the French lingo).


----------



## TedTheLed (Mar 23, 2006)

i yoos a prougram kalt "shawssir."


----------



## The_LED_Museum (Mar 23, 2006)

toilet bulb kapeesh

Testing the spell-checker on the Google toolbar...


----------



## carrot (Mar 23, 2006)

I like Firefox with the Google toolbar. It's simply better than IE with Google toolbar. (And if you download it using the link on my blog, I get $1, which makes me happy.)

I've never actually tried the spelling checker, though.


----------



## LifeNRA (Mar 23, 2006)

I just installed the Google toolbar. It is really nice and very easy to use.

Maybe my spelling will improve now. 

Sorry Carrot I downloaded it earlier tonight before I saw your post.


----------



## JimH (Mar 23, 2006)

carrot said:


> And if you download it using the link on my blog


Speaking of blogs, where is yours.


----------



## eluminator (Mar 23, 2006)

carrot said:


> I like Firefox with the Google toolbar. It's simply better than IE with Google toolbar. (And if you download it using the link on my blog, I get $1, which makes me happy.)
> .




Now wait a minute. Firefox is free, isn't it. And they still give you proselytizers a buck to get people to use it? 

You better believe I used the spell checker on "proselytizers". Amazingly it didn't flag an error. Either I was lucky or Google can't spell either.

P.S. Firefox is no doubt safer to use on the internet. But some of us enjoy living on the edge


----------



## eluminator (Mar 23, 2006)

The_LED_Museum said:


> toilet bulb kapeesh
> 
> Testing the spell-checker on the Google toolbar...



I liked tiolet better. Kapeesh is good though.


----------



## carrot (Mar 23, 2006)

JimH said:


> Speaking of blogs, where is yours.


It's in my profile.. http://geekinstinct.com

Eluminator, the main draw to Firefox for me is not necessarily security, as IE can be made pretty secure. It's the tabbed browsing, faster (and proper) rendering of websites, and cleaner interface that makes it so great.


----------



## h_nu (Mar 23, 2006)

Add me to the list of appreciative members of this forum.

I too find these forums to be a comfortable place to read. It's not just the efforts to use proper spelling and grammar. It's the civility and general helpfulness. I feel as though I know many people from all over the world and genuinely like them.

I receive 40 to 50 emails a day at work and they are frequently hard to read. Even those from better educated people leave out critical details. I am left to infer what actions if any need be taken or why I am copied on the messages. At least in Candlepower forums we all know that brightness, runtime, and cost will be mentioned.

Where are the icons for an open book and a snifter?


----------



## eebowler (Mar 25, 2006)

magic79 said:


> You are a great example Carrot!
> 
> I got a reply from a "customer service" person (in title only) from a vendor that sometimes posts here. It said, in part:
> 
> ...



I know a woman who speaks english beautifully, she however, types like crap in personal emails and it annoys the hell out of me. She is only one example out of many.

There are lots of intelligent people out there who know what's right but chooses to type in dialect for any number of reasons. It may be easier, more fun, faster, the 'in thing', it may make people think that you're not too smart giving you leverage in some situations, laziness, habit, whatever. Maybe the writer asumed that common language will make communication easier? I noticed you said " customer service person (in title only)". I assume that the person proved themself unhelpful?

Personally, as you can see, my written english is good enough however, yuh shud hear how a does talk. Ah sure yuh go tink dat I ent have no sense. It can be adjusted if necessary depending on the audience.

Over ten years ago, my chemistry techer blew her fuse in class after correcting a test we had. She basically yelled at us and said that people write how they speak (after complaining about the crap we wrote). Back then I thought "what the heck is her problem?" Now, I understand fully her annoyance. :sigh: The younger generation is getting lazier and lazier every day and even at the university level there are students who still can't write properly.


----------



## Pydpiper (Mar 29, 2006)

Aoccdnirg to a rcesaerh at Cmbarigde Uneirvtisy, it deson't mttaer in waht oredr the lteters in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the fsirt and lsat ltteer be at the rhgit pclae.


----------



## JimH (Mar 29, 2006)

I've seen that before, but I think it only works if what you are reading is in your first language, not your 2nd, 3rd or 4th.


----------



## magic79 (Mar 29, 2006)

JimH said:


> I've seen that before, but I think it only works if what you are reading is in your first language, not your 2nd, 3rd or 4th.


 
Actually I disagree! I took it to a native Farsi speaker and a native Indian (is that the name of the language?) speaker and neither had any difficulty. 


By the way...I'm seeing "lense" a lot on CPF. Do the Brits add an 'e' or is that just a common misspelling?


----------



## Lurveleven (Mar 29, 2006)

JimH said:


> I've seen that before, but I think it only works if what you are reading is in your first language, not your 2nd, 3rd or 4th.



I have no problem reading those kind of texts, and I read them really fast too. I think it has more to do with how fluent you are in a language.

