During my free reign (I won’t charge) as Emperor of the SDMB, everyone will have free rein to collect all the free rain water they want, as long as they spell it correctly.
I care about spelling because… I value language very highly. It is the number one thing that distinguishes us from animals. Sure, they communicate and even have a sort of language, but ours is so complex and has so many layers and subtle nuances in it and IMO is what makes us human.
I particularly hate when people say things like, “You use so many big words!” in a scornful manner. Last time I got this, I had used the word “enunciate”. Yeah. I could have said “pronounce”, I guess, but I love the word. I’m not out here using these big words to make you feel small. I’m using them because I really do love them, and love using them. I wish I knew more languages.
I also hate when people say stuff like, “It’s just spelling”. Yeah, to you! I put it high on my list.
Again, I am totally excusing of typos. Everyone makes mistakes. It’s that attitude of not caring that irks me so. Grr…
I can’t be arsed to read this whole thread right now, so maybe I’m late to the reversal, but I just wanted to say that people with this attitude really irk me. It is very common to type a word the way it sounds, leading to the to/too and your/you’re mistakes of yore. These types of mistakes almost never interfere with the meaning of a post. Posters on a message noard should not be expected to proofread every word as if they were being paid for or graded on their work.
Therefore, if you think someone is a moron just for making these types of mistakes on a message board, then I think you are a moron.
You want to say chock-full. I am not criticizing; just letting you know because you really seem to care and I am impressed by your effort and the time you have taken. Good for you. The fact that you looked up “wry” removes you from the “morons”; you are not one.
Well, it was either that or underwear.
fnoard?
The problem is, in a textual environment that has few extra-linguistic cues that face-to-face speech can take advantage of, spelling becomes one of those cues. There is a distinguishable difference, at least to me, between the following:
What?
What
what
wut
That aside, someone who types poorly (depending on the register the context demands) has the textual equivalent of drool coming out their mouth. You can be courteous and ignore it, certainly, but if it’s persistent and the poster doesn’t seem to notice it, I don’t think it’s necessarily bad manners to go, “Hey, you got a bit of shmutz on your face/you’re spelling this word wrong.” The people who get defensive about sloppy spelling amaze me. We have to look at you while you’re talking, the very least you can do is have a desire to present yourself properly, even if you have difficulties actually doing so.
Must… not… feed… the… troll…
I don’t necessarily disagree. But the charge levied against someone who consistently makes the to/too mistake (for example) should be “insufficient desire to present self properly,” not “below average intelligence.”
:role ayes:
Fair enough. I reserve the right to shoot on sight for it’s/its, though.
Okay, not really. I only get irritated about that in transcripts I need to proofread, especially when I’ve already explained the difference to the transcriptionist. Online, I let it slide.
words
its
chock-full
Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t resist. 
That’s funny because I was going to say: “riddled with”, but didn’t know if “riddled” used in that way was the same spelling that’s used for “puzzles”. So I went with something else I THOUGHT I knew, and would fit.
I proof read my posts many times. Most of my posts I later edit because I’m constantly finding mistakes that I’ve missed, until the 5 minutes are up. After those 5 minutes are up, there’s not much more I can do. I also have a google window open most of the time. When you’re starting to type a word in the search box, it helps you not only spell it, but shows the context in which it’s used by often showing common uses of the word. It’s very frustrating, but it’s nice to have people understand that the effort is still there, (if not moreso), so thanks! 
One thing that bothers me most is when I type something essentially clever, but it loses it’s ‘punch’ when the reader has to piece what I’m trying to say together.
Yes, “riddled” would have been fine; see the second usage here. The “chock-full” comes from “choke,” as in so full as to choke one.
As **Shot From Guns **points out in Post 71, its/it’s is troublesome for many people. You use it correctly in your second paragraph here, “context in which it’s used,” but incorrectly in your third paragraph, “loses it’s punch.”
If you could remember that the ONLY time to use “it’s” is when you are putting two words together – **it is **-- maybe that will help? The apostrophe fills in the blank between the words. The first sentence could have been “context in which **it is **used,” so “it’s” is correct. The second sentence, “loses **it is **punch,” doesn’t make sense, so it’s is not correct.
You’re just prejudice.
(holy fuck, I think 99% of people I hear say that phrase use the wrong word)
-Joe
“It’s” and “its” are an old enemies of mine. It isn’t that I don’t know the correct way, it’s simply something I overlook, (which would be fine if it wasn’t one of the many mistakes I can potentially overlook). I’ll try to pay closer attention to it though.
I think MyFootsZZZ probably knows the rules but just has some fuzzy brain wiring that makes what’s being written not always get filtered through the rules properly. (Same way my brain likes to swap around words and letters–fortunately, I’m usually able to catch it before I post, or during the edit window.)
I figured. I was just trying to provide a memory aid, with the apostrophe. He’s doing fine.
Oops, wrong thread.
Thanks though… it’s good some people on this board know I have this problem.
I hear your username was supposed to be Shot For Guns.
One thing I grow tired of seeing is when people say it’s misspelled. Please explain to what about “breaks” or “break” is misspelled? According to my dictionary, it’s spelled correctly and is a word.
The word which eludes so many people’s vocabulary is malapropism, a specific form of solecism.