Disturbing News for the Hub Pages Spelling Police

1. 60

   Eric Graudinsposted 15 years ago

   In my travels around hub pages, I've seen (and made)  spelling errors.
   
   I don't really regard this as a mortal sin in need of correction (and I've even been guilty of having some fun with some of these)
   
   So - here's something for the serious souls who take hubbers to task for any infraction of spelling rules.
   It demonstrates that your services are probably not needed
   
   
   Cna yuo raed tihs?
   i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg.
   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!
   
   (Note: - or should that be Ntoe
   This does not mean that your spelling in a more formal context can be sloppy.
   I freely confess to being a bit of a Spelling Nazi myself, and will mentally downgrade any book, publication,  website, or other serious writing if it contains grammar or spelling mistakes.
   However, on more casual communications like email, forums, etc I think that mispelings are OK.
   
   Do you agree? or am I just an inkonsistent weerdo?

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   1. 77

      robie2posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      inkonsisent weerdo .....but I totally agree I'm a spelling and grammar Nazi too when it comes to other people's mistakes. I pay less attention to my own ( said with a narsiscystic smile)

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   2. 78

      JamaGeneeposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      YES, you are an inkonsistent weerdo, but that's what happens to those who live where Christmas comes in the middle of summer...A FRESH VIEWPOINT. 
      
      I've seen a sample of the Cambridge study elsewhere and never cease to be amazed that our brains can process such "gobbledygook" correctly.  (Sorry...too many years proofing the tortured compositions of colleagues prevents me from writing that Cambridge-style.)
      
      GREAT new pic, btw.
      Jama

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   3. 70

      MrMarmaladeposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Son 1 had terrible trouble at school, as he could not perform as the teacher required (dyslexia.) He kept putting the letters of the words back to front. Val finally took him to a speech therapist.
      She gave him some text to read and rewrite. Congratulated him on the well done performance. She said it was a performance, as he had memorized the words and was not listening to her.
      She began training him two hours per week using colour.
      There was only trouble, she said You remembered all the words, you did not read them as they were written
      Anyway two years after he managed to graduate at the top of the class..
      I had no trouble reading your text..

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2. 60

   Gawn Fishin'posted 15 years ago

   Eric, I have to admit, I didn't have much trouble breezing thru that.

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3. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

   I don't mind spelling errors on email. However, a friend of mine will correct my spelling if I make a typo...it's rather irritating.

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   1. 60

      Gawn Fishin'posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you Susan, I was embarrassed by the typos I sent to you.

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4. 61

   SunSevenposted 15 years ago

   How do I spell FISH?

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   1. 60

      Gawn Fishin'posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Delish!

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      1. 61

         SunSevenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         
         
         I saw it as GHOTI somewhere

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         1. 71

            Inspirepubposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            In this Hub ...?
            
            http://hubpages.com/hub/Learn-This-To-Learn-English
            
            Lots of other spelling weirdnesses in there, too!
            
            Jenny

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            1. 61

               SunSevenposted 15 years agoin reply to this

               No Jenny Here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghoti

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               1. 71

                  Inspirepubposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  Only in Wikipedia, LOL. Listings for jokes ...
                  
                  I wonder if they also have a listing for "Charles Dikkens, with two Ks, the well-known Dutch author" of GRATE Expectations fame ...
                  
                  Jenny

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5. 72

   Maddie Ruudposted 15 years ago

   In my personal opinion, these sorts of mistakes are best pointed out in private, and not where the whole world can point and laugh (or the culprit feel humiliated).  At least, I'm guilty of typos and misspellings myself, from time to time, and that's how I'd prefer they be handled.

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   1. 82

      SweetiePieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I am glad Maddie pointed this out .

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   2. 61

      seohowtoposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      100% agree with you, though I I like your writing and didn't even finish reading all of your hubs (but I will!). I do my best, but my writing is still not perfect...
      
