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Grammar, speling and punkchooation pedants

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  • hogweedhogweed Posts: 4,053
    @B3 That made me chuckle in a day not for chuckling. Thank you.
    'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    😉
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    For those who know a bit of French, there was a hairdresser not far from our home in Belgium called "Coiff'hair".  


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    I always assume it's fat thumbs or predictive text😉
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    @1Runnybeak1 - we do know there are people with problems such as yours as well as cases like my daughter who has very "creative" spelling in English as she was educated in French.

    Doesn't stop us old codgers who did get serious grammar education form having a bit of fun tho and shouldn't stop you posting.   It's all the same to the plants after all.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    My brother can spell the same word five different ways but you can still read it.
    Even though I'm a literacy tutor, I think spelling is a load of b****x but punctuation is a necessary evil.
    In my personal life, I don't give a rat's rectum how a word is spelt. What matters to me is what a person has to say.
    My brain is wired for conventional spelling. In the great scheme of post apocalyptic survival skills, it wouldn't even get on the list!
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • BenCottoBenCotto Posts: 4,718

    My education put emphasis on spelling and grammar. I still remember those lessons where we had to parse sentences and detect noun clauses in apposition. Spelling tests also featured frequently. The upshot is that, decades later, I am comfortable with spelling and sentence construction. 

    When words are misspelt they jar. The same is true of grammatical errors, though people will rightly ask who lays down the rules in a language that is fluid. Does it matter if a word is wrongly spelt or used, if a verb does not agree with a noun? In some cases I would say yes because, whether right or wrong, in certain situations judgements are being made and they can have an influence on the way you are treated. Mostly it matters not a jot.

    Is it stretching the ‘does it matter’ argument to ask if it matters if people belch in public or eat with their mouths open? Like I said, yes because there are occasions when judgements are being made. 

    And just as a footnote I believe there are six recorded instances of Shakespeare’s signature: all are different, none is the version we use today. You might argue if it is good enough for our greatest ever wordsmith ....

    Rutland, England
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    That's how I justify teaching spelling. But,hopefully, one day it will get the irrelevance it deserves.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I too had the hwole parsing sentences and structure grammatical education and, for my sins, enjoyed it.   It helped no end with French and Latin as well as writing essays in other subjects.

    When I first moved to Belgium in 1991 I met two ladies, only 2 years younger and who ahd missed out after teachers/ Min of Ed decided grammar was boring and elitist.   They too signed up for French classes but fund it unfathomable because, if you can't tell a direct object from an indirect object it's impossible to do the agreements with past participles which is basic to French grammar.  They never even got as far as the subjunctive before they gave up.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • B3B3 Posts: 27,505
    There was a place in kent spelt Trottiscliffe pronounced Trossley. The signs all say Trossley now.
    I knew some Australians who spent quite a frustrating time looking for Rootham (Wrotham) but some of their own towns have creative spellings too.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
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