To refuse to engage with anyone who uses of instead of have?

[ExitPursuedByAKoalaBear]

That's it.

I saw a sign in a shop recently that read 'don't ask their on holiday' , don't know the difference between their and they're and my niece doesn't know the difference between your and you're. really annoying but I never say anything as you don't want to appear picky.

I don't go around upsetting people, the tread asked if it is unreasonable to refuse to engage with anyone who uses of instead of have?

I don't absolutely refuse to engage just on that basis, rather it is the case that the 'of' problem is a proxy for a wider issue.
Namely that I am strongly disinclined to engage (for purposes of recreation) with a person whose manner of speech indicates that we are unlikely to have any common ground and/or that the exchange will be unrewarding to either or both parties.

"it's just that I personally can't be arsed, it puts me off, my eyes glaze over and I switch off. Same thing happens when I hear an Essex girl voice, or rising inflection "

So - not content with writing people with spelling issues off, you have taken out an entire country, more or less, as being "unworthy of your time".

I'm sure Australia is largely unaffected by your choice - I doubt any of Australians would want to know you either - you sound really tiny-minded.

LRD - re "I am not claiming authority there - or that wasn't the intention."

Was it a coincidence that you mentioned having not one but three English Literature degrees and starting as a teacher to Oxbridge undergrads?

"The intention I had was to point out that I'm not badly-educated, and I can still do this."

Assuming "this" means writing could of instead of could have etc, what exactly is your excuse reason for continuing to make these mistakes? I sincerely hope that your students will be much kinder than my class was towards the mistakes of our teachers.

"a lot of people read these threads, see all of you lot making nasty comments, and simply feel shit. They don't all post."

There are other parenting websites where bad grammar, rubbish spelling, and txtspk are the norm. Sorry if you take this personally but I can't feel sorry about being part of the one parenting website with higher standards.

"A lot of people on here are parents of children with dyslexia, or other learning difficulties, and you're sitting here writing their children off and sneering."

It is you who makes all this about disabilities and learning difficulties. The vast majority of could of/would of people have no learning disabilities whatsoever. Going by that line, we can't criticise anything, since in every population there will be a few people who genuinely can't do it even if they try.

"I hate it when everyone wants to take the lifts. Why not take the stairs?"
"Waaaah, you're disablist. What about those who can't walk?"

"I can't stand it when people talk and otherwise make noise in the theatre"
"Waaaah, you're disablist. What about those with Tourette's Syndrome?"

etc etc.

oh come on
surely rising inflection annoys everyone?

LRD - re "educational privilege to say no, actually, we are not all doomed to failure"

Of course people are not doomed to failure. You can learn to write correctly. Seriously, why haven't you, during all that time you were studying English for your three English degrees, for example? I'm curious.

"Including, by not limited to, the writers of the Equality Act."

Now you are making me laugh again. What does the Equality Act have to do with quite a lot of people writing could of instead of could have?

"I suspect you know I am not being intellectual dishonest, but that I disagree with you"

Actually, no, I know nothing of the sort.

I said Arf @ "disablist" and you replied You find disablism especially funny, cote? How charming, ignoring that I was obviously laughing at you calling Exit 'disablist' and not at disablism itself. It seems to me that either you don't know what quotation marks mean, or you were being intellectually dishonest when you accused me of laughing at disablism.

Is that clear? If not, I can explain again.

No, cote, it wasn't a coincidence. If you read my post, you will see I explained why. You may think it is somehow unfair to point out, in response to claims that people who mistype are all uneducated, that I am fairly educated, but actually, it's not. It's just demonstrating that this is an incorrect assumption.

It's also intended as a demonstration that not all of us do end up failing. I think that matters.

My 'excuse' for continuing to make these mistakes is that I find them very easy to make and phenomenally difficult to correct. Of course, I do try. But it's not easy. And yet, I can manage to work in a job that requires me to know a lot about English and to teach it. I'm saying that, because it proves you do not have to accept people will bin your CV if there are typos (though some will). You do not have to accept your child, who is struggling with these things, will never get an education.

My students have always been pretty kind, to be fair. They really seem to accept when I explain, that this is something I struggle with, and it doesn't undermine my ability to teach them or mark their essays. I get the impression that's something many on this thread would find hard to accept. I think some of you think that if your SPAG are weak, you will really struggle to get a job. And some of you are acting as if that's funny, or worth sneering about.

I make this 'all about' learning disabilities because, like you, I have perfect right to post here. About 1 in 10 people is dyslexic - that's quite a lot. And, as others have explained to you, dyslexia isn't the whole issue. There's no reason it's ok to sneer at people who weren't as fortunate as you in their education or social background.

"some people are not intellectually gifted, but so what? Intelligence isn't a moral issue."

OP didn't say anything about morality, the thread isn't about morals, and you are the only person who has used the word 'moral' until now as far as I can see.

'Of course people are not doomed to failure. You can learn to write correctly. Seriously, why haven't you, during all that time you were studying English for your three English degrees, for example? I'm curious.'

BECAUSE I AM DYSLEXIC.

Honestly.

How is your reading comprehension so poor you don't see this?

Do you really, sincerely believe, I would have chosen to struggle if I could easily learn?

I don't think I've ever seen the misspelling "soing" (probably because it's close to "doing") but I've definitely seen something along the lines of "pear" for "pair".

If I saw an editor, proofreader, teacher etc making these mistakes then I would cringe for them. But that's because it's a skill they need to know for their job, they're supposed to be experts at spelling and choosing the right form of words.

Just a layperson on facebook or whatever, who cares? I wouldn't like it if someone laughed at my terrible running technique or whatever. I just assume that they struggle with that thing and wouldn't offer help unless I was teaching them or something.