      
      

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6. 82

   SweetiePieposted 15 years ago

   If people spell incorrectly on a hub, forum, or email it does not bother me personally because this is their writing and it has absolutely no impact on my life or health .  Not everyone is aiming to become a professional writer, so who really cares at the end of the day.  Now if a person is turning a paper in for school they should use the spell check.

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   1. 79

      Uninvited Writerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I disagree. Like it or not, people judge you on how you write. If you are writing a hub to share with the world at large you should take the effort to at least spell check. If people have to try too hard to read something, they won't...

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      1. 82

         SweetiePieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Well people are free to judge, I just do not judge anyone on things like this.  Also, it does not bother me personally that people judge because that is a given.   Inform them privately if you must because that is the best thing to do.

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7. 61

   SunSevenposted 15 years ago

   Liked your new avatar Eric

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8. 60

   Eric Graudinsposted 15 years ago

   Thanks for the comments re new pic.
   Found it while searching through digital pics for Dorsi's Hubbers Hub.
   
   It's quite amazing. There's thousands  of pics of the kids, pets, etc, and only about 20 with me in them over the past many years.
   
   Oh well, statements about quality and quantity come to mind :-)

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   1. 78

      JamaGeneeposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      A few theories on this that've been tossed around over the years:
      
      1. There are very few pix of you because YOU'RE the one taking the most of the thousands of pix of the kids, pets, etc.
      
      2. EVERYBODY knows what YOU look like...YOU haven't changed in 20 years, so why would we snap YOUR picture?   
      
      3. You've been living in another dimension, and when you get back to your world, there'll be thousands of pix of YOU. 
      
      Jama

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      1. 60

         Eric Graudinsposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Jama, you're dead right. All of these are true.

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9. 61

   SunSevenposted 15 years ago

   20 is too much?!

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10. 63

    darksideposted 15 years ago

    Occasionally magazines and newspapers make smelling pistakes. And it's glaringly obvious. But the world doesn't end.
    
    But what if magazines and newspapers had smelling pistakes in every article and snippet? We'd consider them to be a joke. We'd wonder how the writers, journalists and editors managed to keep and even get their jobs. It would be unprofessional. They'd come across as unintelligent.
    
    So that's why I try my best to avoid smelling pistakes.

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11. 77

    ripplemakerposted 15 years ago

    Eric, the first time I read what you shared above...was in a dyslexia seminar...a reading disability.    Since we can't edit our own work, sometimes, misspellings can happen.  But if there's really a lot of it in a text, I think we should make corrections.  I don't mind if somebody emails me for the correction.   As Maddie said, one can always go about the corrections in private.

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12. 61

    SunSevenposted 15 years ago

    We do have a spell checker at HP which is a very good one. But try running it in the following poem. I don't have a clue who wrote it !
    
    Eye halve a spelling checker
    It came with my pea sea
    It plainly marques four my revue
    Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
    
    Eye strike a key and type a word
    And weight four it two say
    Weather eye am wrong oar write
    It shows me strait a weigh.
    
    As soon as a mist ache is maid
    It nose bee fore two long
    And eye can put the error rite
    Its rare lea ever wrong.
    
    Eye have run this poem threw it
    I am shore your pleased two no
    Its letter perfect awl the weigh
    My checker tolled me sew.
    
    
    LOL What will the spelling police say about this?!!

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13. 79

    Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

    Very cute

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14. 72

    amy janeposted 15 years ago

    I think spelling is important, but I am not a nazi about it.  BUT, if you are reading one of my hubs and catch something I missed, please tell me (email)!  I recently found in the first paragraph of my most popular hub the word "form" which was supposed to be "from."
    
    I am shocked that my mother-in-law didn't point it out to me. She makes a point of illuminating my mistakes everywhere else. She also would like to understand better why people are not critical of my hubs in the comments section.  LOL! 

