Grammar and Capitalization Rules

[FarrisK]

Hey Admins!

Is there a way that we can add a rule to the list that says users should use decent grammar and capitalization (as well as adequate spelling) rules as they type new threads and responses to threads? It's very frustrating trying to read something like:

Originally Posted by brandnewmember

omg my car is compleetley ded and i hav no idea wut went wrong plz halp my car is ded!!!!!!!!1!!!!!! tia 4 teh help!!!!!!!!

Not to mention the fact that a post like that clutters up the boards because no one knows how to help the person in need. It seems like it's mainly when a new member joins and posts a brand new thread asking for some simple thing that has already been answered before.


Oooh! We could also add that the titles of threads should be at least SOMEWHAT descriptive, not just

Originally Posted by newthread

2002 TDI Beetle problem

[FarrisK]

I just read through what I typed and realized that I should add



to the end.

It's just so frustrating when people type in here like they would in an instant messaging chat!

[noR]

wut wrong wit dat? S'cool man, you'll get it.

Here, try this: http://tinyurl.com/4xj9o9

[scarabY2k]

I tend to agree with you. For a minute, I thought this was an anal-retentive over-sensitive post on a few grammatical errors, but happily it isn't. Granted we make a typo here and there, no problem. And sometimes we might slang it up, just for emotional effect; even an OMG is okay in my book. But yeah, i agree you shouldn't type in a forum or blog using IM spelling. It just looks ignorant. Either that, or someone is practicing for iCanHasCheesburger.com. Whatever the case, it won't raise my blood pressure and sutff

My .02 cents

[VW Lady Bug]

Originally Posted by FarrisK

I just read through what I typed and realized that I should add



to the end.

It's just so frustrating when people type in here like they would in an instant messaging chat!

I'll gladly join in on your rant. As a college English professor, you'd be amazed at the papers that students turn in using "text" language as I call it. Granted, in certain situations I tend to be less formal than in others, but we need to remember that the point of writing is to communicate! And if no one can understand what you're typing, then you're not really communicating are you?

[noR]

Heh, I really liked the first post, but there's no computerized way of doing that. Just today I had to delete alot of junk tags, because people thought it'd be "cute" to add junk that doesn't help people find solutions/problems.

Heh, the headers get to me too, maybe I'll start editing them in the future; but then I face "over-moderating". Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I just kinda hold onto hope that "man is inherently good" and that people will do things to make things easier, better, and faster for others.

Hahahahaha, not likely; this is the internet.

[raff]

Originally Posted by VW Lady Bug

I'll gladly join in on your rant. As a college English professor, you'd be amazed at the papers that students turn in using "text" language as I call it. Granted, in certain situations I tend to be less formal than in others, but we need to remember that the point of writing is to communicate! And if no one can understand what you're typing, then you're not really communicating are you?

Well said !

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by noR

Heh, the headers get to me too, maybe I'll start editing them in the future; but then I face "over-moderating". Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

Ron, in my opinion, if the titles of a ton of future posts are not descriptive enough to tell people what the body of the post is about, then the Search function will suck.

IMHO, you can't over-moderate until you start changing the basics of what people are saying (Such as changing "My Beetle is blue." into "My Beetle is a giant polka dotted gummy worm."

[CrazyJames]

Originally Posted by FarrisK

Ron, in my opinion, if the titles of a ton of future posts are not descriptive enough to tell people what the body of the post is about, then the Search function will suck.

IMHO, you can't over-moderate until you start changing the basics of what people are saying (Such as changing "My Beetle is blue." into "My Beetle is a giant polka dotted gummy worm."

DaMn YoU HaVe FoIlEd My PlAnS oF ChAnGiNg AlL bLuE nEwBeEtLeS iNtO gIaNt PoLkA dOtTeD gUmMy WoRms!!

NoW yOu MuSt DiE!!!111!~`!!!~onehundredeleventythousandand1

[chiltepin]

Actually, what will happen is that people whose English is too ungrammatical or badly spelled to be understood will get ignored.

