The correct way to respond to misspelling and grammar

[Rion Atkinson]

I would like to say that Alivia is right to a point. I did indeed think that it was more appropriate to ask my question via a PM simply because I felt it was not a "big" issue and felt it was better asked in a PM than risk causing a huge problem in the thread.

I would also like to publicly apologize to Craig. I did not mean for it to be known he was the sender of the message, but certain post made that impossible to do. So I centralized the information given in those posts on my OP. I am sorry for that Craig. I was trying to address the way in which one should respond to misspellings and grammatical errors. It went about doing so in the wrong way.

Again. I apologize for this.

-Rion

(Oh. And Craig. On the Six email accounts, I recommend using Mozilla Thunderbird. I only have 2, but that's bow I keep track of them all. )

[JaneYoung]

All the good intentions of folks that are focused on misspelled words, grammar, and punctuation - just may be backfiring to some extent. I include myself in being a part of the reason that is behind the backfiring. We may be making it too uncomfortable for people to post here at the moment. Even worse, they may feel uncomfortable in an e-mail exchange. I am experiencing a little of that with some people whose opinions I value and trust, but who are feeling somewhat intimidated by all of this judgment.

At some point, even for me, this gets just too weird to deal with. I'm as excited as everyone else is regarding the upcoming season, but I hope I don't spend my time on CD creating an atmosphere that feels vise-like and hypercritical. If I do, please send me a pm and tell me to cut it out. This is a community made up of FIRSTers and people who support FIRST. I'd love to see some threads discussing that - building community, sharing information, networking. We're going to need that as more and more opportunities head our way over the next few months and years.

Jane

[JudyVandy]

All right, I've had it. My cup has overflown! (Is that the correct form of the verb???)

I am a curmudgeon about the proper form of written English, but I think that some of us have gone over the top here.

To be short and relatively sweet, refusing to answer an honest question which may have a few incidental grammar or spelling errors is not gracious.

We are human and very few of us have never made such mistakes. (Proofread some of the posts!)

In my opinion, a gentle reminder, done privately and addressing the specific situation, is the most gracious way to address an individual situation.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by JudyVandy

All right, I've had it. My cup has overflown! (Is that the correct form of the verb???)

I am a curmudgeon about the proper form of written English, but I think that some of us have gone over the top here.

To be short and relatively sweet, refusing to answer an honest question which may have a few incidental grammar or spelling errors is not gracious.

We are human and very few of us have never made such mistakes. (Proofread some of the posts!)

In my opinion, a gentle reminder, done privately and addressing the specific situation, is the most gracious way to address an individual situation.

I do not think I could of said it any better.

[Daniel_LaFleur]

These boards are for open communication.

Communication is an attempt to convey information, and gain an understanding between the sender and the recipients.

Grammar and spelling are nothing but the rules by which we gain that understanding.

When people decide not to follow those rules they run the risk of not being understood, and the information failing to be transferred. Since this writing is the only information we have to judge the writer, we may come to believe that that person is less intelligent (be that true or not, it will be the view of those who cannot understand his writing). Remember, you will be judged not only by what you write, but by how you write because it is all we have to go on.

The above, as normal, is JM(NS)HO.

[BobC]

BUT NOT EVERYONE IS AS WELL EDUCATED AS SOME OTHERS. SOME PEOPLE HAVE LIFE LONG LEARNING DISABILITIES AND MAY NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO COMMUNICATE PROPERLY. ALL ANYONE DOES IS COME HERE LOOKING FOR HELP. TRY TO COMMUNICATE TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITIES. THEN THEY GET SHUT OFF BECAUSE THEY SPELLED A WORD WRONG OR DID NOT FORM A PROPER SENTENCE SHAME ON THE PEOPLE THAT WILL NOT HELP THEM.

[Andrew Schreiber]

Originally Posted by BobC

BUT NOT EVERYONE IS AS WELL EDUCATED AS SOME OTHERS. SOME PEOPLE HAVE LIFE LONG LEARNING DISABILITIES AND MAY NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO COMMUNICATE PROPERLY. ALL ANYONE DOES IS COME HERE LOOKING FOR HELP. TRY TO COMMUNICATE TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITIES. THEN THEY GET SHUT OFF BECAUSE THEY SPELLED A WORD WRONG OR DID NOT FORM A PROPER SENTENCE SHAME ON THE PEOPLE THAT WILL NOT HELP THEM.

I know someone like that, in fact they are a very good friend of mine. They do indeed try to the best of their abilities but they recognize that they often have a hard time saying what they think. I respect these people for trying.

