A plea for good English

[Cub]

I would just like to put in a request for people to read their posts before submitting them. So many posts have multiple spelling mistakes and apalling grammar. Pat H submits a vast amount of posts, running at about 1500 at the last count, and I would estimate that about 50% of Pat's posts have at least one mistake and usually many more. I'm sure that this will rattle a few cages but it is annoying reading bad English and it distracts from the content of the post which in most cases is good stuff. All I am asking is that people read through their posts before sending them.

[Kempy]

Not wanting to bite but your post would be more credible if you had spelt "appalling" correctly.



Only two more weeks until she arrives..........

[bluescouse1878]

...and yet dispite the mistake, we all know what he meant...:)

[roobarb]

Poor spelling and bad grammar can be annoying, but it's worth bearing in mind that:
(a) for many visitors to this forum, English is not their first language;
(b) not all poor spelling and bad grammar is down to sloppiness or laziness.

Originally posted by bluescouse1878

...and yet dispite the mistake, we all know what he meant...:)


Which, in the end, is the whole point of language - conveying ideas from person to person.
:)

[Rob]

Waa waa waa [lol2]

Seriously though, I've noticed this too. I'll look into installing an easy to use spell checker. We may all want to look at Firefox 2.0 as well - it has one built in, and the forum is designed to work best with it. :D

[MD1]

Hear what you are saying Cub. Although I find the contributors on here are top notch [clap]compared to a NZ bike forum I use. Considering English is the national language in NZ the standard from the young'uns on the NZ forum is terrible. This issue is regularly raised, particularly the correct use of the near deceased apostrophe, but the Author is usually shot down in flames for being pickie.
Also the level of personal abuse and foul language is none existent here compared to the NZ site[clap].
As Roobarb said this is a truly international site and that's what I enjoy about it. I respect and welcome the input from those non English speaking countries - well done Guys. If you really want a laugh, let me try my rusty French for a change!

[Goolam]

As long the message comes across, I'm not one bit bothered...more important for me (and MD1 has it spot on), this forum is by far one of the most mature, non-offensive and above all, genuinely adult (and flame free) discussion groups I have encountered.

Regards all

[Rob]

Originally posted by Goolam


As long the message comes across, I'm not one bit bothered...more important for me (and MD1 has it spot on), this forum is by far one of the most mature, non-offensive and above all, genuinely adult (and flame free) discussion groups I have encountered.

Regards all


And now we have spell check... in 11 languages no less.

Your donations at work... i guess. :D

[Rob]

And now we have it on the quick reply and PM pages. :D

[pldac]

Spell check ..... used it already in both. It works. I can live with reading unchecked spelling though. It's sometimes part of the character.

[Dunny]

A plea for Good English.

Who cares....................[PO]

[keithr]

I agree with Goolam and Dunny. . . . . .

As long as the message comes across who cares about a few spelling or grammer errors - its not being marked by your English Teacher - get over it [bh]

[de100kb]

Nice new feature Rob now I don't have to copy/paste to Word every time to use the spellchecker. Thanks!

[madas]

English is such an amusing language, often quite unintentionally so. Incorrect spelling often adds a humorous slant with another reading of a topic which may (on occasion) need a little lightheartedness.....keep it real.

[Rob]

Alright - moving the to F800Riders.org Inside Line forum as this is site discussion now. :)

[Cub]

I was trying so hard to make sure that my post on bad spelling and grammar didn't have any mistakes and of course one slipped through. Funnily enough I asked the wife and a friend about the spelling of 'appalling' and the consensus was one 'p'. I accept the criticism for that one error but for people like Dunny to say 'who cares', well I say that I do and I know that others do as well as I have seen posts to that effect. The odd mistake one can live with but some posts have so many that it makes it hard to read and distracts from the content of the post. One good thing that has come from this post is that we now have the spell checker which is great. Thanks Rob.

[greyerbeard]

Originally posted by Dunny

A plea for Good English.

Who cares....................[PO]
Well, d'you know, some of us still do...