In a sense, I make a living (copy editing) off other people's bad English. Also, I'm myself a moderator on two other sites, on one of which I get to see quite a lot of bad spelling and grammar. If it gets as bad as the example above, other members protest.

[CoriBug]

I was just thinking a couple days ago about this. Vague thread titles don't help anyone. The grammar and spelling errors bug me too. When I start to read a poorly typed post, sometimes I won't finish reading it because it's hard to read!! Nice to know others have felt the same frustration.

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by VW Lady Bug

I'll gladly join in on your rant. As a college English professor, you'd be amazed at the papers that students turn in using "text" language as I call it. Granted, in certain situations I tend to be less formal than in others, but we need to remember that the point of writing is to communicate! And if no one can understand what you're typing, then you're not really communicating are you?

As Raff just stated, and I concur, well said. You would think that some post entries are from people who's English studies were based on IM grammar only. It's as if they never learned proper English. I'm no English major, but I think I can carry on a half-way decent conversation via the written word

You think the typed word can be difficult, try to decipher the spoken word these days from some of my fellow black Americans; it's a language in itself. Come to think of it, it's pretty universal, and not exclusive to one race. When someone speaks and every other work is "like", it can be frustrating.

[hestersu]

Amen Al. I too have difficulty reading a lot of posts. I just give up and bypass them. Sometimes you see someone get all huffy that their post wasn't answered. I really want to say "type something we can understand and we will help you!". This is nuts.

I recently started using Firefox 3. There is a built in spell checker that let's me know when I misspell a word. It doesn't help with other grammar issues, but at least most of my words are correctly spelled.

[scarabY2k]

Firefox3 rocks Gotta love the spell check

[FarrisK]

FF2 has a built in spell check as well, but that's beside the point.

Another issue with having poorly worded/misspelled/mislabeled threads is that if there IS (by some miracle) a nugget of information in the thread that is helpful to someone else, they will never find it because the search function won't pull it up.

Then they will post up the question again, thus cluttering up the boards with repeat threads.

[mybugrocks]

I know what you mean with the spelling and grammatical issues, I know I don't always use correct grammar but I hope I haven't bugged any of you guys with it...most of the time i will spell out my words but i don't capitalize or use apostrophes...is that a problem?? please be honest because I do post quite often...i agree with all of you though people need to not use the abbreviated IM slang

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by mybugrocks

I know what you mean with the spelling and grammatical issues, I know I don't always use correct grammar but I hope I haven't bugged any of you guys with it...most of the time i will spell out my words but i don't capitalize or use apostrophes...is that a problem?? please be honest because I do post quite often...i agree with all of you though people need to not use the abbreviated IM slang

MBR: Your posts are fine. At least we can make sense of what you say. There are some people that post really vague or horribly punctuated (as in not at all) sentences in their threads.

[scarabY2k]

Originally Posted by mybugrocks

I know what you mean with the spelling and grammatical issues, I know I don't always use correct grammar but I hope I haven't bugged any of you guys with it...most of the time i will spell out my words but i don't capitalize or use apostrophes...is that a problem?? please be honest because I do post quite often...i agree with all of you though people need to not use the abbreviated IM slang

Originally Posted by FarrisK

MBR: Your posts are fine. At least we can make sense of what you say. There are some people that post really vague or horribly punctuated (as in not at all) sentences in their threads.

Well said FarrisK. I don't think we're trying to be anal with grammar and the like; no one is perfect. No one should feel as if they're walking on egg shells when they post, in fear of being ticketed by the grammar/punctuation police, especially when the poster is for the most part, using proper grammar.

I do believe, and I think I know where FarrisK is coming from.... just use the grammar/punctuation skills you were taught in school and not revert to IM speak. for the most part, the majority of us orgers strive to use proper grammar/punctuation; it's the few who use IM speak on purpose, thus making posts unreadable.

You're okay Casey....carry on.

[Boopster]

The only problem I have with this, is I don't text, so I don't know half the time how to translate these abbr.

[Boopster]

I thought more about this and I need a Texting book for dummies