# A reminder to new members regarding spelling, grammar and punctuation **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 13, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785 "2004-04-13T14:43:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/1 "2004-04-13T14:43:17Z")
One of the (many) great things about this board is the proliferation of intelligible posts. Please remember that using “u” for “you” and “ur” for “you are” and “ne1” for “anyone” makes it far more difficult for the rest of us to make sense of your thoughts. Also, please remember to use some basic capitalization and punctuation when you make your post. No one is asking for perfection, and no one cares about minor spelling/grammar/punctuation gaffes either. Just please put forth the effort to make your posts as legible as possible. This isn’t IRC, so you don’t have to type quickly. This OP brought to you by someone who just saw at least two different posters using chat speak in their posts. Links aren’t really relevant, since this is a general purpose message, and I didn’t want to get on to specific posters. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/2 "2004-04-13T14:50:49Z")
Shall I be the first to use chat speak now? Nah, too predictable. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/3 "2004-04-13T14:54:38Z")
My first guess was that someone would invoke **Gaudere’s** law and let me know all the spelling/grammar/punctuation mistakes I made in my OP. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/4 "2004-04-13T14:54:57Z")
> [@DeadlyAccurate](#): > > Also, please remember to use some basic capitalization and punctuation when you make your post. but wont that dispel some of the e.e. cummings-like charm of certain posters? nevermind, u r awesome! ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/5 "2004-04-13T15:03:06Z")
Like thanx **Jackmanni**. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/6 "2004-04-13T15:04:53Z")
_\_ …and the winner is: **DeadlyAccurate** for most polite OP in the Pit, 2004! ---
**Author:** ![Karmagun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Karmagun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karmagun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/7 "2004-04-13T15:34:38Z")
What about IMO, IMHO, AFAIK and IANA? Oh, and ban smilies please. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/8 "2004-04-13T15:38:53Z")
> [@Karmagun](#): > > What about IMO, IMHO, AFAIK and IANA? Oh, and ban smilies please. ROFLMAO! IANA spelling guru, but AFAIK, these are acceptable, IMHO. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/9 "2004-04-13T15:39:59Z")
k thx dedly!! for the tip! ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/10 "2004-04-13T15:41:54Z")
Very well done, **deadly** : I thought I was gonna come in here and invoke **Gaudere** on your butt, but given how reasonably you worded it, I won’t even try. And don’t nobody go comparing e.e. cummings’s poetry to chatspeak: they’re nothing like one another. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/11 "2004-04-13T15:42:54Z")
Well… what about LASER, NASA, SONAR, FUBAR, NCAA, TVAA, WMD, NATO…? We could get a little silly here. ---
**Author:** ![Karmagun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Karmagun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karmagun)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/12 "2004-04-13T15:46:14Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > RO → insert T here ← FLMAO! smilies? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/13 "2004-04-13T15:46:51Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > We could get a little silly here. Yes, but this is the Pit, not fuckin’ Camelot. ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/14 "2004-04-13T15:47:54Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Very well done, **deadly** : I thought I was gonna come in here and invoke **Gaudere** on your butt, but given how reasonably you worded it, I won’t even try. Actually, feel free. I’d like to know what mistakes I make, so I can improve. I suspect I make the same ones consistently, and I always feel as if someone is cringing when they read my stuff. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Zagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@El\_Zagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Zagna)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/15 "2004-04-13T16:21:21Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Well… what about LASER, NASA, SONAR, FUBAR, NCAA, TVAA, WMD, NATO…? > > We could get a little silly here. The line between acceptable and excessive use of acronyms and abbreviations always has been and always will be imprecisely defined. It’s also always in flux as things come in and out of common usage. When I’m writing something for this board, my goal is to communicate as clearly as possible. Sometimes acronyms serve that purpose, sometimes they don’t. In most of the examples you give the acronym is far more recognizable than the words they stand for, so that’s an easy call. WMD probably needed some explanation early on, but now is part of out language. IMHO, YMMV and the like are in that fuzzy area. LOL, ROFL are special cases. Although they are common acronyms, to me their usage marks the poster as humor challenged. It’s like they are announcing “Oh, yes. I got the joke. It was a funny joke. I laughed real hard at your funny joke.” Imagine saying that IRL (in real life). It just kills the flow. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/16 "2004-04-13T16:55:05Z")
> [@DeadlyAccurate](#): > > Actually, feel free. Perhaps because your post was so polite and humble, **Gaudere’s** law does not seem to have kicked in. Indeed, the closest thing I could find to an error in your post was your omission of the entirely optional [Oxford comma](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxabandc.html) in the title. That’s not an error, but rather a preference. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/17 "2004-04-13T17:16:57Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > … the closest thing I could find to an error in your post was your omission of the entirely optional [Oxford comma](http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxabandc.html) in the title. That’s not an error, but rather a preference. Re: A reminder to new members regarding spelling grammar and punctuation Remember, it’s “grammar and punctuation”, not “grammer and puntuation”. ---
**Author:** ![gluteus\_maximus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f17d59/32.png) [@gluteus\_maximus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gluteus_maximus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/18 "2004-04-13T17:19:10Z")
OK, but are we still allowed to type ‘OP’? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/19 "2004-04-13T17:21:17Z")
> [@lainaf](#): > > Re: A reminder to new members regarding spelling grammar and punctuation > > Remember, it’s “grammar and punctuation”, not “grammer and puntuation”. At least North of the Masin Dickson line. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2004, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785/20 "2004-04-13T17:23:07Z")
> [@lainaf](#): > > Re: A reminder to new members regarding spelling grammar and punctuation > > Remember, it’s “grammar and punctuation”, not “grammer and puntuation”. True, for all intensive purposes. You should of known that already. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-reminder-to-new-members-regarding-spelling-grammar-and-punctuation/239785.md?page=2)