# Here is a Stick of Holly: Now whip me for my terrible spelling and grasp of grammer! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 5, 2003, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790 "2003-09-05T18:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790/41 "2003-09-07T18:49:05Z")
> [@](#): > > Phlophr seems to be proposing that college professors should just ignore anything but content, which I think is wrong. Yay! My lucidity threshold has been reached. I started this thread as a farce, illustrating a minor glitch in my imperfect self. I did not propose that college profs should ignore anything but content…Thats absurd. Of course I have asked a student to clear up points and to not spell Freud, Froid. I hate using absolutes as I did in my last post. I should not have said ‘never’, but come on now. I’m a Psych Prof, not an english prof. And I’m simply not as critical a teacher as you may have been, or still are? And above all, my students like me because I am a good teacher, and I’m fun! My lectures are not only fun, but my methodology is such that I challenge their brain to ask questions, and challenge their charactor to stand by what they believe. We are preparing them to go out into a veritable concrete jungle you know. It’s scary out there, and there are waay too many college grads with more knowledge of mixing a drink for someone than knowledge about how to balance a check book. I could care less abut dotting your j’s or ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’. A bigger picture of how to understand life is more important to me. ---
**Author:** ![dalovindj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/65b543/32.png) [@dalovindj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalovindj)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790/42 "2003-09-07T20:10:44Z")
> [@](#): > > I could care less . . . This should be “couldn\*\*'t\*\* care less”. . . DaLovin’ Dj Sorry, I couldn’t resist! ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790/43 "2003-09-07T21:40:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Phlosphr \* > \*\*Yay! … We are preparing them to go out into a veritable concrete jungle you know. It’s scary out there, and there are waay too many college grads with more knowledge of mixing a drink for someone than knowledge about how to balance a check book. I could care less abut dotting your j’s or ‘i’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’. A bigger picture of how to understand life is more important to me. \*\* That concrete jungle is, IMO, precisely\* why\* spelling and, more importantly, grammar need to be precise. Regardless of what standards exist in college, people in the real world judge all the time on the basis of superficial criteria. Your students are highly likely to be judged on the basis of both, if not professionally, certainly personally. This may make me a terrible person, but when I see people who consistently mix up _they’re, there_, and\* their\* or _your_ and _you’re_ or put apostrophes in plurals, I will tend to take their point less seriously. They are demonstrating ignorance in front of my eyes, and that degrades their credibility. Even the _lay_ and _lie_ confusion, which seems to have become so widespread that most people don’t seem to have a clue that there _is_ any confusion, not only sets my teeth on edge, but makes me question the educational level of the source. **Phlosphr** , spell checkers and the memorization of a few simple rules to distinguish homonyms take care of most of the spelling problem. Write the rules down if you can’t remember them (including the rule _no apostrophes in plurals or verbs_). When your students turn in work done on a computer that hasn’t had these simple measures applied, they are telling you that they don’t take the work seriously. As for grammar, that’s harder, but far more important. A student who wants to succeed in any traditional field needs to understand that s/he _will_ be judged on his or her grammar to some extent, and may be written off by the stodgy oldsters who control his or her future if that grammar is sub-par. Those judges may have no idea _why_ they don’t think John Doe is quite the right person, because the process is generally something that takes place beneath the surface level of thought. I don’t particularly _want_ to judge people on grammar myself, but I know that I do. Substance is crucial, of course, but the devil is in those superficial details. Why would anyone choose to look ignorant if it’s easily avoided? ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790/44 "2003-09-07T21:43:53Z")
Of course, proof reading is never 100%, is it? :o That should read: > [@](#): > > Those judges may have no idea why they don’t think John Doe is **not** quite the right person :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790/45 "2003-09-08T05:53:50Z")
At least you have the _ostiones_ to admit it, chum. In recent weeks you managed to post some dilles, even a misspelled thread title or two. In your particular case I’ll abandon the thorny shrub-like limb and taunt you instead: [size=8]I ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790/46 "2003-09-08T05:56:11Z")
I GOT TO GO TO BURNING MAN AND YOU DIDN’T! NEINER, NEINER, NEINER! ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790/47 "2003-09-08T12:11:45Z")
[grumble]Errr, burning man, errr, I’ll burn something for ya, errr[/grumble] I hope you got sunburn. Kidding. 🙂 Well old dogs can learn new tricks. Maybe I’ll slow down a little and look before I hit submit! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/here-is-a-stick-of-holly-now-whip-me-for-my-terrible-spelling-and-grasp-of-grammer/199790.md?page=2)