# Which is more important:  Having a good argument or spelling it correctly?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-having-a-good-argument-or-spelling-it-correctly/598792>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [October 6, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-having-a-good-argument-or-spelling-it-correctly/598792 "2011-10-06T15:26:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-having-a-good-argument-or-spelling-it-correctly/598792/41 "2011-10-07T13:03:34Z")

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> [@DianaG](#):
>
> I’ll cop to arrogance if you’ll take a moment to look up “ignorant”.

Do you not quite understand that the issue is being ignorant of the topic discussed and not the spelling or grammar used to debate that topic?

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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [October 7, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-having-a-good-argument-or-spelling-it-correctly/598792/42 "2011-10-07T17:29:37Z")

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First criterion is whether I can understand the argument without having to do more than my fair share of the work. If it passes that, I look at the substance of the argument, and let the fourth-grade English peccadilloes slide…

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**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-having-a-good-argument-or-spelling-it-correctly/598792/43 "2011-10-08T16:30:07Z")

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> [@kaylasdad99](#):
>
> First criterion is whether I can understand the argument without having to do more than my fair share of the work. If it passes that, I look at the substance of the argument, and let the fourth-grade English peccadilloes slide…

Exactly. I have found a correlation between people with horrendous communication skills and how inferior their arguments are. But it’s not necessarily so. That said, while I won’t dismiss an argument as wrong because of its wording, I may well decide I don’t have the energy or inclination to machete my way through a thicket of poorly constructed thoughts. (Typos and misspellings I notice, but they’re not a big deal.)

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**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\
**Post date:** [October 8, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-is-more-important-having-a-good-argument-or-spelling-it-correctly/598792/44 "2011-10-08T18:53:28Z")

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There’s nothing wrong with a few spelling goofs…but I suppose it really depends on the deepness of the subject matter.

You argment could turn from serius to conical in juat a few small keystokes…😉

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Ll-lia-FEIY/hqdefault.jpg "How is babby formed?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll-lia-FEIY)

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