Lighten up!

[Z0wner]

I think the administrator should create a rule against using poor grammer, not using correct punctuation, typing street slang, not using the proper forms of synonyms, using 'text' words, and the likes of other things. Some people... I just don't get.

 

Seriously, how hard is it to speak/type English? Most have a high school education?!*

 

:::well some of us anyway:mrgreen::::

 

*but seriously, put a rule in the terms of agreement. You could even put it in BOLD font

[silicone boy]

I agree with John. I'm particularly sensitive to this issue because I was blessed with a superhuman ability to spell (Spellcheck was my kryptonite) and cursed with a tendency to construct extremely long and complex sentences verging on "run-ons". Examine the last sentence and you'll see what I mean. As a result, I'm all for just getting your point across. If it's full of spelling errors, all the better because it makes me feel superhuman again.

[Dan Juday]

I just came here from that "other" thread.

 

I feel much better now.

[Lewis Maudlin]

I agree with John. I'm particularly sensitive to this issue because I was blessed with a superhuman ability to spell (Spellcheck was my kryptonite) and cursed with a tendency to construct extremely long and complex sentences verging on "run-ons". Examine the last sentence and you'll see what I mean. As a result, I'm all for just getting your point across. If it's full of spelling errors, all the better because it makes me feel superhuman again.

 

Even the best are not perfect. Let's examine this sentence:

 

Examine the last sentence and you'll see what I mean.

 

Shouldn't there be a . after "Examine the last sentence"?

A comma-conjunction would do, however, the conjunction does not serve its function. Maybe just "Examine the last sentence, and you'll see what I mean".

[DavyZ]

I just came here from that "other" thread.

 

I feel much better now.

 

 

Yes, I saw that one too At least you're here among friends! LOL

 

Davy

[280zwitha383]

This subject reminds me of shaking hands. Most people around my age want to do the whole hi-five hand shake. I was not raised shaking poeple's hands that way and when people come towards me with their hand partially extended around their chest area I usually grab their hand and shake it. A traditional handshake just holds more dignity in my opinion. However, on occasion I will let loose a little and shake a friend's hand the more modern way.

 

This same frame of mind applies to the grammar used in posts. There are a lot of respectable people here with more knowledge than most people I come into contact with day-to-day. Therefore, I approach posting in the most respectable way possible. I think that this site is and should be held to a higher standard than mosts forums (all that I've ever seen). However, once you deem yourself as higher than everyone else you have to be weary of being snotty. A kind request to be more grammatical in a person's first post is perfectly justified and that person's response to a kind request should determine how they are treated afterward.

[DaleMX]

Is this is English comp 101, or a forum of car enthusiasts?

 

I always go over my posts an edit out any errors that I find (like the one above). For what it's worth I usually copy my posts into WORD and run the spell checker to ferret out any problems. It really makes a difference when others are reading it.

[pparaska]

Well, that "other" post just got put into the Toolshed, by me. Instead of the original author taking some kind advice about using a bit of grammar, he got defensive and flamed back. To me, that's the greater issue - show respect for those you are asking help from. He didn't do that. So I closed that thread.

 

I'm not a great speller. I USED to use Word to check spelling and sometimes will check a word with it. I have i-e dislexia, well that's what I call it anyway. I seem to get the correct order of i and e wrong about half the time. I think that kind of stuff is almost transparent to most people, since I use capitals to start sentences, periods to end them, use paragraphs, etc.

 

I'm not a stickler for excellent grammar. As long as I can easily read the paragraphs someone posts, I'm happy. But if someone:

 

- uses a bunch of street slang, so as to be almost unitelligible by anyone not in their circle or age/demographic group

- uses "text messaging" (r = are, etc.)

- runs all the words together with ellipsis (from Wikipedia : "in printing and writing, the term refers to the row of three dots (…) or asterisks (* * *) indicating such an intentional omission." )

- refuses to break up thoughts into paragraphs

 

then I have little sympathy for them, IF they are capable of doing so.

 

If I see that someone is from outside of the US or says that English is not their first language, then I give a bunch of slack. But if someone says they know how to use decent grammar, but refuse to post with it, well, to the toolshed with them.

 

After all, if someone either wants information or is trying to give good information, they should give due diligence to providing posts that are easy to read, as if they were written in a magazine, etc. Being cute or lazy will only get you less attention or looked down upon.

[Jersey]

Typoglycemia...

 

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch taem at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Such a cdonition is arppoiately cllaed Typoglycemia -

Amzanig huh? Yaeh and yuo awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

 

[pparaska]

Yes that is amazing. But I'd hate to see a technical question or answer come through like that!

[pparaska]

Case in point : Post number 12 here: http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=108582

 

I'm going to start deleting these posts.

[gb20]

I am definatly not the best as far as grammer goes. I do try, and read posts several times trying to fake it.

 

Being new to the technical side of cars, I tend to get confused sometimes. I really appreciate it when the information is put together clearly. Even I don't understand all the info, at least I can read it and come back to it when I do.

