For goodness' sake, buy the poster!

[Woodwould]

Here.

[Big Shed]

Good one WW, see each of the 10 several times daily, pity they missed out on the proper use of apostrophes

[rsser]

LOL.

My partner has tort undergraduates for decades and is meticulus about apostrophe's, but she finds it a loosing battel.

An we spell it haemorrhoids! (Done ar*se me how I no this).

[AlexS]

I'm with you, WW. How much effort does it take to spell 'lose' correctly?

[cultana]

They missed the yous and wes in the handy guides..
Though these are normally spoken words vs written ones.

[acmegridley]

I kant fur thee live of me understand why a people wood want a poster lik that!

[Bob38S]

I used to get bothered and upset by the correctness or lack of it - today I'm not really sure I should have expended the time or energy.

In communication the idea is to convey a meaning to another - if the message is clear and the wording is not ambiguous then surely the aim of the exercise has been achieved.

English - the language that is, is actually a mongrel [in the true sense of the word - it is not pure] and has adopted, borrowed etc from all languages but unfortunately, in almost every case it did not adapt the spelling - example "yacht" - Dutch word which is actually pronounced according to its spelling. Some get paranoid about "color" as opposed to "colour" - surely the message is clear as to what the word is supposed to represent.

Regards,
Bob

[Woodwould]

You're probably right. We could also drive down the road on which ever side we choose. As long as we stay between the kerbs, what harm can it do? The next time you're out and need to go to the toilet, go into a ladies' toilet; they're always cleaner and a toilet is just a toilet ... right? I might even prune the lemon tree with my Bad Axe tennon saw this afternoon... it should do the trick OK. Hell, tonight I'm going to sleep in my next door neighbour's daughter's bed. From what I've seen through her window, it looks much more comfortable than mine.

What are rules if not for breaking!

[Bob38S]

I'm not advocating Rafferty's Rules or anarchy - there are rules that must be followed eg road rules re which side to drive on etc - with regards the language, many of the rules have many exceptions, it is a "living thing" in that it is changing constantly and it will morph into newer forms.

The following is an interesting paragraph - I'm not suggesting that this become the norm only that it is interesting. See if you can read this and still get the meaning.

"i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!"

[Woodwould]

I was joking in my previous post BTW!

I think most people could read that, but being typoglycaemic (or automatically assuming others are) is no excuse for bad grammar. Of course language is a fluid entity and I'm all for advancement, but ill manners, laziness and ignorance are not progress.

[rsser]

Spelling and the meanings of terms change over time. Dictionaries follow common usage in the English speaking world.

Of course I learned what I know the hard way and somewhat resent emerging practices that are comparatively speaking fast and loose.

I particularly dislike the way the term problem has morphed into 'issue'. That deprives us of the older meaning and requires a resort to something clunky like 'matter'.

An even older meaning, mixed in the one sentence, could yield 'The issue of my issue is an issue'!

But I'm not going to die in a ditch over it.

[Woodwould]

I too lament the passing of some words and rue the ever decreasing vocabulary of the average person. However, it's the ill mannered and lazy misuse of acknowledged current English that really annoys me – as those characteristics annoy me in any other activity. People who write in 'txt' speak or who don't use the spell check software that all programs and forums freely provide, open a window to their personality that I find decidedly unattractive. If they don't have the manners to address me properly and courteously, why should I give them the time of day? I'm sure there must be hundreds of people who have sent me PMs and emails who wondered why I didn't reply to them. I'm sure I've missed out on some great oportunities/kindnesses as a result, but there it is.

[A Duke]

Tis the day of the bromide.

[rsser]

'Acknowledged current English' is not a universal standard; it's a social construct.

And there are varieties.

I'll accept something in an email that would instantly disqualify the writer in a job application or an academic article I was reviewing for a journal editor.

My discipline operates on the Harvard citation system for example; others operate on the Oxford. Both have their rules. If I was sent an article using the Oxford style I'd immediately suspect the credentials of the writer.

Not because that style is wrong but because it doesn't fit the social context.

At a micro level of language something similar is going on. You can only tell if it's as against its is correct according to the context of the sentence.

Language is a toolbox. The selection of communication tools should fit the purpose and its social context.

I agree that communication should in general be courteous, but sometimes to achieve your purpose it will need to be assertive.

Of course like all social interaction, one person's assertive is another person's rude. This can be difficult to gauge beforehand. Face to face you can read the reaction and modify your linguistic behaviour accordingly; in writing, this kind of calibration is much more difficult.

Anyway, I ramble.

By way of anecdote, when learning French a long time ago I read that the Academie Francaise decided to ban foreign imports like 'le weekend' and 'le pullover'. Had no impact on the broader population. As tools, though foreign they were better than the local equivalents.

[Big Shed]

On the subject of language, I thought this article on The Age website was quite interesting, "language-wise"
http://content.mycareer.com.au/advic...clap-trap.aspx

I am on the committee of our local Landcare Group and deal with various government departments. Their verbal and written language use has to be heard/read to be believed.

It appears that everyone has to use acronyms and jargon to prove how clever and "with it" they are.

It also leaves the hoy-polloy out of the loop, don't you know

In fact the last "management plan" I received I returned with a note asking for it to be translated in to English!