Has Talkbass made you a worse speller?

[albass111]

Hey all, this is not only for talkbass, but the internet in general.

Anyway, I've found that my proper usage of grammar and spelling has suffered as a result of reading a lot of internet posts. I went to a top ten university and have always been able to write well. My SAT score was very high, but these days, I find myself making silly, careless spelling and grammatical errors that didn't occur in my life before I started on this forum.

For all those concerned, I think education is important, however, I feel as if the internet has "dumbed down" my vernacular or overall command of the English language. I find myself having to read the NY Times more often to compensate.

Also, (IME) I've always found bass players to be the most educated musicians (on average) so why is this forum filled with masses who can't even use the correct form of there vs. their?

BTW, the Gear Page is a lot worse than talkbass......

Anyone else feel this way, or notice this in themselves?

[Baryonyx]

No.

[PrimusNut]

You mean "Spellor"?

[Johnny Crab]

No.

Mom was an English teacher. During reading if something's done "wrong"(grammar or spelling) it usually jumps off the screen or page at me.

[Thunder Pulse]

It's made me feel like there's something wrong with the educational system. It used to be that there were only 2 guarantees in life: death and taxes. Now, if you use the internet, there are 3: death, taxes, and at least one daily occurrence of one of the following:

Your/You're
There/Their/They're
To/Too
Then/Than
Not using apostrophes in contractions (dont, wont)
Using commas in place of apostrophes (I,ve never understood this one)
Using apostrophes in plurals (I have lot's of pedal's I use with my bass)

[bryan bailey]

nop.e

[Trevorus]

No, in fact I have gotten better. My browser has spell checker built in, so I get trained with it.

[fenderhutz]

Originally Posted by bryan bailey

nop.e

calling the ghost of e e cummings?

[bassbully]

cus no's is always suked?

[Infernal Affair]

Originally Posted by albass111

Also, (IME) I've always found bass players to be the most educated musicians (on average) so why is this forum filled with masses who can't even use the correct form of there vs. their?

It's an easy answer. The internet allows people to be lazy with their (ZING!) writing because there's no English teachers patrolling the internet for lazy spelling, grammar, overuse of acronyms, poor communication skills (misinterpreting the writer's intention has been the cause of many a flame war), etc. Good writing is developed on one's own on the internet. Whenever someone puts up a poorly written post they shouldn't be surprised or offended if someone else makes a jab at it. I'm not when someone points out a typo or a mangled sentence of mine.

[fenderhutz]

Originally Posted by Infernal Affair

It's an easy answer. The internet allows people to be lazy with their (ZING!) writing because there's no English teachers patrolling the internet for lazy spelling, grammar, overuse of acronyms, poor communication skills (misinterpreting the writer's intention has been the cause of many a flame war), etc. Good writing is developed on one's own on the internet. Whenever someone puts up a poorly written post they shouldn't be surprised or offended if someone else makes a jab at it. I'm not when someone points out a typo or a mangled sentence of mine.

No, the REAL easy answer is people are dumb.

[LowDown Hal]

r u talkin 2 me :-)


You've actually hit on one of my pet peeves. At work I correspond heavily through email. I often have to read messages several times just to figure out what is being said.

[CrazyArcher]

Sometimes I write sentences with incorrect grammar on purpose in order to make them look simpler, because I feel that writing constructs like "If I had ... , I'd have ... " makes people accuse me of beeing a smartass. Other than that, I always use correct spelling, except stuff conveying informal speech like 'nuff', 'cuz', or 'dunno'.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally Posted by albass111

Also, (IME) I've always found bass players to be the most educated musicians (on average) so why is this forum filled with masses who can't even use the correct form of there vs. their?

Anyone else feel this way, or notice this in themselves?

Nope....that's just Burk!!

[Deacon_Blues]

Originally Posted by Trevorus

No, in fact I have gotten better. My browser has spell checker built in, so I get trained with it.

Same here, and I practice my English skills on the same time.

I'm one of those who would feel uncomfortable writing too informally. It's easier to me to write formally, as that's what I've learned in school. I don't have a perfectly fluent spoken English language to "translate" straight into text either, so I prefer formal words and spellings. It actually took me a while to learn what words like "dunno" mean, though I'm nowadays familiar with most of these too.

I'm also very picky about spelling and grammar anyway regardless of language. I want to express myself as clearly as possible and I prefer reading well written text over poorly written ditto. (Who doesn't?). It just makes life a little bit easier.

Btw, shouldn't this be in off-topic?

[the JT]

Noh, in fakt my spelings way betta than it yoost to be. Talkbase can reely help sumwun hoo is ejukashonly chalenjed. I always look bak at my poasts too see if thier are eny spelling mistayks, and so far it has helpt me.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Write on, Dood!!

[Chebass88]

Thank you for this civilized post. The bastardization of our language is exceptionally disappointing, and yet at the same time, college enrollments are steadily increasing. Unfortunately, you cannot make chicken salad out of chicken S___.

I particularly enjoy when there are spelling and grammatical mistakes when someone is trying to sell something. I boycott them for their improper use of the English language.

imp

[funkalicious101]

It has gotten better if anything. On other forums I would not even bother to capitalize. But this seems to be a much smarter crowd, so I try to fit in.

[FunkyFlashFive]

immpposibl ii canT g4et any wolrse.

just kidding, but realy i can't spell less than common words a lot of the time