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Do you find bad grammar/punctuation a turn off?


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Posted

I can't be the only one.

 

I feel so shallow and petty, but with this digital age its hard to escape written forms of communication such as texting, IM...and I find myself going off this guy and cringing every time he texts me or something.

 

Some highlights include the typical grammatical errors (to instead of too, their instead there) which I can live with because we all are guilty of a few typos here and there, but then there's the overuse of punctuation (!!!!) and even more oddly, using ,,, instead of the standard... ellipses.

 

I realise I sound like an English teacher, but I can't explain how jarring it is because his messages end up looking almost like spam, or don't even make sense half the time because the sentences haven't been properly constructed.

 

It's really odd because chatting this guy in person or the phone, he seems really bright and knowledgeable :confused: you would expect him to be able to write properly.

 

I did once try to jokingly address the bad grammar and I think offended him.

Posted

Texting, or even FB I'm not picky....

 

But e-mails, or OLD profiles - where you have spellcheck - instant turn off. I don't even bother reading the rest of their profile and/or responding to their e-mail.

  • Like 1
Posted
typical grammatical errors (to instead of too, their instead there)

 

Those are actually spelling errors, not grammar errors.

 

Otherwise I agree with you. Orthography, grammar, vocabulary (or lack thereof) and punctuation do influence how I view a possible date.

Posted

meh... if some grammar or a misspelled word makes someone pass me up when I was doing OLD I can without a doubt say "bullet dodged"

 

I guess we all have our deal breakers but NOBODY can spell perfect and have great grammar all of the time...

 

I have seen it many times on pet peeve threads here on LS where a poster says they can't stand bad spelling in posts yet their own post didn't pass spell check :laugh:

  • Like 1
Posted

how many more rogue apostrophe's will we see?

Posted

I think text talk is different. Like spelling "what" as "wat" that's not a big deal. But when it is clear that the person doesn't have good grammar/spelling, then no. I don't have the best grammar skills, I have no idea when to use who vs whom.

 

For example, spelling ridiculous as rediculous, or using words incorrectly consistently, then no, that isn't going to work.

  • Like 1
Posted

It is a pet peeve but I'm willing to overlook typos, especially here on LS because heaven knows I make enough of them. :cool:

  • Like 2
Posted
Do you find bad grammar/punctuation a turn off?

 

Yes, and I can't abide "text-speak".

 

Maybe it's because I am of a certain age? :cool:

Posted

I do judge people on it, but I usually don't ever mention it online 1) because I don't bother to edit myself online 2) because I'm always finding some automated engine has changed what I wrote and 3) because I edit for a living and don't want to bother online. If it's that hard to read I generally move on. But I did comment one time on a person on this forum whose post was so bad it used punctuation marks for words = lazy.

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Posted
It is a pet peeve but I'm willing to overlook typos, especially here on LS because heaven knows I make enough of them. :cool:

 

Haha I know, I've spotted a few in my original post (typical lol) and I've probably just set myself up but it's tooooo late to edit lol.

 

But I'm talking writing that's so bad it's hard to decipher the meaning sometimes. It's just really odd because the guy is so articulate in person...I guess being sociable doesn't necessarily make you good at typing.

  • Like 1
Posted

I'm the same way. It totally turns me off. I view the person as unintelligent as to me that is basic english. My biggest pev peeve is when someone used "went" instead of "gone".

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Posted
But I'm talking writing that's so bad it's hard to decipher the meaning sometimes. It's just really odd because the guy is so articulate in person...I guess being sociable doesn't necessarily make you good at typing.

 

Sometimes you can tell by the syntax that the original author is not a native English speaker. Then I try to help. I usually can't help because there may be cultural differences I don't understand.

 

Otherwise if it's that badly written, I don't bother. Years ago when I was on OLD, such a post would not get any response from me.

Posted

Yes. I think a lack of basic spelling and grammar proficiency is usually pretty indicative of other shortcomings. I can't have a stimulating, fun conversation with someone through text when they're constantly misspelling things. It makes me think less of their intelligence, and that's quite a turn off.

Posted

Hmmm.

I know a few dyslexics who post some amazing thought provoking stuff so I'm not that picky over it.

