Why do people enjoy picking others up on their spelling or grammar

[TakeMeDrunkImHome]

i have noticed this a LOT here, and i am fairly new. Is there some kind of badge that is awarded if you spell every word correctly and use every term in the correct way. Some people seem to respond to a particular thread just to correct the OP with their spelling or punctuation or grammar. WHY? Not everyone has a masters in english. Not everyone is awesome with spelling or grammar. Is it some way of making yourself look better than the next person?

I see a badly-spelt, -punctuated or -formatted post and often cannot be arsed to try to decipher it. I read very quickly and it slows me down when I have to try to translate something that somebody couldn't be bothered to write legibly in the first place.

I don't think I'm alone in doing this, so I would imagine a lot of peoples' points are being lost in a barely-understandable jumble of letters.

"they never address their concerns directly to the posters providing such 'challenging' posts, merely alluding to them in a cowardly an abstract sort of fashion..."

I actually quoted a poster upthread and said I could not understand what she was trying to say. I will do this if it really is illegible, in case I'm missing something. But normally I will just struggle through. It's not cowardly. It's just "not being unnecessarily rude".

lyingwitch, what is cowardly about addressing the original thread title?

I'd have said being cowardly was writing the word and crossing it out

My typing is shite .well thats my excuse anyway

Plus as I've said before .I cba to use MN approved grammar and punctuation on a chat board

So if you feel the need to ignore my posts, fair enough

TobyLerone... I've seen more incidences of odd jumbled words since iPads and the like are being used. The 'predictive text' is the tool of the Devil, in my view... but also quite amusing at times.

The point I was trying to make, throughout this thread, is that a person may be well aware of their poor spelling, grammar or punctuation, but equally may not. If there is dyslexia or some other condition - or even none - that explains a poorly constructed post, there is nothing to be gained from pointing it out, other than to diminish the poster. I think that's very wrong. If individual posters want help with literacy skills, it is available.

It does sound exceedingly pompous, as per CJCregg's post that it would take twice as long to pick through such a post. Heaven forbid that should happen. Errant posters should take themselves off to linguist school, forthwith...

I guess we all have different things that annoy. For me my attention span is not great so a thread with a huge long OP usually makes me ignore and click on something else. Or threads with no paragraphs.

I actually don't mind threads where people post exactly like they speak because you can hear their dialect coming through sometimes, and I find that sort of thing interesting, not annoying at all.

I can read yours easily, usualsuspect. I think you're a lazy typist, but so are a lot of people. In IM conversations I rarely use capital letters or full stops unless between sentences in the same piece of typing (if that makes sense). So I'm a lazy typist too.

It's just that on a chat board where there is so much discussion and debate, it's important to me that what I have to say is clear and legible.

peopel have given up wiht me
i can spell and s tuff i just cant type.
i wasnt BORN to type. i went to a GRAMMAR school

Well, CJCregg... Why, if you feel so strongly about individual badly written posts, do you not pull them up on it then and there? Lurking on a thread.

A striked-out 'Cowardly' is still easily read, no? Good.

But there is a difference, lyingwitch, isn't there, between people who are genuinely mistaken and those who say 'I just can't be bothered'?

That's it CJ, you are being well and truly sucked in!

And neither 'sort' are answerable to you or anyone else, CJCregg.

I always think it's madness to try to shame posters into changing their style. All that happens is that it gets their backs up and they get more entrenched. I know if someone told me to change I wouldn't. Better on the blood pressure all round to embrace the rich cornucopia of writing styles you find on here.

i cant be bothered
am i evil?

I know that I should have used 'is' answerable... I just 'couldn't be bothered'.

We really could do with a 'devillish' emoticon....

I like to read posts how people speak too

I tend to just type what comes into my head without giving much thought to the grammar etc

although firefox spell checker is my friend

It's the lazy text speak I hate. It's lazy and no need for it.
We all make spelling mistakes, me more than most, it's usually because I type so fast. If people have nothing better to do than pick up on others spelling mistakes then you really must be very bored.

I will plod through a post which is poorly written because I am want to see whether that person's comment interests me, however if I come across a huge block of text with not a pause for a paragraph then I do find myself switching off.

No excuse for that IMO, it's one big key, it's even got an easy to decipher symbol on it, the return key - use it damn it !

Too much text speak in a post - also unacceptable.

You are misunderstanding me, lyingwitch.

I don't pull people up on badly-written posts. I just struggle to read them. I know there are lots of reasons, dyslexia being only one.

I do take issue with people who know they're getting it wrong and freely admit it's because they 'can't be arsed'. And shield behind phrases like 'MN approved' to try to make it a 'snobbery' issue.

LyingWitch, you're dead right about iPads and predictive text. Some of the 'corrections' are very amusing.

I'm no expert, but I can tell the difference between a typo and a general low level of regard for written English. I can also often tell the difference between a lazy typist and someone who is obviously dyslexic.

It really does take me twice as long to pick through badly-spelt or -punctuated writing, because I tend to speed-read.

I know, fellatio

I truly cba

I use MN for relaxation mostly

I have more than enough to stress about in RL ,using correct grammar on a forum ain't one of them ,sorry

Ah CJCregg, I see what you mean now, it's because of dyslexia that you struggle to read posts. I can see now why it must be annoying when people are unrepentantly getting it wrong, it's stopping you being able to read their posts and they don't care. That would annoy me, too.

Thats my problem the iPad and predictive text.