We aren't talking about "shutting off" anyone because they misspelled a word. We are discussing not responding to someone who has obviously not made any effort to communicate in a socially acceptable manner. When I see a post that is terrible one day I probably respond. If the next post is terrible I might shoot them a PM (unless it is obvious they are just bad at English). If they respond to the PM blowing me off with "Bah, I am too busy to be bothered." then I will not answer another question they ask. I may even go so far as to hit the neg rep button on the next poorly written post in a last ditch effort to let them know it is not an effective way of communicating.

On a semi related note. Do you really need to use Caps Lock? It makes your post go from a great post to reading solely as "RAGE! ARGH!!!!!!!"

[BobC]

It was meant to be rage because I am upset about this subject. That some people thinking they are better than others without knowing them. It may keep some people from asking questions because they are afraid they will get ridiculed.

[David Brinza]

if some one posts a question without anypunktuation or capital letters were it is two hard to figure wut there axing i might answer there question but i might comment on there gramer and speling two.

Any problems with that??

[BobC]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

if some one posts a question without anypunktuation or capital letters were it is two hard to figure wut there axing i might answer there question but i might comment on there gramer and speling two.

Any problems with that??

looks good 2 me and i agree but I will not comment in public.

[ATannahill]

Originally Posted by David Brinza

if some one posts a question without anypunktuation or capital letters were it is two hard to figure wut there axing i might answer there question but i might comment on there gramer and speling two.

Any problems with that??

I refuse to answer your question due to a. poor grammar b. poor punctuation c. poor spelling d. I need more evil points.

I can see your point but I will leave my line open to definition by me and only me.

[Alivia]

*sigh*

I'm afraid this is another one of those topics in which everyone has his/her own opinion, and we'll never really end up agreeing one way or another.

As for me...

PM and ask me questions all you want. Try your best to practice some good punctuation and grammar, but I'll understand if you make a mistake or two or several. I'll answer you to the best of my ability.

And for any new users out there reading this? Don't be scared to ask for clarification. For it is by questioning that we learn the most.

[David Brinza]

Please excuse my prior sarcastic post. I wondered if I could actually rite like that...

I've PM'd a few CD newbies in the past to help them get better results from their posts. Here's the basic content of my message (or is it a sermon?):

ChiefDelphi is an open forum for exchanging ideas, asking questions and tapping into the expertise of some true experts. Many of the mentors who actively participate in CD discussions are professional engineers (such as myself) or business people. We have high standards for almost everything, because it is the nature of our world. Time and communication skills are highly valued in our "real world", so try to respect that.

You need to take a little more time with your posts. If you have a question, please search the forums (I do this all the time). If you don't find any prior threads that address your question, then go ahead and post it. If you want to get the best responses to your question, take the time to ask it correctly. By correctly I mean, use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling to ask the question as clearly as possible. If that seems to difficult to do, keep in mind that the people who might give you the best answer might not have the time or desire to try to understand what you are asking.

CD has a lot to offer because it isn't a lightweight chat-room, instead it's a forum to tap into incredible resources of expert knowledge. Used properly, CD can save you a lot of time, frustration and even money.

Posting on CD shouldn't be intimidating, but if you have a serious question, how you ask it can determine the quality of the answers. This thread: How to Ask Questions the Smart Way is well worth perusing. The article Brandon cites was written for hackers, but applies more generally.

[Mark McLeod]

Originally Posted by BobC

BUT NOT EVERYONE IS AS WELL EDUCATED AS SOME OTHERS. SOME PEOPLE HAVE LIFE LONG LEARNING DISABILITIES AND MAY NOT HAVE THE CAPABILITIES TO COMMUNICATE PROPERLY. ALL ANYONE DOES IS COME HERE LOOKING FOR HELP. TRY TO COMMUNICATE TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITIES. THEN THEY GET SHUT OFF BECAUSE THEY SPELLED A WORD WRONG OR DID NOT FORM A PROPER SENTENCE SHAME ON THE PEOPLE THAT WILL NOT HELP THEM.

Ow! Ow! Ow!
That hurts my eyes!
Please, somebody make him stop...

I'll be good and promise to answer questions, I swear...

[Molten]

Originally Posted by BobC

TRY TO COMMUNICATE TO THE BEST OF THEIR ABILITIES.

This is the perfect example of someone not trying to communicate to the best of their abilities. If someone were to continually post in all caps, I'd stop reading their posts. There is no disability that causes a person to lose control of their caps lock key. There is also no excuse for not capitalizing your sentences. I understand that some may not be able to form sentences properly. I also understand that some people can't spell the best. Can someone name a disability that causes the person to speak in leet? Or that takes away their control of their caps lock/shift key? If not, then there really isn't an excuse for these type of problems.

Also, it really doesn't matter how much something annoys you...there is no need for yelling on CD.