 

If I can understand it and spelling is wrong I don't care.

 

What I don't like is text speak.

But then, I don't use it in texts either. I think all I use is 'tmrw' 'brb' and 'lol!'.

 

Funny that you mention ',,,,' , I use '.....' a lot and I have had gripes from people about it.

 

Perhaps it's not correct grammar......but I use it! )

Posted
Hmmm.

I know a few dyslexics who post some amazing thought provoking stuff so I'm not that picky over it.

 

In my own posts I am forever not catching 'because and becuase' and misspellings that flip letters as my fingers do that so often and what do you know.. before long I click the wrong button and my browser spell check thinks the wrong spelling is correctly spelled :laugh:

 

I don't have dyslexia but sometimes my fingers do....

  • Like 3
Posted
I realise I sound like an English teacher

 

@OP.....seriously? I think you should take a look at your original post, to see the irony as it relates to this thread. Just saying ;)

 

My point? lets take this line for example...

It's really odd because chatting this guy in person or the phone, he seems really bright and knowledgeable :confused: you would expect him to be able to write properly.

 

See what is missing more than once?

  • Author
Posted

Ok, I feel really bad doing this, but here's an example (Twitter):

 

"Gonna say it straight,,, Gone Girl,,, WHAT A FILM,,, I ain't seen a film as good as that in a long long time,,, CHECK IT OUT!!!"

 

And that's one of the better ones :eek: But looks like he has good taste in movies :p

 

I should also add I didn't meet this guy online, the social media connecting/texting occurred afterwards.

  • Author
Posted
@OP.....seriously? I think you should take a look at your original post, to see the irony as it relates to this thread. Just saying ;)

 

My point? lets take this line for example...

 

See what is missing more than once?

 

Haha please see reply #10

Posted

I can NOT type on the phone keypad. It's just a hot mess. Usually, I'll correct a few big things, especially if the errors interfere with the meaning, and then hit send. Whatever.

 

I've sometimes later read a post of my own and found that it's jibberish from all of the autocorrect I missed because I was too lazy or impatient to scroll through and check. I'm too old for this tech crap! :lmao:

Posted
Ok, I feel really bad doing this, but here's an example (Twitter):

 

"Gonna say it straight,,, Gone Girl,,, WHAT A FILM,,, I ain't seen a film as good as that in a long long time,,, CHECK IT OUT!!!"

 

And that's one of the better ones :eek: But looks like he has good taste in movies :p

 

Someone who presents themselves like that is too much of a disconnect for me. I wouldn't date them unless they had some other qualities that were outstanding.

Posted

The only person who annoys me with his texts is the same person who always annoys me whenever I hear from him...my exH

 

Unless he is ready to pay up the money he owes me....then I'm a lot more tolerant.

 

But yea...it's the least of what's wrong with that guy...

  • Author
Posted
I can NOT type on the phone keypad. It's just a hot mess. Usually, I'll correct a few big things, especially if the errors interfere with the meaning, and then hit send. Whatever.

 

I've sometimes later read a post of my own and found that it's jibberish from all of the autocorrect I missed because I was too lazy or impatient to scroll through and check. I'm too old for this tech crap! :lmao:

 

It's true, it happens to the best of us and I do blame smartphones to some extent, they're so fiddly sometimes.

Posted

I isn't got no's problem with bad grammars. :p Hee hee

 

I'm a huge grammar and spelling Nazi with online dating. One guy listed himself as a "widow" in his profile, instead of widower. It's one of my pet-peeves, bad grammar.

Posted

For the most part, I don't care, unless there are additional signs that the person is very poorly educated and/or dumb. I'd file this under "petty".

 

I can usually tell the difference between an accidental occasional typo or grammatical slip-up, and someone whose written grasp of the English language is sub 5th grade level. In the former case, the person understands proper spelling and grammar just fine...they just don't care or don't have time to be meticulous with their writing. I can also often tell when someone's spelling and grammar isn't good due to English not being their first language. Then there is text-speak, where it can be frowned upon to use too much proper English. And there is smartphone autocorrect...which often isn't smart.

 

I wouldn't be so quick to judge.

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