# why criticise people for poor spelling/grammar **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 25, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907 "2005-10-25T23:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/1 "2005-10-25T23:29:41Z")
If a person is spelling challenged, as in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341092), why the hostility towards him? Why not just request additional clarity if necessary and ignore the typo’s and spelling problems? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/2 "2005-10-25T23:32:11Z")
“Spelling challenged?” Jesus Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/3 "2005-10-25T23:34:59Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > why the hostility towards him? Why not just request additional clarity if necessary and ignore the typo’s and spelling problems? Now, I would never reply to a thread just to point out typing errors, but if I had some serious input, I would (in most cases) leave an additional line with spelling corrections. I don’t really mind typo’s, but the misspelling of words bugs me. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/4 "2005-10-25T23:36:39Z")
Truly, **smartguysmile** is the victim here. As a wise man once said: shame shame. Maybe we better not posting after all. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/5 "2005-10-25T23:41:56Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > If a person is spelling challenged, as in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341092), why the hostility towards him? Why not just request additional clarity if necessary and ignore the typo’s and spelling problems? My guess? Specifically in that thread, the hostility was directed toward the OP for untraditional & trendy usage (“U” for “you”) as well as careless errors that indicated s/he just didn’t care enough to go over the very short post. TheOP also had a somewhat hostile tone, or anyway I thought so. Usually any spelling/grammar correction is much more gentle and merely informative, i.e., “there’s no apostrophe in _typos_ as it’s a simple plural, not a possessive,” “Barbra Streisand, not Barbara,” “It’s ‘atheist,’ not ‘athiest’” and I like to see these because, frankly, if I see something misspelled a lot, I begin to spell it the way I see it. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/6 "2005-10-25T23:52:10Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > Why not just request additional clarity if necessary and ignore the typo’s and spelling problems? Theses no olny typos. no spellng porblms. No no. He no wriet Engilsh, Csae no unederstnad op. No calarity for to aks abuot. so not nesscesrary. He not litereat at al, Ceas olny for too luagh. Shaem sheam? tuogh tity. heer is Pitt!!! ---
**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:** [October 25, 2005, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/7 "2005-10-25T23:55:37Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > If a person is spelling challenged, as in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341092), why the hostility towards him? Why not just request additional clarity if necessary and ignore the typo’s and spelling problems? I will repeat brilliant portions of my scintillating post from that thread here: It’s silly to get upset over the occasional creatively-spelled word, and it’s obnoxious to get upset over people who use words in perfectly comprehensible but regional fashions. But when a person’s grammar and spelling are so bizarre that it makes reading their writing difficult, then criticism is well-founded. At that point, it’s like criticizing someone for talking with their mouth full of food. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/8 "2005-10-25T23:58:50Z")
> [@Hi](#): > > I don’t really mind typo\*\*’\*\*s, but the misspelling of words bugs me. What’s your stand on incorrect punctuation? ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/9 "2005-10-26T00:03:14Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > What’s your stand on incorrect punctuation? Fine by me! However, unacceptable if performed by anybody else 😃 ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/10 "2005-10-26T00:25:21Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > If a person is spelling challenged, as in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=341092), why the hostility towards him? Why not just request additional clarity if necessary and ignore the typo’s and spelling problems? Because we’re racist, obviously, as you pointed out in that thread. Maybe you should call up Jerry Lewis’s people and see if you can set up some kind of telethon for the much-maligned “Spelling Challenged”. Starting a Pit thread just doesn’t seem proactive enough if you really want to battle such an injustice. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/11 "2005-10-26T00:30:56Z")
I would imagine there’s a rather wide dividing line between _spelling challenged_ and _spelling conquered_. In the linked thread, we encounter a clear example of the latter. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/12 "2005-10-26T00:37:45Z")
For shame Reader profits from grammer bad typos. Observe Google ads for bad typo mispelled words! ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/13 "2005-10-26T00:45:15Z")
Yes. **W** hy criticize people? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/14 "2005-10-26T00:45:32Z")
I just observed said ads, Ludovic. I’m quite perplexed about one thing. What is “Christian English?” (It’s the ad on the far right as of 9:45 am KST.) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/15 "2005-10-26T00:46:13Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > What’s your stand on incorrect punctuation? I don’t stand. I stomp on it. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/16 "2005-10-26T00:56:51Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > ignore the typo’s and spelling problems? [nitpick] typos [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/17 "2005-10-26T01:04:42Z")
As someone with very poor spelling skills, I do get touchy about the criticism on occasion. Then again, when I see someone else whose spelling is no worse, I think the look like a moron. So, I understand it, and I try to have a sense of humor about it, as that’s my only defense. P.S. - I’ve wondered all my life if I have some particular deficits in some areas that would qualify as a learning disability, and I’ve had some teachers who wondered the same thing. Maybe there’s something to that, but I just can’t be arsed to get it checked out. So, if I’m just a plain old doofus, I guess I should accept it and tyr to be happi. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/18 "2005-10-26T01:07:12Z")
> [@mrrealtime](#): > > If a person is spelling challenged, … Spelling has beaten up **smartguysmile** and taken his lunch money. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/19 "2005-10-26T01:20:48Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > What is “Christian English?” (It’s the ad on the far right as of 9:45 am KST.) I’m going to guess that it involves lots of capitalizations of Important Nouns, and perhaps a little inflated grandiosity (never use a big word when a diminutive one will do). ---
**Author:** ![mrrealtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@mrrealtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrrealtime)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2005, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907/20 "2005-10-26T01:38:44Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Yes. **W** hy criticize people? Ok, ok, smarty pants…“why Bully people” would be a better term, but I believe that was implied by the context. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-criticise-people-for-poor-spelling-grammar/327907.md?page=2)