terrible spelling

[sez]

I can put up with spelling errors on forums etc, but it really bugs me in a more formal setting... ie advertising leaflets (why not check it before spending hundreds/thousands on printing it?), exam papers, job applications.. oh and the most annoying of all at work! I work for a large bank and just about every email has spelling errors in it - to me it's a poor reflection on someone, if they can't be bothered to use a spellcheck then what else are they lazy about?

[silver birch]

I work for an advertising agency, and I'm one of just two people in the office of over 60 employees that is trusted to spot the spelling errors before work goes out - they know I'll likely correct the grammar while I'm there too. But it's sheer laziness that I think is to blame these days. Many of the work that goes through my office - which is written by highly paid copywriters - has errors from start to finish. And I find it incredibly frustrating.

It's not just that people seem to have a poor grasp of the English language - but that they don't actually care enough to check it before submitting their work. That's what I've found anyway.

You can point out a glaring error to them, but I've known many instances where it's printed anyway. Anything to avoid having to check another printer's proof!

[BarleySugar]

Here are some interesting links about why some words are spelled in certain ways, for any of you with time on your hands to go and have a look.

Dictionaries and Meanings
History House: Spelling, Schmelling

I am a teacher, and I do get fed up with the spelling issue sometimes, mainly because in ICT, one of the criteria is 'fit for purpose', and a lot of kids lose out on marks because their 'product' is not fit for purpose if there are loads of spelling mistakes. However, when you inherit worksheets written by a teacher who did not know the difference between their and there, what hope is there for the students?

[deezyb]

my main spelling issue is with the misuse of apostrophe!! and boy,do my colleagues know it! they usually call on me if they are in doubt! and I usually say "no apostrophe needed" when looking at stuff!

[bubblewrap]

my main spelling issue is with the misuse of apostrophe!! and boy,do my colleagues know it! they usually call on me if they are in doubt! and I usually say "no apostrophe needed" when looking at stuff!

Apostrophe! A posh word for a chemist?

[SarzWix]

I do this every time I do the food shop with cash, which is most times - and I can proudly say for a mathematical dyslexic (no kidding here!) I get within a pound or so either way....tis a cracking exercise

Me too, even if I'm paying with a debit card, I still want a rough notion of what it'll be when I get to the till. It doesn't work if I've got any of the kids with me though, adding stuff to the trolley when I'm not loking & generally bickering/chattering/messing around!
As for apostrophes, the general rule is if you're missing part of a word out, or talking about someone's belonging then you need an apostrophe. If it's just a plural, the you generally don't need one.

[Two_Sheds]

Just saw this on FreeCycle: "black bags of manuwer offered"

[HeyWayne]

I work for an advertising agency, and I'm one of just two people in the office of over 60 employees that is trusted to spot the spelling errors before work goes out - they know I'll likely correct the grammar while I'm there too. But it's sheer laziness that I think is to blame these days. Many of the work that goes through my office - which is written by highly paid copywriters - has errors from start to finish. And I find it incredibly frustrating.

It's not just that people seem to have a poor grasp of the English language - but that they don't actually care enough to check it before submitting their work. That's what I've found anyway.

You can point out a glaring error to them, but I've known many instances where it's printed anyway. Anything to avoid having to check another printer's proof!

I can sympathise with those that have put the work together in the first place.

When a document is at the proof stage it is in a format that may have been changed tens, possible hundreds of times. I know, it's happened to me. You get a kind of "text blindness" - you see something so many times that you just don't see the error any more.

It is often easier to spot an error when looking at it with a fresh pair of eyes - it's why I will get our technical teams to read through a document/brochure when I get near to proofing stage. It's far easier to correct something that start with a blank page.

Desensitisation I think they call it.

That said I've just had an email come through where "there" has been used in place of "their" - spell check would not have spotted that - it's spelled correctly.

Grammar-checker would eb far more useful - I struggle to read some of the posts on here that do not use upper case at the beginning of a sentence, or commas to break.

[zazen999]

We had a new mag come through the letterbox this week, Eat Derby.

Much to my amusement; they listed all the people who are now using the Traffic Light Food Labelling; such as Asda, Boots, Co-op etc. But also, Bernard Manning - He's mentioned twice - and it has really made me smile. The irony...

[Flummery]

Snadger, I believe you CAN teach a poor speller to spell correctly. There are strategies you can employ. It is, as Two Sheds said, often down to lack of reading experience but you can learn. Many people (sometimes defensively) reckon not to believe it's worth making the effort.

Dyslexia is different - but these days often employed as an excuse - head below parapet time?

On a forum - we all very often write as we speak, and some people have excellent typing skills, others don't. Fair dos. However, things that have been properly published and still contain mistakes ' do me 'ead in'!

[HeyWayne]

Snadger, I believe you CAN teach a poor speller to spell correctly. There are strategies you can employ. It is, as Two Sheds said, often down to lack of reading experience but you can learn. Many people (sometimes defensively) reckon not to believe it's worth making the effort.

Dyslexia is different - but these days often employed as an excuse - head below parapet time?

On a forum - we all very often write as we speak, and some people have excellent typing skills, others don't. Fair dos. However, things that have been properly published and still contain mistakes ' do me 'ead in'!

Luckily I don't spell like wot I tork.

[lynda66]

i was always a great speller but last couple of years, i can sit and look at words simple ones and they look wrong but i can't work out how the heck to spell them ..... it's driving me nuts ...... thankfully theres firefox with it's built in spell check, otherwise it would be a nightmare ........ have always made a big fuss with son over spellings and thankfully he's great at them

[di]

If I'm writing on paper my spelling is fine.I can see the mistakes & what doesn't look right.However on here I find that because my eyes are down on the keyboard,unless I actually read through what I've written,occasionally some really embarrassing mistakes get posted!
Other peoples spelling mistakes on here don't particularly bother me,but there have been several occasions that DD has brought school work home containing some really basic mistakes(know instead of now for one),which I find totally inexcusable.
I hold my hands up high though to having forgotten a lot of the punctuation rules!!

[lynda66]

it really annoys me when teachers spel stuf rong

[di]

it really annoys me when teachers spel stuf rong

Ya forgot yer fullstop Linda!!