to be completely baffled as to why people care about spelling mistakes

[fairydoll]

Title says it all.It is totally beyond me why anyone cares about other people's spelling mistakes.
Why do they care? What does it say about that person?

I mix up of and off and to and too all the time

cos it makes them feel superior.
and they have way too much time on their hands

My DS is severely Dyslexic and will never be able to spell well, I hope people don't judge him because of his spelling. His school ignore his spelling mistakes and appreciate the difficulties he has. He writes some wonderful poetry, some people would probably think he shouldn't be allowed to write them if he can't spell!!!!

Dyslexia aside (discounting perhaps 5 - 10% of the gen pop), the inability to actually manage a few coherent sentences makes me annoyed!

Yes, English is one of those changing, evolving languages, but it isn't an argument to misuse it!

I find it baffling also.

I think if someone keeps using the wrong word it's okay to very politely point it out. Only because if you keep using a particular word incorrectly maybe you really don't know and it could make a difference somewhere that it does matter, like a job application.

Otherwise it smacks of "I'm better than you".

I have dyslexia and make mistakes all the time in fast moving conversations, it's quite rare that anyone points them out.

I kept writing of instead of off recently which could be confusing, but with context people know what you mean, it doesn't matter here.

I love spelling mistakes. Especially when the poster is in full flow about falling standards of literacy.

I don't care how bad the spelling is as long as I can understand it & it's not in text speak.
A friend of mine text me the other day saying 'it'z'....

I wouldn't on MN. But it's my day job to correct spelling, grammar & punctuation mistakes. Don't think I'd last long if I let a shed load of errors go

It matters not at all on a forum like this. But bad spelling or grammar on, for example, an official letter home from school or a government website is appallingly poor.

Bad spelling on job applications and formal letters makes the writer look ignorant and people will inevitably think less of them. Spelling mistakes and typos on webpages make me see (eg) the company as less professional, and I am less likely to give them my business.

When typing in a conversational manner, such as MN etc, I think it is beyond petty to make an issue of it.

What does it say about that person?

It says that spelling is important to them. They notice it. To the extent that they can't resist pointing it out to others. They will have a tendency to pain-in-the-arseness but that's probably as bad as it gets. Unless other character flaws are evident in their postings.

I think it's about context. If somebody is being a bit of a twit on a thread - trolling, for example - then I love having a bit of a go about it. All's fair in love and war, etc etc...

I may have been a tad guilty of this recently... although I was being vexed beyond belief by a poster's total twattery and jibing about teachers - in The Most Badly Spelt / Punctuated posts ever.

He was just asking for it.

However, did used to do proof reading in a past life, so I do notice most typos / inconsistencies in layout etc, and it bugs me. Sad, but true.

I once read a page of phonetically spelled text which had been produced as part of some campaign for simplified English, supposedly to demonstrate how much easier it would be if we abandoned all the silly rules. It actually demonstrated the opposite. If you've ever tried to read Chaucer, that's the kind of effect created. Very slow going.

In a informal setting, like a forum, I don't care about spelling as long as I can understand what someone means, I wouldn't pull them up, I suffer from fat fingers myself! In a professional setting it annoys me incredibly. I am amazed about the number of people who don't spell check CV's for example, particularly in my line of work where I am looking for extreme attention to detail in written communication. It immediately makes me think that they wouldn't be suitable for the role if they can't be bothered to even demonstrate in a CV that they have the requisite skills. I have in the past worked with a number of people with dyslexia, but because they are aware of the difficulty they make the effort to ensure there are no mistakes, I don't k ow why those who suffer in the same way can't make the effort. Gives me the impression of laziness, not something that I want in an employee.

haha, fat finger syndrome strikes above!

I don't care about it on things like this but as an ex-features editor for a paper it infuriated me that "writers" would be employed and not be able to spell or write in sentences etc.

I would immediately bin a job application with errors - shows a lack of effort. Plus, why would you want people to think you are uneducated?

I dislike poor spelling. I dislike it very much indeed. I also dislike and disagree with the idea that it doesn't matter: I think it's a poor thought process that can't work out why it does matter.

It doesn't matter on a chat forum, Gooseberrybushes, don't you ever make mistakes on here?

When you are posting quickly or drunkenly?

I dislike poor spellings but not typos

there is making a mistake which is one thing and never bothering to spell correctly

same reason i hate text speak

if feels a little bit in a weird way the same sort of thing as manners

you know what you should do and you do it

so you should know how to spell and you should do it properly too

She didn't say she was talking about it on a chat forum.

I dislike it anyway on mn. You can tell the difference between speed typing and poor spelling. I don't blame people for poor spelling, generally I give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they've been poorly educated. I doubt it's laziness. The idea that it doesn't matter is, though, lazy thinking.

I never post drunkenly, yes I definitely make speed typing mistakes and also zero punctuation and lower case "i". People are free to despise it if they want.

I grew up in a house of primary school teachers who were, very... erm.. school teacherish about spelling and grammar.

I used to feel quite similarly until I began working with people with language disabilities. It is such a pointless thing to feel superior about. It's the throw of the die.. Not worth getting your knickers in a twist over.

Mostly when spelling is commented on in MN (Pedant's Corner aside), it is an act of passive-aggression. How terribly sad. For those who say that spelling is important as a conduit to communication, your viewpoint is somewhat nullified when someone jumps in to correct another's spelling. If it was a barrier to communication, you wouldn't know what word the "deviant speller" had in mind, so you wouldn't be able to correct it.

All silliness IMO.

Working: see Cogito's post above.

I think it matters. I find badly spelled and ungrammatical posts harder to read.

I wouldn't criticise a poster for their spelling, but I might be less likely to bother to read their post.

I will also hold my hand up to making assumptions about a poster based on their spelling and grammar. Text speak or very poor grammar and spelling suggest a low level of education. Lots of typos suggests too much .

its shocking bad manners when they pointy it out
care by all means,but keep your indignation and ire to yourself.its online bibble babble not significant prose or anything demanding good syntax.its only mn