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    1. 87

       stephhicks68posted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Too funny, Amy!  Yes, I am a nazi myself, but always privately.  Over time, I tend to see mistakes in Hubs as either pattern or accident.  Some are very good about checking, others not so much.  But I would never thumbs down or make a comment about it.
       
       I also have a pet peeve about grammar and other writing errors.  Probably my biggest "button" is the use of possessive when a plural is intended.  Big sign on my street recently:  "Kitten's for Sale"  (arrggh!!)

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          Gawn Fishin'posted 15 years agoin reply to this

          I agree with you on that one, Moms apple pie, gets me.

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          1. 72

             amy janeposted 15 years agoin reply to this

             You both would love the book Eats, Shoots and Leaves....or is it Eat's Shoots and Leaves. If you haven't read it already, check it out. It even comes with little stickers so you can go around correcting the many mistakes in the world.   It is the only entertaining book about grammar that I have ever come across.

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       2. 78

          JamaGeneeposted 15 years agoin reply to this

          Mine too, Steph! 
          
          Why are we paying teacher's paltry pittance's if they're won't teach kid's the difference between possessive and plural?????
          
          Seriously now...  I grew up in newspaper editor William Allen White's stomping grounds.  The journalism school at KU (Kansas University) is named after him, but you'd never know it by the multitude of spelling and grammar errors in articles written by J-School students AND grads.  Now THERE's a waste of Big Bucks!  I'm sure WAW has spun in his grave right through to China by now.
          
          Jama

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15. 73

    funneboneposted 15 years ago

    I think there are mistakes and then there is just plain ignorance and laziness. I can overlook little things because I screw up all of the time but some things are just too awful to even finish: <snipped link--no need to make an example of someone>

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       Eric Graudinsposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Ah Grasshopper. You show signs of true maturity

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16. 79

    Uninvited Writerposted 15 years ago

    I have copy of Eats, Shoots, and Leaves. I love it
    
    I also love the Transitive Vampire: a handbook of grammar for the innocent, the eager, and the doomed
    
    And of course, nothing beats Strunk and White for grammar...

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17. 86

    Dorsiposted 15 years ago

    I wrote a hub about hubbers and spelling here:
    
    http://hubpages.com/_HubLink/hub/Using- … t-HubPages
    
    with details on how to use the spellcheck here at HubPages.(it's not as daunting as it seems)
    And yes, it's very important for us as writers to spellcheck our work ( unless we have someone to do it for us and I don't think many of us do!)
    
    Now if anyone has a grammar program I would appreciate it...lol..!!!

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    1. 70

       MrMarmaladeposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       It does annoy me when i make a mistake. (Fingers do no do what the brain tells them do .)
       It annoys me more, when the Hub writer will not allow me to correct the comment. as it has to be judged first for comment content.

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18. 67

    crashcromwellposted 15 years ago

    I hold myself to very high standards, and get privately annoyed when I read stupid mistakes by people who think of themselves as talented writers. But I usually keep such thoughts to myself because you can bet that as soon as I call someone on it, that's when I will make the ultimate boner.
    
    I remember when I worked for a small newspaper in central Massachusetts there was an AP story about Public Education, but the poor fools left out the L in public and, well, you know! And that was in a headline!

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19. 71

    Inspirepubposted 15 years ago

    At least they didn't leave out the S and C from "Instruction" as well ... in the parts of the world where it's Public Instruction, careless use of spellcheckers is hazardous indeed ...

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20. 59

    pfullerposted 15 years ago

    I am the king of typos and the occasional incoherent sentence that only makes sense to me. I am extremely keyboard challenged.
    
    There is a difference between obvious typos and spelling mistakes.  I know the difference between hear and here but occasionally when I am typing a quick response or email I will slip up.
    
    I always get a laugh when someone quotes me back but corrects the error by putting the word in quotation marks.  I guess they are trying to point out my inadequacies.
    
    Eric, good looking shades, I am trying to use photoshop to add it to my avatar.  I am also photoshop challenged so the results may be a bit off.

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