To wish posters would use full stops and commas in their OP's?!

[theclick]

I've just read another thread in which I've had to read the first post twice to understand what the OP is saying. Why do people think this is ok if they are asking for other comments or posts?!

calm down I dont really think it makes any difference if you had to read it a few times then in all likelihood it isnt because of punctuation but because of poor construction

Just ignore them then if it bothers you that much.

You do realise that you have misused an apostrophe in your thread title don't you?

You've used the grocer's apostrophe there, op

If.lack.offull.stops.stop.you.reading.perhaps.the.problem.is.you,

OPs is plural, not possessive.

It's not great to use both an exclamation mark and a question mark.

HTH

Probably not unreasonable to wish, as it does make things a lot easier to read but I think we have to remember that not all OPs have the same level of literacy skills. We've no idea what level of education they have been able to achieve or if they have dyslexia or other language difficulties. Punctuation styles vary across languages too, some barely use any.

MN is a chat forum for a grammar exam. I type differently on here as it's less formal. I barely check my grammar or spelling.

I have just been reading a thread where the op was criticised for poor punctuation. She had learning difficulties. Might be worth bearing in mind.

AIBU often backfires and this is no exception!

in their OP's?!

In their OP's what, OP?

In their OP's OPs?

Why do they think it's ok?

Not everyone here has English as their first language.

Some did'nt have a very good education and as a result can't read, write or spell very well.

Some have learning difficulties.

Some type fast and don't read their OP back.

Some, like me, don't give a shit.

Some do it to give the pedants something to feel superior about.

AIBU often backfires and this is no exception!

I wouldn't call it backfiring if people don't agree - I've seen PLENTY of posters write beneath other original posts (which is what I meant by OP in my title), "can you use some spacing? It would make it easier to respond."

I think others here just now want to make a social statement by making it seem that some posters don't use spacing because of poor education. That's over-dramatising the thread - there have been plenty of posts where it's clearly down to laziness and not knowing to use a full stop.

But like I said why does it matter? Is MN an exam?!

I find posters who start threads complaining about the grammar of others a right pain in the arse, one can imagine themselves tutting themselves into a right bloody froth!

But like I said why does it matter? Is MN an exam?!

If that's your thinking then half the stuff in AIBU and chat and MN doesn't matter! Yes some of it is incredibly important to discuss - some is just for fun!

So basically what you mean is - it only matters when you say, right?

Writing in standard English really does help the reader (especially those for whom English is a second language or who are dyslexic).

Nit-picking is arsey, but hoping for posts to be adequately clear is totally reasonable. Even when keyboards seem to be doing their best to frustrate that (one mild typo can become something utterly bizarre)

*them

There probably are a lot of lazy posters who don't care - problem is you're not psychic and you can't "clearly" tell who is who.

We know you meant "Original posts" but why is the apostrophe there, OP.

For a pedant you seem a bit hard of thinking...,

I have to admit that I'll skip past posts which are very long and have no commas or full stops. It makes them very hard to read and understand.

No what I mean is most grammar picking is doing so to be an arse. Unless it means you can't clearly understand I don't see the issue.

Some people have difficulty and some just aren't arsed (like me)

But how do you work out who is who? You can't unless you outright ask