To think people should proof read their messages?

[mumtohatty]

Just received a WhatsApp message on one of my many groups about ordering t-shirts for the kids. The football coach has obviously spent time composing the message but it is littered with so many mistakes I just can't look at it. The main one being 'I'm going to put up a pole for everyone to vote'. I've also received a message from a Health visitor coming to visit my baby that was littered with spelling and grammar mistakes. Is the English language dying or am I just being unreasonable and picky?

I think a lot of people cba but also it's fast typing !! I make mistakes and try to correct them but I'm only human and some slip through

I know what you mean, it makes you feel physically uncomfortable doesn't it?! I'm not too hot on grammar but poor spelling gets right on my tits. I wouldn't ever say anything but I would feel myself cringe.

The main one being 'I'm going to put up a pole for everyone to vote'.

This isn't an error that would be picked up by proof-reading if you're not aware of the correct spelling.

Also 'I just can't look at it' and 'physically uncomfortable' from another poster are both melodramatic and pathetic in equal measure.

Well if someone doesn’t know the difference between pole and poll, reading it back to themselves isn’t going to help!

Your HV was probably texting quickly with one hand while eating her lunch or driving between visits.

Pedants corner is nice this time of year, you should check it out 😁

I am the worst for not proof reading and knows for my hilarious autocorrects. Sometimes this leads to misunderstandings but mostly people get it.
I think it’s just how it is now that most people type on phones

It used to annoy me when I was younger.

Now I'm older, I realise 1) some people are dyslexic and 2) some people didn't have a very good education. It's not fair of me to judge people for either of those possibilities.

Football coach - meh
HV - would presume they should have a good command of the English language tbh

Some people are less intelligent, some people have learning disabilities, some people didn't try in school, some people learnt their English as a second language (maybe even informally) and some people just don't see it as something important. None of those things remotely bother me as long as they are nice people. YABU.

I’m terrible for typing too fast and making myself look like I have atrocious spelling and grammar. Prime example is ‘you’re’ and ‘your’. I type too fast on my phone, don’t realise that it’s missed a letter off and then get annoyed with myself for posting such a glaring error 🤣

health visitors are generally overworked and trying to do lots of things all at the same time. They may make mistakes trying to do things quickly. There are also health visitors that are dyslexic and may not even realise there are errors even upon reading the message back before sending

I'm a bit meh - if I can understand the general point of the message, I'll get over it! I have terrible spelling and grammar at times, but it's just one of those things imo.

If it's absolutely unintelligible that's quite different, if there's no way to understand the message (which I see sometimes on here!) then it's a bit of a communication issue.

I just assume people are trying to be quick with messages and might not pick up on every thing.

To be fair I'd probably love it there! 😂😂

People have different education and language abilities and it just makes you seem like a dick that you can’t recognise that.

Also, the English language isn’t dying. Language evolves over time, it’s constantly changing. The language that we use now is not the same that we used in Shakespeare’s time. Or even 100 years ago.

'I'm going to put up a pole for everyone to vote'

It actually took me a while to work out what this meant. 🤣

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Really you can't look at it ? You know what it means but you are over come with the vapours, you are being over dramatic .

My DP is dyslexic so would make these mistakes. Your phone can see it is a correctly spelled word so won’t highlight it the way Word might.
Bad spelling and grammar annoys me but you’re OTT and people like you are why my DP has me proofread anything he’s putting out there of importance.

In an informal context (text from my mate, someone’s Facebook status) then meh 🤷‍♀️ but in a professional context it can be off putting. I wouldn’t order from a company if their ad was full of grammar / spelling mistakes. Ds is dyslexic, so I get how hard it can be, but he uses a spell check and also gets someone to proofread where it’s important. Most recruiters are going to discount an application if it’s full of errors as well.

My DH asks me to check everything too.

The ones I struggle with are the spelling errors that have a red line under, that auto correct must surely change, but the author must change back. Rediculous is an example. It automatically reverts to ridiculous, so people must make an effort to change the correction.

Unless it doesn’t make sense though, most people leave it alone.

A bit judgemental in my opinion, perhaps the person is dyslexic or has difficulty spelling. I'm sure you get the gist of the message so let it go over your head.

I don't think the English language is dying. How melodramatic. We see far, far more written communication from people than ever we did in the past. Emails, text messages, WhatsApp. The vast majority of these conversations would either not have happened 15-20+ years ago, or they'd have happened in person or over the phone. There have always been people who don't have a natural ability for written language, dyslexic people, those who received a poor education etc. Poor SPAG is not an indicator of low intelligence. It's an indicator that someone struggles with one particular thing. Unless the content is undecipherable or nonsensical, a grown up should be capable of looking past something as minor as "pole" instead of "poll" and continuing on with their day without all the "it makes me physically uncomfortable" silliness.

Are you always so dramatic? You can’t look at it? Is the English language dying? 😬🤣

How long before people mention Chester draws? Same old.

Until they send something where the grammar and spelling mistakes have changed the meaning.

It’s ableist, elitist and racist to assume that everyone should have a perfect command of English. More than 10% of us are dyslexic, many many people have not had the luxury of your standard of education and not all people in England have english as their first language. It’s stressful enough as it is having to use written English without people judging and correcting everything we type.

But ridiculous is the correct spelling???