The Equality Act has to do with the issue because in some circumstances, you could require your employer to make reasonable adjustments for disability, including struggles to proofread - that's relevant to people who're wondering what to do about CVs. For the last job I applied for, I was able to tick a box to say I had a learning disability and to ask they look leniently on any typos. It was hugely helpful - it made me feel so much more confident about the whole process.

And I did have typos in my application - and I wish I hadn't, and yes, someone other than me proofread it, but it's not always easy to spot every mistake when I make so many - and yes, I got the job.

Surely this is all useful information?

Hmm. Well that was an unfortunate xpost

I think my point is, if you need it for your job then you need to be doing it competently at that job, but other than that as long as you're communicating effectively it's not really worth anyone getting so irate about.

About 1 in 10 people is dyslexic
if 10% of people have it then can it really be considered a disability, isnt it just part of the normal range of human ability?
I mean I wouldn't claim that I'm disabled because I cant run as fast as 90% of the population

But you could train and become a faster runner. Someone with dyslexia will always struggle with spelling.

That's a fair point, suzanne - I think it is considered a disability, though. But you're right, it's common enough we should just deal with it as a basic issue.

bertie - no, no worries. I cringe too, and I bet those people who make mistakes do. I noticed Mary Beard put up a blog post at about 3am (!) the other day, which was full of typos. And she's a professor in an essay-writing subject!

But, well, I reckon her use to her students goes way beyond acting as a glorified dictionary/grammar book. I should think she knows how to correct their English when she needs to do so.

I would be more worried by someone who patently didn't know how to do that.

Obviously, I accept there are some jobs you cannot do if you make these kind of errors. I'm not suggesting there aren't.

I think with the runner point, the issue is more that we do not routinely judge adults' broad (often unrelated) competencies based on ability to run.

I think about six people have seen me run in the last decade. It is not something that matters to my daily life.

"ought you not to also say something in defense of those poor Essex girls that I've just insulted Thumbwitch"

It seemed rather pointless to go for the smaller target of a county when you've discounted an entire country, thanks. But since you're enjoying your goading (and can't spell defence in a UK English fashion) then I'm going to ignore you from now on, as you are not worth my notice any longer. No goady fucker is.

But you could train and become a faster runner
actually no, I have tried and despite being very fit, doing loads of exercise I'm still a really slow rubbish runner.

guilty as charged LRD my running analogy was facetious

Depends on the context

but if you mean, general everyday life spoken word or notes, post on here, or Facebook status updates etc etc - then you are not only BVVU you are a bigot - it's dialect, in particular NORTHERN EASTERN dialect & probably elsewhere with similar language roots too - had you made those comments as regards another race, you would be hauled over the coals for your bigoted racist attitude - & rightly so

If you mean in print, someone being paid to write, or expecting to pass an English Grammar paper etc, then yes you do have a point.

But as I suspect this is the latter - then yes, please do feel free to ignore, I for one have no interest in the opinion of such a bigoted ignoramus

If you heard the calls to any dyslexia helpline, you'd see the same thing, and you'd see parents who are gutted because they believe you lot that their children are not going to make it.

People who declare they are dyslexic and fit the legal definition of disability cannot be discriminated against on that account.

On the other hand, as the parent of a dyslexic child, what makes me see red is people who instantly retreat into the dyslexia "excuse" when picked up on something like "could of". It's absolutely not a characteristic of dyslexia to make that sort of mistake - dyslexia just doesn't make you substitute "of" for "have": if anything, the dyslexic would write "hav" or maybe "hvae"or "av". Also, it's much more likely that the dyslexic will struggle with "could". It's totally offensive to dyslexic people to use their genuine disability as an excuse.

if 10% of people have it then can it really be considered a disability, isnt it just part of the normal range of human ability?

No. Not all people diagnosed with dyslexia meet the Equality Act requirements for disability, and the number that do is considerably less than 10% of the population. All these things are a matter of degree.

LRD - "in response to claims that people who mistype are all uneducated, that I am fairly educated"

It is not a bad assumption to make, since the vast majority of "would of/could of" and "all teacher's in this school" type of mistakes are related to insufficient education. They are not typos.

Whatever the reason is that you keep making these mistakes, if I were you, I would not rest until I have mastered them. Whatever it takes, and however I have to work on them. We are all different, obviously.

"I can manage to work in a job that requires me to know a lot about English and to teach it"

I can only imagine that you were not given a written exam for this position where you wrote "I would of found it difficult to pass my degree's in another language", for example.

"it proves you do not have to accept people will bin your CV if there are typos"

a. We are not talking about typos. I specifically said this in several previous posts.

b. I do a lot of work for recruitment companies and candidates looking for work. Trust me when I say this: Typos can be overlooked (although are frowned upon) but CVs with could of/would of and apostrophes in plurals are often chucked aside. You may choose to put your head in the sand about this, but that does not change reality.

"some of you think that if your SPAG are weak, you will really struggle to get a job."

That depends on the job. You may get a job as a scientist or an engineer, but you probably won't be considered for the position of a legal assistant or a financial analyst (who would be expected to write reports). I don't know how familiar you are with today's competitive job market, but usually a hundred CVs arrive for each position and you can bet that the one with perfect spelling and grammar will be chosen for an interview before one with glaring mistakes.

"I make this 'all about' learning disabilities because, like you, I have perfect right to post here"

You have the right to post but what you posted didn't make sense - that is what I was saying. Calling people "disablist" for saying the wouldn't engage with someone who uses could of/would of Do you really need to be told that OP wasn't talking about disabled people?

LRD - Also, do you have an answer for my question on whether you really don't know what quotation marks are for or if you were being intellectually dishonest when you accused me of laughing at disablism?