Why can't people spell?

[entirelyturbo]

It doesn't bother me that much, because I realize that no one on the face of the earth can spell as good as me.

[Tleg93]

I'm with ya on that one. It's annoying to see really poor grammar and spelling. It makes it hard to understand what you're trying to read. Dangling participles and prepositional phrases get me going.


Here's some I dare you to remember how to spell

PNEUMONO­ULTRA­MICRO­SCOPIC­SILICO­VOLCANO­KONIOSIS = a lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.

HEPATICO­CHOLANGIO­CHOLECYST­ENTERO­STOMIES = a surgical creation of a connection between the gall bladder and a hepatic duct and between

[entirelyturbo]

PNEUMONO­ULTRA­MICRO­SCOPIC­SILICO­VOLCANO­KONIOSIS = a lung disease caused by breathing in particles of siliceous volcanic dust.

I always thought it was Coniosis...

Bah! I was wrong the whole time!

I got the rest of it right though.

[tris91ricer]

Pssssh, who needs words that big? Make it sentence, ass.



It's okay, Scott, I don't blame you, I blame the volcanos.

[AWD_addict]

Grammatical errors are more annoying than spelling errors. Even if a word is spelled incorrectly, you can probably still cmprehnd it.

[vrg3]

methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutamin-
ylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolyl-
phenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamylglu-
taminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanyl-
glycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylala-
nylserylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylgluta-
minylasparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylgly-
cylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionyl-
leucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleu-
cylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylva-
lylphenylalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyro-
sylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleu-
cylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphe-
nylalanylarginylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylala-
nylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylas-
partylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosyl-
glycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycyl-
valylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleu-
cylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparagi-
nylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylse-
rylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanyl-
glycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalylly-
sylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylpro-
lylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalyl-
glutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine, n.:
The chemical name for tryptophan synthetase A protein, a
1,913-letter enzyme with 267 amino acids.

[Tleg93]

Eeeeks!!

That...that...is one heckuva wordy word. How about mesoanadeliochrontitis.

I've noticed that threads, like the universe, tend to go from the general to the specific...

[entirelyturbo]

Vikash, I think you won

Even if a word is spelled incorrectly, you can probably still cmprehnd it.

Jsut lkie you can udnerstnad wrdos taht hvae the letetrs in the mddlie all mesesd up but the frist and last are stlil the smae...

[-K-]

I can't believe how insensitive all of you are of the learn'd impared. Shame on you to judge them just because they sound stupid on the internet.

Funny story about spelling.
One of my best friends is a girl I have know for a long time. She grew up and became a teacher, an English teacher.
While I was in Iraq I wrote a lot of letters to family and friends because I didn't have access to the internet all the time. Every time I would write her a letter I had this terrible, crazy, unexplainable fear that I would get it back in the mail with red ink all over my bad spelling and grammar.... Weird

[legacy92ej22t]

^^^

[vrg3]

Comprehend, maybe, but try doing a search on a topic when people misspell it all the time.

[THAWA]

I can't believe how insensitive all of you are of the learn'd impared. Shame on you to judge them just because they sound stupid on the internet.

I gave up trying to be understanding about spelling. There's just too many people that don't understand a good chunk of the english language. Too many people just don't care about their education.

[93Leg-c]

methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosylglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutamin-
ylleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycylalanylphenylalanylvalylprolyl-
phenylalanylvalylthreonylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylglutamylglu-
taminylserylleucyllysylisoleucylaspartylthreonylleucylisoleucylglutamylalanyl-
glycylalanylaspartylalanylleucylglutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylala-
nylserylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylprolylthreonylisoleucylgluta-
minylasparaginylalanylthreonylleucylarginylalanylphenylalanylalanylalanylgly-
cylvalylthreonylprolylalanylglutaminylcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionyl-
leucylalanylleucylisoleucylarginylglutaminyllysylhistidylprolylthreonylisoleu-
cylprolylisoleucylglycylleucylleucylmethionyltyrosylalanylasparaginylleucylva-
lylphenylalanylasparaginyllysylglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalanyltyro-
sylalanylglutaminylcysteinylglutamyllysylvalylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleu-
cylvalylalanylaspartylvalylprolylvalylglutaminylglutamylserylalanylprolylphe-
nylalanylarginylglutaminylalanylalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginylvalylala-
nylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalanylas-
partylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginylglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosyl-
glycylarginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrosylleucylleucylserylarginylalanylglycyl-
valylthreonylglycylalanylglutamylasparaginylarginylalanylalanylleucylprolylleu-
cylasparaginylhistidylleucylvalylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamyltyrosylasparagi-
nylalanylalanylprolylprolylleucylglutaminylglycylphenylalanylglycylisoleucylse-
rylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminylvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalanyl-
glycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylserylglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalylly-
sylisoleucylisoleucylglutamylglutaminylhistidylasparaginylisoleucylglutamylpro-
lylglutamyllysylmethionylleucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanylvalyl-
glutaminylprolylmethionyllysylalanylalanylthreonylarginylserine, n.:
The chemical name for tryptophan synthetase A protein, a
1,913-letter enzyme with 267 amino acids.

vrg3, isn't there supposed to be an "i" instead of a "y" right there in the middle of the word? j/k

BTW, can you pronounce that word in one breath?

