And we already have the perfect user name for him! He’s a little nervous about the posting standards because he’s a bad speller, but I think he’d be a great addition to the boards. (He just informed me that the first use of “disrespect” was 1614.)
So, can I “reserve” his username with a password he can access? I’m not a very prolific or argumentative poster so it’s not like I’m trying to form a sock.
No, you may not.
Have him create his own account. He doesn’t have to post from it if he doesn’t want to.
twickster, moderator.
I use Firefox, and it puts red underlines below misspelled words. It won’t help if the misspelling is actually a different word, but it will get him halfway there. I’d guess most browsers have this feature by now.
He could also make his sig be something like “Yeah, my spelling sucks. Sorry.” People will (mostly) lay off.
Tell him to come right along. We’ll lay off on the spelling. Well, we’ll lay off until he’s hooked. . .and by then, he won’t have a choice, will he? 
Alternately, he could put every single person who pedantically corrects spelling in the absence of any other conversational input on the Ignore list. It works.
Anytime I’m not sure of the spelling, I put the word into google.
Hmmmm. Apparently I don’t do that… 
I’m so pleased someone else does that too.
When we first started out, there were lots more pedants making snide comments about typos. We then learned Gaudere’s Law: the posts that complain about someone else’s spelling or grammar, almost always have a spelling or grammar mistake of their own. Hence, most of us no longer care much about whether posts have proper grammar or impeccable spelling.
And, yes, he does need to register on his own, with his own password etc. It’s relatively painless, and he can email TubaDiva or me if he has any probs or questions.
The occasional spelling mistake usually passes without comment, but I’ve seen posts (by posters who usually don’t last long) that are *full *of spelling/typographical/grammatical mistakes torn to shreds. There is a certain standard required here.
In my experience, spelling and grammar usually only become issues when the poster does one of the following:
[thread=539587]This thread[/thread] and the ones it references have lots of examples.
A well meaning poster who doesn’t go in search of grammar trainwrecks will generally do fine. Tell him to sign on and wade in. Introductory threads usually go in MPSIMS, where the participants are kinder and gentler.
I tend to be a spelling and grammar pedant, but as long as it’s not of the egregious “How is babby formed?” variety, I just tend to wince and keep my thoughts to myself. (Most) Dopers are smart enough to judge your boyfriend on the content of his posts, not their spelling.
I like to misspell words on purpose after getting that kind of shit. I especially love talking about how they are a pedant for correcting my grammer, and watch how many people jump all over how I spelled grammer.
I was a spelling bee champion all throughout school, so I am pretty good at spelling naturally. If I misspell a word usually it’s a typo and I have Firefox’s spellcheck turned on.
People who make a big deal out of spelling just can’t deal with substance. Occasionally it’s egregiously bad, but correcting the proper use of its and it’s is really annoying, particularly since most of us know it, we just aren’t going back and editing our posts as if we were a copy-editor.
I hope it’s not Capo di tutti frutti because that’s my next name when I get fed up with this one.
You probably aren’t married to an editor then. 
I’m dibs on Crimson Misdemeanor.
Thanks for all the responses. Mods, I will have him register his own account; I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be kosher but I had to ask.
Let us know his name when he does so we can all [del]stalk him, correcting his spelling wherever he goes[/del] be nice.
Posting here can be a great way to work on your spelling (and writing).
Actually…