# Where has all the spelling gone? Long time passing.... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 19, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614 "2005-05-19T18:46:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/41 "2005-05-20T01:31:38Z")
I know I’m going to regret putting my two cents in, but since the thread is here, I might as well. It’s been bugging me lately that some posters, and I didn’t make note of their names so I’m not calling anyone out, have been using just one dash and no spaces between phrases, e.g.: “My Tivo sometimes freezes up on me-anyone know why this might be?” That just looks like a hyphenated word. Instead, it should be three dashes, or at least two, with spaces between the dashes and the words, like **Baldwin** did in post #9. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/42 "2005-05-20T01:34:10Z")
> [@Delly](#): > > I am hopeless at grammar, my spelling **isnt** too bad though. I **wouldnt** mind if people wanted to correct me, especially on this message board where most of you come across **of** nice, polite educated poeple. > > But when you start threads like this, and make snarky comments after mistakes have been made, it really pisses me off and the end result is that I have no desire to fix my mistakes. > > If some of you were just a bit nicer about it, this problem may not be half **a** bad as it is. > I know Ive probably made a spelling mistake because I said my spelling is ok. Its bound to happen. :::Rilchiam points and laughs::: You forgot apostrophes! You used the wrong wo-ords! Seriously, though, don’t sweat it. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/43 "2005-05-20T01:35:16Z")
:smack: And of course, **I** failed to point out the lack of apostrophes in “I’ve” and “It’s” in your last para. Stupid poetic justice! ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/44 "2005-05-20T02:20:56Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Fragment. “Sentence fragment IS a sentence fragment.” “Must shut down to conserve battery.” ---
**Author:** ![gommsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@gommsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gommsn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/45 "2005-05-20T02:36:51Z")
**Delly** , I see lots of spelling errors and it’s difficult to recall anyone being called out individually on them. Some people are good spellers, some aren’t. Don’t sweat it. The important thing is to get your thoughts across in a cogent manner and you seem to do that quite nicely. Most members of this board are able to read through the odd spelling error without jumping on the writer. My problem (and I see this often ) is typing errors. These are obvious and everyone does it at some time or other. I am forever mixing my t’s and y’s. Who decided to put them right next to each other anyway? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lola\_Granola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Lola\_Granola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lola_Granola)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/46 "2005-05-20T02:37:43Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > Just curious. In the sentence “Where has all the spelling gone?” does this wording seem to suggest the existence of some non existing noun. I mean I can understand saying “The spelling in your post is horrible” where “in you post” pertains to “the spelling”. What if I said “Where is the spelling?” It seems that the word usage in the OP is incorrect or at least clumsy. Any grammarians out there? When I read this post, I started singing the song. Ya know Peter, Paul and Mary? Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing? Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago? Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls have picked them everyone. Oh, when will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn? (Waves lighter in the air) Whoo hoo!!! Rock on! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/47 "2005-05-20T02:44:58Z")
May I play, too? 😃 > [@The Sausage Creature](#): > > I learn something new everyday here. 🙂 You learn something new “every day.” “Everyday” is an adjective. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/48 "2005-05-20T02:53:24Z")
As one of the worst spellers and a regular poster of grammatical errors (I had better things to do in school, there was Dope to be smoked!) I just want to say: “me spel gooder now cuz i be a dohper”. We now return you to your regularly scheduled “Grammar Nazi” thread. Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/49 "2005-05-20T02:59:36Z")
> [@continuity eror](#): > > “Sentence fragment IS a sentence fragment.” > “Must shut down to conserve battery.” No: you were supposed to type “‘Sentence fragment’ IS a sentence fragment,” so I would have something to reply to that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/50 "2005-05-20T03:08:33Z")
Eyevrnoe can udenrsatnd waht you are syanig as lnog as the fsirt and lsat letetr in the wrod rmeian in the smae sopt, so waht is the piont? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/51 "2005-05-20T03:14:23Z")
I use [ieSpell](http://www.iespell.com/), it spell checks any text entry box in Internet Explorer browser windows (sorry Firefox). Pretty good for freeware. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/52 "2005-05-20T03:18:00Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I know I’m going to regret putting my two cents in, but since the thread is here, I might as well. > > It’s been bugging me lately that some posters, and I didn’t make note of their names so I’m not calling anyone out, have been using just one dash and no spaces between phrases, e.g.: “My Tivo sometimes freezes up on me-anyone know why this might be?” That just looks like a hyphenated word. Instead, it should be three dashes, or at least two, with spaces between the dashes and the words, like **Baldwin** did in post #9. Ugh. No. A dash _is_ two hyphens. At least that’s the conventional representation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen–although I may be wrong–more than two hyphens used to indicate an interruption in thought. Although the completely proper way to do it is to use the em dash, which is alt+0151 on PCs. So, with our example sentence: My Tivo sometimes freezes up on me—anyone know why this might be? Then there’s also the en dash, alt+0150. This is generally used to indicate ranges, as in the numbers 1–10, or the years 1983–7. In this particular font, it’s not as noticeable as others, but in order of horizontal length, from shortest to longest, is hyphen, en dash, em dash. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/53 "2005-05-20T03:20:39Z")
Hmm…weird. In the reply box, the en dash was actually longer than the hyphen, but in the posted reply, the en dash came out the same length as the hyphen. I just previewed and, sure enough, the en dash is indeed replaced by the hyphen upon posting. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/54 "2005-05-20T03:24:48Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > It’s been bugging me lately that some posters, and I didn’t make note of their names so I’m not calling anyone out, have been using just one dash and no spaces between phrases, e.g.: “My Tivo sometimes freezes up on me-anyone know why this might be?” Semi-guilty. I’ll give you your spaces - as you see here - but I will not type more than one of these: -. Sorry. One - fits all. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/55 "2005-05-20T03:25:17Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Ugh. No. A dash _is_ two hyphens. At least that’s the conventional representation. I don’t think I’ve ever seen–although I may be wrong–more than two hyphens used to indicate an interruption in thought. … See, this is why one should never correct anyone else’s spelling, grammar or usage. I said “dash” but I meant “hyphen.” And on further thought, I’m not sure spaces are necessary either. I’ll be over here eating worms if anyone asks. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/56 "2005-05-20T12:46:46Z")
The general rule is not to use spaces between letters and dashes, although differing styles may allow for spaces. I think they’re overkill with long dashes like the em dash. **This Year Models’s** hyphen with a space style is something I’ve seen of late, except with en dashes, not hyphens. I personally don’t think single hyphens should ever be used for breaks in thought, but if you must use them, surround them with spaces. ---
**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:** [May 20, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/57 "2005-05-20T13:44:51Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Eyevrnoe can udenrsatnd waht you are syanig as lnog as the fsirt and lsat letetr > in the wrod rmeian in the smae sopt, so waht is the piont? Alalcuty tihs is not ture: yvuoe dlctlsriaay oflpvmsreieiid how hnmaus unsrtndead wietrtn lggnauae. Daniel ---
**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:** [May 20, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/58 "2005-05-20T13:52:30Z")
And the style guides I’ve seen say it’s incorrect to put spaces between dashes and words. [Cite](http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/dashes.asp) Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/59 "2005-05-20T15:32:05Z")
Duck off and fie. Dyslexia lures. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614/60 "2005-05-20T15:46:19Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Have you ever…been…to the Internet? Ooh! Ooh! I have! I was just researching a recipe on a site that said to make the “suace”, then to dip pieces of chicken in the “sause.” And how did it say to remove the pieces? Why, with a pair of thongs, of course. Cooking is fun! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-has-all-the-spelling-gone-long-time-passing/304614.md?page=4)