[Jersey]

Here's a real easy way for some of you that may not have the ability to create a semi-legible post/reply:

 

Type your post or reply in an application like Microsoft Word, have it do a spelling and grammar check, let it correct your mistakes then cut and paste it into a thread here.

 

This way the post is legible for everyone who's interested to read and may just reply with an answer that helps you out.

[Tim240z]

Bottom line: It is rule number 9 in the official rules and guidlines. Time to start enforcing them....

[280zwitha383]

HAHAHA, not thinking I copied and pasted Jersey's post into word to show it to my fiance. It thought for a second, spit out the text and then started underlining each word in red one by one......

 

Couple the information he had in his post and the fact that your brain flips everything you see because initially you see it upside down and you can see why some people are so stupid.....

[Guest tony78_280z]

Dave (and all that are engrossed in this little tête-à-tête)' date='

I for one, do not expect everyone's grammer and spelling to be perfect, however, when it is soo bad that one needs to read it several times just get the jist of the post, that is rediculous.....A little extra effort would go a long way.[/quote']

 

I find it hard to read anything without an attempt at punctuation. I can't spell worth a crap, but I do know when to end a sentence/thought.

 

I can even read those crappy e-mails... where the person gives up on trying punctuation... instead....they pause with just a few dots.... and then continue the statement....but a rambling of words with no end just confuses me.

 

The idear of this forum is communication, we should do our best to be sure we communicate effectively.

 

"Idear" a midwest bastardization of the word "Idea".

[grumpyvette]

personally.....if I can understand EXACTLY, what they are writing about,and its obvious its only occasional typos or mis-spelled words, Im fine with it!

(hey I went to college! .....it SUCKED!, ESPECIALLY ENGLISH, CLASSES, but you know,I GOT THRU IT!, it was a necessary step in becomming an engineer).

hell this is a car forum not a college english class and we,re here to discuss cars and related projects not critique spelling, IM more than willing to overlook minor stuff, lifes too short to be that ANAL in my opinion!

as to the single letter (WORDS) like (U R)=(you are) or ubonics (DIZZY= DISTRIBUTOR) yeah its a P.I.T.A. to read at times, but I can live with it. IM more than willing to overlook minor stuff.

lets let the SMALL STUFF SLIDE!

and if it WON,T MATTER TO YOU A YEAR FROM NOW ITS SMALL STUFF!

hey I make my share of typos, and its not going to cause the world to stop functioning any more that a few you may make!

[desert dog]

You want good advice from me on a car forum? You better at LEAST punctuate your run-on paragraphs. If I see a big long paragraph with no punctuation, I don't even try to read it. I end up reading a bunch of lines over and over.

 

If you want info, make it LEGIBLE.

 

Spelling is kind of secondary. I know most people nowadays don't care, and the media makes sure the masses remain confused with their "creative" ways of spelling things sometimes...

 

Regarding internet slang, i.e., U, RU, etc..., some are easy to figure out, some just make a confusing sentence even more so.

 

To me, if you don't care what you post looks like, don't feel bad when someone on the board thinks you are mentally challenged, and expect the response you will most likely get.

 

BTW, on the 300ZXclub board, my favorite response to a long non-punctuated paragraph is,

 

"Hey, did you know the comma, period, semi-colon and colon keys are working on your keyboard? You might want to check it out."

 

I am starting to digress though...

 

Mike

[dr_hunt]

IMO if that is the only problem in your life then your doing well!!!!!!!

 

It is important to remember that nobody is perfect, and there is usually extenuating circumstances. Some people can't spell and some people can't type, some can't do either at the same time. IMO there are exceptions as noted earlier in this thread and enforcement is most likely an issue. However don't let common sense escape in the wake of rules and enforcement please.

 

David

[John Scott]

I had no idea this topic would generate this much of a response. I’m sure most would agree, the overall intuition of staff and seasoned members is typically in check. Back when I was moderating, HybridZ had a membership in the low hundreds resulting in a relatively easy task of removing a profanity, racist remark, moving a post here or there, and reminding a member or two to behave. As always, when things got out of hand, Mike Kelly would step in, lay down the law, and after fair warning kick the offending member out on his proverbial @$$. Now, with ten times the membership, moderators and administrators have an overwhelmingly large number of threads to follow. Maintaining a higher standard than most car forums certainly is a benefit for those serious about gleaning information. I participate in a few other forums some with much more worldwide participation. Since they are based in English, tolerance is high since errors in translation, grammar, syntax, spelling are common. If my next statement breeches the political rule please remove, but I believe our nation is changing in language and the way we communicate as well. I would hate to alienate a new member with pertinent information just because of a slight language barrier or their style of communication. Admittedly, since I tend to scan posts rather than read them word for word, I don’t always see the outcome of a thread. After reading the recent post, mercifully put in the Tool shed, I will rescind some of what I stated, and apologize for taking so much space. Perhaps its time for this thread to find its way in the ol’ tool shed as well and make room for more relevant information. John