[vrg3]

Hehehehe... Maybe there is... you'll have to take it up with the Berkeley folks.

I can't even type it. I just copied and pasted from output of the BSD fortune cookie program.

[Tleg93]

I wonder if that one's in the Word spell checker.

[vrg3]

Hehehe... Someone with Word try it and let us know. =)

[Tleg93]

I was just being funny but I checked it and I didn't get any errors except for the last line and that was due to an extra space.

lol, It has to be because of the hyphens. I just can't imagine that word being in Bill's dictionary. No, it's not, I checked it out.

[93Leg-c]

My spell checker didn't mark it as an incorrectly spelled or unfamiliar word. So, I added another letter in the word and still the spellchecker did not mark it. So, I guess it doesn't know or the amount of letters is beyond its capacity to process.

BTW, I didn't bother looking it up but which is the correct spelling--spell checker or spellchecker (one or two words)?

[Tleg93]

It appears they're both correct.

[93Leg-c]

Thanks, I learned something.

Isn't it funny how even the spelling of English words change? "All right" was spelled "alright" decades ago.

[Tleg93]

The deal with all right and alright is strange since they both mean generally the same thing except that alright is informal and has more general usage than all right.

Can say
"Do you want to go to the store with me?"
"Alright" I said

Can't say
"Do you want to go the store with me?"
"All right"

But you can say "Everything will be all right" or "Everything will be alright"

[93Leg-c]

Heh heh, I'm going to say something not to be confrontational but to relate what my English teacher emphasized to me. And I have since found that what one English teacher says is a definite rule isn't always what another English teacher will teach. So here goes . . .

One of my English teachers very emphatically told me that the spelling "alright" is no longer proper and current. She said, "In EVERY circumstance, NO EXCEPTIONS (capitalized words were what she emphasized), the proper spelling is ALWAYS 'all right,' not 'alright.' Do you understand?"

We had a conversation on that similar to the examples you just gave. But no matter what examples I brought up, she always (all ways???) ended the conversation similar to the above statement.

BTW, I personally agree with what you just posted in the usage of "alright" and "all right."

[Tleg93]

Usage Note: Despite the appearance of the form alright in works of such well-known writers as Langston Hughes and James Joyce, the single word spelling has never been accepted as standard. This is peculiar, since similar fusions such as already and altogether have never raised any objections. The difference may lie in the fact that already and altogether became single words back in the Middle Ages, whereas alright has only been around for a little more than a century and was called out by language critics as a misspelling. Consequently, one who uses alright, especially in formal writing, runs the risk that readers may view it as an error or as the willful breaking of convention.

I agree with what your teacher said in theory and I'm not trying to be arrogant or confrontational but I've been known to hold my own with English teachers. Anyway, there was this circuit tester at the place I used to work at (smart guy) and he opened my eyes to a interesting thought. English has survived as a language because of it's ability to incorporate new forms and ideas, it's a living language. Languages that don't incorporate new word forms and ideas over time wind up like Latin, dead (except in text books and rare cases but nobody speaks latin anymore). I wouldn't use alright in a paper to avoid the risk of anal retentive professor wrath but in an informal setting and in novels it's just fine. Look at Stephen King, his books are full of fragmented sentences but it works for the situation.

I was an English major at one point. I love words and language.

[93Leg-c]

Thanks for that quote and your thoughts. May I ask where that quote came from (in case I come across someone like my former English teacher)?

Until that English teacher said what she said, I always used "alright." Since then, I've been conscious of NOT writing it that way "because it was not right." I've held myself to it but I've never held anyone to writing it that way.

However, now I'm smiling as I think I'll be using "alright" more often. Alright!

By your posts I could see your passion for the English language. Actually, I was wondering if you were an English teacher.

[vrg3]

English teachers often also say it's incorrect to start a sentence with a conjunction. But, sometimes it works well. And, it's not really incorrect but rather frowned upon.

And they say you should never end a sentence with a preposition; however, some sentences' constructions would be horribly awkward if they were structured to follow this guideline. I don't think it's the kind of "rule" we should put up with.