Should spell checkers be mandatory ?

[boboff]

I ain't got no money!

[Milims]

I quite ike spell checkers - they come up with some wonderful alternatives. I once typed "Rubberised", which it didn't understand and came up with "Rubber Maid" instead. The mind boggles!

[JuzaMum]

Is there a spell checker for posting on here? I hate bad spelling - especially when I don't realise I have misspelt until after posting - hurrah for the edit button.

JuzaMum (Secret spelling Nazi)

[MKG]

Given the number of witches on here, spell-checking should be mandatory.

But then, Jeremy Kyle informs ... insissting on spelcheque iss just dissin' nay? Doan diss aniwon man coz dat meanz dat (shake wrist with hand at right angles) like you sayin dat am not az gud az you. Yeah... wa'evvah. Iss no' like am fick or anyfing. Yous lot doan unnerstan ...

There are reasons for non-conformist spelling. The above is not one of them.

Mike

[merlin]

I think American should be recognised as a language in it’s own right. I don’t think it’s fair that over 300 million people should forced to try to speak a second language.

[merlin]

In any case, It is a bit mean poking fun at people that clearly can’t see the mistakes they are making. Not very friendly at all! It’s nice read everybody’s posts.

[Thomzo]

A spell checker would be nice. I, too, am old enough to think that correct spelling is important. The sad thing is that those people who speak/write English as a second language often do so better than many of us Brits!

But I don't care about the odd spelling mistake if the message is a good one.

Zoe

[wabbit955]

i have dyslexia and never find it hard to read badly spelt posts so never find it a problem
i do tend to use spell checks
but they do miss i lot especally if i use i word in the wrong context
my big problem tends to be writing words in wrong order like
cream clotted or bean broad
it it never picks that up as it is spelt right

[wulf]

Didn't we used to have a built in spullchicker? Much as I like the idea of everything being spelled correctly I am not sure that spell checking technology is up to the job. If you know the right way to write what you want to write, spell checking can be a hindrance; if you type quickly, it can even introduce unexpected errors.

I think the place for spell checking is on the poster's web browser; it is their tool to help them communicate. For myself, picky as I am, I can put up with a few errors rather than getting het up about someone dotting the Ts and crossing the Is.

Wulf

ps. all mistakes, archaisms and misquoted sayings in this post are my own work.

[Andy Hamilton]

Wulf you are right We did have a built in spell checker but it never worked!

Well, I'm one of the biggest culprits for misspelt words and the odd grammer mistake. I was disagnosed with dylexia at 28 whilst in my first year at Uni as an undergraduate. I was given a computer to aid my studies and on it this site was first created. I doubt it would have happened had I not been given the computer. So in a perverse sort of way this site is owed to spelling and grammer mistakes.

I have to take longer than most to write a post if I'm to ensure its written correctly. I also don't really understand when people get so wound up about the odd error as long as the post can be understood. I do slightly object to da txt spk tho.

[gregorach]

I also don't really understand when people get so wound up about the odd error as long as the post can be understood.

It's a medical condition.

[trinder]

]It's a medical condition. Is that the one called anal retentive?

Personally I don't see any difference between being irritated by by spelling errors and being irritated by appearance. For example a long time ago,it was widely accepted that long haired men didn't care about their appearance. Later that moved to an understanding that "yes" that was the truth and it was a statement not an error.
Oh and fat people are both lazy and greedy.
None of us would constantly correct a person with a speech impediment ( I hope) so why get hot under the collar about such an unimportant issue.
If nothing else think of your own blood pressure.

[MKG]

It's not spelling that gets me. Punctuation can be a cryptological nightmare. But sheer linguistic laziness ...

Could of, would of, should of ... really gets my goat.

Sikth rather than sixth (although that's a spoken crime rather than a written one, and perpetuated by the BBC - Jeremy Paxman in particular).

We was ... makes me cringe.

English spelling is full of historical nonsense, so I can sympathise with people who don't get it because there's not a lot of logic to get hold of. I understand the problems of dyslexia. But straightforward bad English from native English speakers is wrong in a very basic sense.

In my opinion, of course.

Mike

[oldjerry]

[quote="trinder"]]It's a medical condition. Is that the one called anal retentive?

Personally I don't see any difference between being irritated by by spelling errors and being irritated by appearance. For example a long time ago,it was widely accepted that long haired men didn't care about their appearance.


I think,with respect, there's a qualatative difference here ,your appearance is a personal choice,and sod all to do with anyone else,but what we're talking about here is people trying ,presumably,to communicate with someone else.
Everyone,especially me,makes loads of mistakes,but hopefully most people can read it even if it is pretentious drivel.Dyslexia aside ,some people seem to revel in their illiteracy and it has become to be a form of inverted snobbery.

(bloody Hard Times again).

[Odsox]

Dyslexia aside ,some people seem to revel in their illiteracy and it has become to be a form of inverted snobbery.

Very true OJ, but the difficulty arises trying to distinguish between those that are doing it on purpose and those that are linguistically challenged.
I have no problem with obvious spelling errors, the annoying ones that get to me are those that you have to stop and spend time trying to work out what on earth the word is. Those ones disrupt the flow of your reading, sometimes to the extent that I just give up and go to the next message.