Sigbjoern


----------



## JimH (Mar 29, 2006)

. I stand corrected. My apologies to all of you who speak a second language.


----------



## Lunal_Tic (Mar 29, 2006)

The problem is a bit different for me. I've been out of my country for so long I speak "English as a second language" which is a bit different than English. I very seldom have a chance to speak to native English speakers and when I do it feels odd sometimes. I worry I may end up sounding like a non-native speaker once I return. That would be very odd indeed.

-LT


----------



## magic79 (Apr 6, 2006)

Is it just me?

It seems that since this thread was started, spelling and grammar have taken a turn for the worse on CPF! :shrug:


----------



## [email protected] (Apr 6, 2006)

:nana:


----------



## 270winchester (Apr 6, 2006)

eluminator said:


> Am I the only one that still uses the Google toolbar? It used to be "de rigueur" with I.E. to stop popups. (Sorry about the French lingo).




I don't use google toolbars since the company has been aggressively defending their actions of invading people's privacy and refuses to address people's concerns. THere was a discussion a few weeks back on the possible information leak due to the presence of Google Toolbar and google's response was basically "if you don't like it then don't use it". SO I don't.


----------



## Manzerick (Apr 7, 2006)

hok'd on fonix woked 4 me


----------



## Navck (Apr 7, 2006)

Carrot, we both have problems with people from our generation
"0mg li3k stufuu lol0m n00b ur li3k a losah wie u typ lik dat itz dum 4 ew l0lodjagojdaogjdfgj" - Thats the "smarter" kids at my school, the "average" ones look like they took their head and smashed it right into the keyboard, then rolled their head on the board untill the keys popped off and all their hairgel caused the membrane contacts in their keyboard to corrode and register as being held down, causing a long "AS%IUJSHDSI%I$#@(Y_IRW0gufjoipajdgpk pdakpsa SAUSAFJISAJFASDFSAF%)($W6-54w960943205942hd" which somehow can be read between two peers and understood (Amazing! I can't belive how they do it.)

Note - I've been typing like I've always been on CPF since I was 4 and got access to a Macintosh Quadra 650, before that it was a nice Atari Mega ST2 workstation. I pride myself on proper english with 150 WPM of raw speed, roasting brains of childern (While they prefer to be addressed as teenagers, their intelligence makes them look as if they're still in kindergarden) with a pure wall of text. This microagraph was completed in 45 seconds or so, however thats with delays from me thinking, and doing anything else at the moment.


----------



## TorchEnvy (Aug 2, 2006)

I remain convinced that 90% of the English-speaking population cannot properly choose among the following sets of words when writing:

it's/its
they're/there/their
your/you're

Obviously, one cannot tell when those mistakes are made in speech because they sound the same. However, nothing derails my concentration like hearing someone use "seen" instead of "saw." 

"I seen you in the flashlight aisle last night." Umm, no...you _saw _me in the flashlight aisle.


----------



## carrot (Aug 2, 2006)

You just peeked my interest.

Now you've peaked my interest.

PIQUED.


----------



## greenLED (Aug 2, 2006)

TorchEnvy said:


> I remain convinced that 90% of the English-speaking population cannot properly choose among the following sets of words when writing:
> 
> it's/its
> they're/there/their
> your/you're


add: affect/effect to "you're" list 

Oh, and wasn't it 90% make up their own statistics? (or was it 62%?)


----------



## TinderBox (UK) (Aug 2, 2006)

I am glad I was not born in France as i do not speak french.:huh2:

I have been using Google toolbar spellchecker for a couple of weeks, it`s a pity it doesnt correct you grammar.

3 posts away from the big 1000.

regards.


----------



## Jumpmaster (Aug 2, 2006)

TinderBox (UK) said:


> . . .it`s a pity it doesnt correct *you* grammar.



Yep...sure is... (Just a little ironic, good-natured fun...just kidding -- I do that sometimes too... )

JM-99


----------



## TigerhawkT3 (Aug 2, 2006)

Does anyone recognize these?

"ATM machine"
"RAM memory"
"LCD display"
and more...

It feels like we're all writing each other letters, instead of posting to an online bulletin board.

As a student going for an AA in technical writing and a long-time reader (I can't quite remember a time when I couldn't read), I can barely even bear to use improper grammar when I email myself a file!

I always use "Preview Post" at least two or three times before I hit "Submit Reply." Of course, I've let a few mistakes slip through occasionally, but I think I've caught them all.

I do quite enjoy CPF.


----------



## Lightmeup (Aug 3, 2006)

TorchEnvy said:


> I remain convinced that 90% of the English-speaking population cannot properly choose among the following sets of words when writing:
> 
> it's/its
> they're/there/their
> ...


How could you overlook the even more abused case of then/than? And don't leave out lose/loose.


----------

