Do skills like proofreading and spell checking even exist anymore?

[Whoey]

This is one of my biggest pet peeves with the apparent rush to be the first to post/repost something on social media. While we are all human and prone to the occasional mistake, why is it that these "social media editors" almost always misspell a word (or worse yet the word is completely missing) in the titles or short resume text. If it's just a casual person posting something I can understand the whole "sausage fingers/tiny phone" excuses or "I was in a hurry to post before the red light changed" etc. When someone is reposting an article on a purported "journalism" website's social media feed some further care should be taken before it's pushed out to the masses. 

I'm not generally a grammar Nazi, in fact I didn't do so well in my final year of high school English. I guess living in a foreign country has made me pay attention to those details more, especially how easily something can be misunderstood with a minor change.

Discuss. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

Me's not sure wine you sez dis.

Def

[dks]

Whet xi sed.

The funniest is when British media cuts and pastes articles from the states, claiming that they are theirs, but leaving all the US spelling of words and even completely american words/phrases in...

[captain spaulding]

Seems no one cares about grammar these days. I am a complete idiot when it comes to grammar and punctuation as well as anything associated with that kind of stuff, but at least I try to spell everything correct and not sound like a complete idiot.

[detron]

oddly enough when I was younger and the world seemed to think grammar mattered, I did not care at all about grammar.

now, I notice it and correct it all of the time.  I still do not have perfect grammar, but I am bothered by terrible grammar.


side note.  I have it when people tell me "that is a made up word".  the truth is they are all made up     and just because you have never heard that word does not mean it does not exist.

[Grant Lamontagne]

That is an excellent point..... which begs the question, if they are made up then is it that important that they are spellet or used correctly and in the right order? 

Sorry, playing devil's advocate while I stir this pot a little.....

Def

[Tomcat_81]

... just 24 hours ago  wrote "Thank's" and found out about it when I couldn't edit any more. Darn.

I guess one of the problems on the Internet (and generally) is, that those professions which greatly contributed to language excellence are dwindling and are gradually replaced by non-professionals who are simply cheaper. Leaves a gap.

Tomcat

[ColoSwiss]

Can't keep its and it's straight. Quit worrying about it.

Spell Check regularly changes good but uncommon words to something else. Irritating.

For a lot of people on here, English is a second language. Don't worry about their usage; figure they're doing better with English that I would with their language.

[Grant Lamontagne]

It is when you use an apostrophe.  It is the one time ownership doesn't have something. 

Def

[detron]

That is an excellent point..... which begs the question, if they are made up then is it that important that they are spellet or used correctly and in the right order? 

Sorry, playing devil's advocate while I stir this pot a little.....

Def

that was my argument in high school, I always tried to defend my failures with hard facts or science!   

if I put forth the effort into my homework that I put into trying to justify my answers, I would have been a straight A student.

[Grant Lamontagne]

You too huh?  In fact, before I started thinking for myself (big mistake there) I'd made the honor roll twice in Junior High.

Def

[jerseydevil]

Bah! English? Who needs to know that? I'm not going to England.....

[mrynnr]

I'm sorry about my grammar. Especially my run on sentences

[kirk13]

Bah! English? Who needs to know that? I'm not going to England.....

There's many languages you need here,but I'm not so sure English is one of them

[jerseydevil]

Bah! English? Who needs to know that? I'm not going to England.....

There's many languages you need here,but I'm not so sure English is one of them

Same with Jersey....

[powernoodle]

Discuss.

I have proofread about 2,600 legal opinions over the past 23 years, so I know where you are coming from on this proofreading stuff.  Fortunately, the authors of those opinions know how to write.

But email/text mistakes don't really bother me.  What bothers me is the widespread dumbing down of the America high school and college student, who generally has no concept of American history nor the ideals upon which this country was founded.  But I guess that is for another thread.

[I did not proofread this post.]

[jerseydevil]

Discuss.

I have proofread about 2,600 legal opinions over the past 23 years, so I know where you are coming from on this proofreading stuff.  Fortunately, the authors of those opinions know how to write.

But email/text mistakes don't really bother me.  What bothers me is the widespread dumbing down of the America high school and college student, who generally has no concept of American history nor the ideals upon which this country was founded.  But I guess that is for another thread.

[I did not proofread this post.]

This.  I studied history and English in college, but have a working knowledge of many other subjects.  It amazes me still how dumb kids can be these days.  At work I mentioned today that it was D-Day, and got a "What's that?" from someone who's a junior at Kean University......


And yes, I edited a typo.

[Weasel]

I know my grammar  and spellings have a lot to be desired but I try my best and that's good enough for me.
In fact since I found MTO   I've Never wrote so much, or is that typed?