I can't be the only person who wouldn't employ someone who can't spell, or write good English, so there must be a lot of unemployed yoof out there - but really this forum is not as bad as some.
Completely agree with MD1 that part of the reason I keep coming back here is the total lack of effin' and blindin'; for which I expect we must ultimately thank Rob.

[Kaj]

As earlier already said...English is my fourth language, so it can't be perfect, but I don't care for small mistakes I've made, as long as everybody can understand me. If they don't, maybe they'll ask.

[Pat H]

Love the spell checker Rob. Will try and use it whenever I can.

I do prefer and try to be accurate but I currently have 6 or 7 forums on the go and have just started 3 more very active ones. SO my time on this and all my forums is often very squeezed.
I'd always hoped that trying to be active and post helpful info would be of more value than accuracy. Often the time spent checking and correcting posts would reduce the amount of replies I could manage. I know some of you would think that a good thing but I so often see good and useful forums fade away as the traffic just drops off. Then with no new posts why come back yourself. Then it's gone.

Personally the more active the better.
Having read my inaccurate posts (and many I go back and correct if I have time) I can't see any that don't convey the message I intended and isn't that the whole point.
Or do we get an exam grade at the end?

[mirdif64]

I can understand Cub's point but compared to a lot of other forums, the standard (and behaviour) here is pretty good.
I have seen some people typing "text" style on other forums,which is pretty annoying.
Another good thing about this forum is that it attracts a lot of people who do not use English as their first language and it would be sad if their input was reduced due to worrying about a few spelling or grammatical errors.
Steve.

[Pat H]

But I'm afraid I can't use that defense as I am English.
I managed a C grade O Level in English many years ago but the sheer volume of the words I type each day results in mistyping (I don't touch type. Really should learn) and general errors.
Choices are slow down and do less or live with it.
Robs addition to the site will help I hope, although no help with grammer.

Maybe we could have spelling and grammer moderators whos job it is to prowl the site and make instant corrections?
They could deduct posting stats from members who post with errors. then my post numbers would be nearer the rest of you :D

[Cub]

I'm glad that most people took my post in the way that it was intended. The last thing that I would want to do is to distract our non-English speaking bikers from contributing. In fact quite often their English is better than ours. Congratulations on getting a 'C' in O level English Pat H, I only got an 'E' (by the way it is 'defence' not 'defense') only joking.

[Barance]

Very useful spell checker used it today excellent addtion to an already top forum site. Good woook, wok..worrk..damn work :)

[Mystic]

Could it be the average age of the BMW riders that dictate4s or sets the tone and language on this forum?

[hide]

I posted mainly to find the spellchecker as I hadn't seen it. Found it!

Cub while grammer and spelling is obviously important to you for others it may not have the same significance. English didn't really make sense to me at school and that's either teachers or me or both. Maths was dead easy.

As others have said often misspelt words add to the flavour of the forum. When I read posts I'm looking for the information and nothing more.

Now my daughter who is really good at English and is an amazing writer and great with words takes this whole thing one step further. When I read a book, I read a book and get to an enjoy a story (if its that kind of book). When she reads a book she also gets to see the writers structure and style etc etc and can form opinions about whether what they have done is correct or the best way etc. And here's me thinking a story was a story while others see punctuation and grammar and others see even more.

While I appreciate your point of view Cub I wondered whether you could also see this as a forum that includes grammar and punctuation that is not the best and perhaps be more forgiving of the mistakes. It seems to me there is a time and place for everything and maybe, just maybe......

[Stormin Normin]

Not wanting to bite but your post would be more credible if you had spelt "appalling" correctly.

Has Cub replied? I think he's gorn and fooked of. [:o)][:o)][:o)]

Righteous tacher no doubt, probably still on is skool break wi nowt berrer 2 do than Mark pat h's postings. I no wot he meens wee art enyone avin ter tell me.

I can provide a Yorkshire dialect book for anyone that needs translation or pronunciation


al si thee

Stormin