OMG Bear and Bare

[carben]

To be pissed off with people not being able to tell the difference between bear / bare. It's hardly rocket science. If I see 'bare with me' one more time ....I clearly need to stop skulking in the kitchen on mumsnet and get out and have some quality time with the kids.

[mrslyman]

Well done LRD.

Writing a thesis is hard enough even without being dyslexic, I find I suffer from terrible word blindness which just gets worse as the draft number increases, fortunately my DH is the most amazing proof reader which saves me from the worst of it.

[mrslyman]

That's a well done both for the thesis and for pointing out how ignorant the comments about dyslexia are.

[LRDYaDumayuShtoTiKrasiviy]

Thank you.

I wasn't fishing for compliments about the thesis, I was name-dropping it because it really makes me furious that some people still think that it's ok to talk about a 'dyslexia card'. Honestly, how likely is it that I'm just too lazy to learn spellings, and chose to do something that makes it much harder if I can't learn them? It isn't.

And there are loads of other people in the same boat, but they might not speak up because they will just read that comment and think 'oh, yes, I must just be lazy and stupid, like my teachers always said'.

[ChippingInHopHopHop]

If you can't find Pedants Corner, I'm sure someone will be happy to help you.

[ChippingInHopHopHop]

LRDY - your first post was spot on and there was a time when it was perfectly acceptable on MN. It's a bloody shame it isn't anymore as it's so very handy.

[LRDYaDumayuShtoTiKrasiviy]

True. And thanks.

[Satnightdropout]

My partner is atrocious at spelling but is the biggest "geek" going when it comes to science, maths and current affairs. So isn't always a reflection of someone's intelligence.

[mrslyman]

Even bigger well done for not fishing for compliments then, if I ever manage to finish mine I'll be dropping it into conversation all of the place, but then I still haven't got an approved research plan yet so am slightly in awe of people who make it all the way to submission

[LRDYaDumayuShtoTiKrasiviy]

Oh, I do that too.

I just wasn't doing it here.

Good luck!

[Toadinthehole]

Dyslexia aside, has anyone noticed "right of passage" replacing "rite of passage"?

Or, what used to mean an event that symbolised maturing has been replaced with the belief that one has the right to get plastered and behave like an arse on one's 18th birthday.

[Witt]

LRD I think you have misunderstood my point. I think dyslexia is real and so I think it's unreasonable of people who don't have it to suggest that all people with poor spelling have dyslexia. It devalues it for people who do have it. I hope that makes sense. Where it is genuine then obviously it is reasonable to make exceptions.

[Witt]

Anyway, I am sorry if I caused any offence. I didn't mean to.

[JenaiMorris]

Pedantry is boring. 'Try and', 'different from/to/than' I couldn't care less about.

Toadinthehole's example is the only one mentioned so far that matters, because the meaning of the term is so completely altered.

[snowlie]

I think some of you need therapy - getting quite so annoyed over petty stuff like this is slightly unhinged.

[ChasedByBees]

Maybe 'bare with me' is an invitation.

[LRDYaDumayuShtoTiKrasiviy]

No-one did suggest that all people with poor spelling have dyslexia. I've never seen anyone suggest in on here. What was suggested was that certain mistakes, while 'not rocket science' to avoid if you're NT, are tricky for dyslexics.

That is totally different, and I think you misunderstood that post if you think your response about 'playing the dyslexia card' was an appropriate one.

For what it's worth 'playing the [insert term here] card' is one of those, like 'I'm not racist but ...', which rather devalues any point you might think you're making.

Thanks for apologizing, though, even if it was a bit half-hearted.

[JenaiMorris]

Actually, what is wrong with "try and"? Or "different to"?

[JenaiMorris]

Oh I read email from some really pretty bloody senior people (and some very junior ones, too) - dozens of the things every day.

Other than particularly formal email - for example something where the writer needs to be particularly careful for legal or commercial reasons, the chances of finding a grammatical or spelling error are high. They're generally typos. People are busy, these things happen.

[LRDYaDumayuShtoTiKrasiviy]

'Different to' is apparently accepted in some dictionaries these days (DH is very proud of pointing that out to me). Personally I think it's useful to keep it as 'different from' because it helps little children when they learn arithmetic, as it is an immediate reminder that 'difference' is about the gap between two things. But it is only convention.

'Try and' would require different punctuation from 'try to'. If you say 'I must try, and put out the washing when it stops raining', it implies you're both making an effort (on something unspecified) and you're doing a separate action. 'Try to' indicates you're making the effort specifically to do that action.

I honestly don't think I've ever seen anyone be confused by 'try and', though, not in real life.

[Wasapea]

It isn't petty. It does matter. It's the English language and you should try your best to bloody well use it properly.

My pet hates: 'Don't loose hope.'
'I need some advise.'
'It's discusting.'

Also those who think a word ending in a vowel requires an apostrophe before the s to make it a plural. 'I'm making potato's for tea.'

ARRGGHH.

[mrslyman]

But language evolves it always has done, so whilst being able to communicate effectively and convey the meaning is very important, grammar and spelling are always less important and will change over time.

[GalaxyDefender]

Language does evolve, yes. But grammar and spelling aid in communicating effectively, so they are bloody important. Run-on sentences, lack of punctuation and misspelled words make things harder to read - it's actually quite rude to put the burden of trying to work out what you're getting at on the reader!

I was trying to be nice in my earlier post, but I'll say it now because this is making my blood boil.
I find reverse literacy snobbery ("It's petty/boring", snarky "Pedants Corner is that way", "haven't you got anything better to worry about?" comments etc.) to be far worse than getting annoyed by people making basic mistakes that most 10-year-olds would be able to point out. It seems in the age of the text message, actually wanting to write well is something to be mocked.

[UniqueAndAmazing]

if you put this in pedants' corner then you won't get the comments about dyslexia.
:)

HTH

[UniqueAndAmazing]

LRD - your post was really well put.

I like your comment about different from, too, because that's exactly why it's important grammar - because you're marking the change/difference between two things, and it should serve as a verbal warning.

"try and" is used a lot instead of "try to" - that's not about spelling, it's about using and in the wrong place. it's the same as when people use -ing when they should use "to "
it's lazy and a lot of the time it doesn't make sense.

[UniqueAndAmazing]

and you know what's funny?

at the top of every single AIBU thread, there's a note that says "please bear in mind..." in case anyone's in any doubt which to use...