[Chako]

I am great at making overly large post and proofreading them afterwards, and still making idiotic mistakes in my posts. Mind you, I only find them a day after when I cannot fix them. Most annoying that.

I think this is worse when considering that I proofread student papers all the time. Even I am not immune to the typo. 

What really bothers me, in Ontario they do not teach cursive writing anymore...meaning I have to block print everything I do on a blackboard or whiteboard. 

[ColoSwiss]

I am great at making overly large post and proofreading them afterwards, and still making idiotic mistakes in my posts. Mind you, I only find them a day after when I cannot fix them. Most annoying that.

I think this is worse when considering that I proofread student papers all the time. Even I am not immune to the typo. 

What really bothers me, in Ontario they do not teach cursive writing anymore...meaning I have to block print everything I do on a blackboard or whiteboard. 

Sounds like Canada is getting as bad as the US.

Article in the paper recently. Some kids have been failing Geometry, so there's now an organization that wants to do away with Geometry in high school. It's too hard and we don't want to ruin the poor dears' self esteem. As if the US doesn't already score low in math and science.

[Chako]

Oh that is just great. Guess all the trades people who need it to do their job properly aren't all that important. 

[Mercury]

Poor grammar is a huge pet peeve for me.  I'm of the opinion that literacy is dwindling amongst the educated, which solidifies my position that college is unnecessary by far.  (amongst is flagged red by spellcheck,  ) I know SEVERAL college grads that can't spell or form coherent written messages.  That is disturbing.  I'm an avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction books and have been since I was a child.  I'm a big fan of self-education and I think it's important to continue to police the grammar of others.  If we allow ourselves to descend into illiteracy because "what's the big deal?" becomes a valid argument, then we are doomed.  Pretty soon no one will know how to type on a QWERTY keyboard, they will simply dictate to siri whatever dreck they want to post to facebook.

I'm all over my son about reading and education, and by education I don't mean his schoolwork.  I encourage him to read for fun, buy toys that help him learn, play video games like minecraft, and build with lego as much as he can. 

[firiki]

Literacy is overrated because #YOLO #stupidselfietakerhere . Literacy is so passé. Literacy is for nerds, geeks and other such people. All you need is a smartphone/iPhone and good looks. Get with the trend, people. All you need to say can be expressed with a simple "ough".

[firiki]

#YOLO #stupidselfietakerhere

 

[Gerhard Gerber]

Pretty sure the only reason I still have a job is because I can really read.......like instructions, RTFM & all that smurf.

People can't read anymore, so they are just happily ignorant.

What crawls up my nose is you native english speakers that can't figure out THERE and THEIR..........ffs I had to learn that 25+ years ago, and not my monkey, not my circus   

 

[Mercury]

Pretty sure the only reason I still have a job is because I can really read.......like instructions, RTFM & all that smurf.

People can't read anymore, so they are just happily ignorant.

What crawls up my nose is you native english speakers that can't figure out THERE and THEIR..........ffs I had to learn that 25+ years ago, and not my monkey, not my circus   

 

That one is bad, but "your" and "you're" is much more irritating!

[Sea Monster]

Didn't read all the replies (becase "I was in a hurry to post before the red light changed", and apparently, have a deathwish???)




HOWEVER, I'll throw this in the ring -

Whilst potentially spelling, grammar, and the old niceties of language have gone out the window, some evidence (let's say the University of Rhode Island) suggests that current/younger generation is better than the previous one at expressing themselves via the written word.

They might not be able to spell most of those words, but they use written communication for the majority of their relationships with other people, as opposed to an older generation more accustomed to verbal communication - this has created an ability to express and understand a far more interesting and varied range of thoughts, feelings, and ideas via these runes you are reading now, than ever before.


TL:DR

If you're upset about people messing up their literature so they can be "INB4" someone else,
How do you feel about......LOLLERSKATES?


    / \ O
      / \ /
    /\
  /    \
LOL LOL

[Sea Monster]

All you need to say can be expressed with a simple "ough".

This cracked me up, because the most common words to be butchered are ones ending in ough.

What the hell is a borough anyway? (borrow? burrow? barrow? boroff? bow-ruff? bo-rooge? Come on, someone help me out here!)


A fun game is asking people to spell twelfth. That's a bloody stupid word if I ever I heard one.

[Whoey]

this is what sparked this thread idea, it's been fixed since:

[firiki]

Pretty sure the only reason I still have a job is because I can really read.......like instructions, RTFM & all that smurf.

People can't read anymore, so they are just happily ignorant.

What crawls up my nose is you native english speakers that can't figure out THERE and THEIR..........ffs I had to learn that 25+ years ago, and not my monkey, not my circus   

 

That one is bad, but "your" and "you're" is much more irritating!

What's worse is seeing that people make mistake X in this sentence but not the next one...

"Oh, they're good! There very good."