A few days ago
Tom S

Are you fussy about spelling and punctuation?

I have the impression some people are extremely fussy about this, while others don’t even use the shift key or punctuation rows on their keyboards (their comments are just one big lower case paragraph).

Do you care about this, or are you perfectly happy with understanding the commented (i.e so what if the grammar or spelling is wrong)

Top 10 Answers
A few days ago
nicolemcg

Favorite Answer

I care. When you ask a question with no punctuation, it implies a sloppiness of thinking. It also implies a disrespect of the reader.

But I am from a writing/editing family. We’re all anal about that sort of thing.

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A few days ago
wee stoater
Yess i. most Sertenly:DU kair?

And I am serious! I really do care. Even when I am texting I can’t bear to abbreviate and even full stops have to be put in. Call me anal or you can call me Al, I don’t really care. I like things to be the way it should be!

However, there are many times when you know the typist is genuine about their question and I’d never put anyone down for their grammar/punctuation since, at the end of the day, it doesn’t make you any better a person. In fact, I’ve even been known to defend some on here that get attacked for spelling etc. If people can’t answer the question then don’t bother slagging someone off. So long as the question’s understood they why care? Oh I know – it gets points for you even if it’s only an insult! Oh the joys of being anonymous. Who’d dare be so rude to their face?!

Anyway – do you care?

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A few days ago
Anonymous
np/ (That’s translated no.) Am I anal about it? NO! I have no problem with punctuiation spelline grammenr but an severail time in a hurry so can’t go bake to profrood. buit feelin my point might be helfpus i wnat to get it poseitd neway.

Seriously though. It does make things look nicer and seem a little more intelligible, but what bugs me more than bad punctuation and spelling in a post is the people who get so disturbed by it that they have to comment and belittle. Then they can’t let it go and have to post questions about people who spell poorly and if people like it or not (not pointing to this one, but other not so nicely worded ones I’ve seen). Then they always pick an affirming answer so they can feel that it is okay to be p.o.ed by those who just don’t take the time to proofread.

I typed this on the phone with no proofreading – first paragraph on purpose. Second, fixing typos as I went, not spell checked. I can do that in SECONDS. Others, it takes so long to write this much that they have already contributed a valuable amount of time to just caring enough to answer. I don’t fault them for not being great typists or the secretarial type. I applaud them for the effort. A hunt and peck typist has a hard enough time without having to keep trying to find the shift key and all the punctuation strewed about the keyboard.

I love the tone of your question. Thanks for not attacking those who don’t worry about spelling and grammar.

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A few days ago
treebird
I don’t think I’d call it “fussy”. But I think that correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar exist for a reason. And that reason is not to be fussy, but so that your meaning can be understood. I have read many questions in Yahoo! Answers that I could not make any sense of at all. What is the point of writing at all if you cannot convey your thoughts clearly enough so that others can understand you? Misspelled words, incorrect usage, lack of or incorrect punctuation do make a difference.

“All that glitters is not gold.” does NOT mean the same thing as “Not all that glitters is gold.” The first is false, while the second is true.

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A few days ago
Sue F
I try to be careful about spelling and punctuation, that is part of the proper way I was taught to communicate years ago.

Correct spelling and punctuation is important in real life, and just because many people have gotten lazy and careless because of texting does not mean that it is not important.

There have been multiple questions on here that I am sure that I would have had the knowledge and ability to answer, but I am unable to do so because I am unable to decipher what the person is trying to ask.

The people who are answering this back with underlying bad attitude are only making life more difficult for themselves and make themselves look uneducated to the world.

I have been in management situations where I was unable to hire a great candidate for a job opening because they were unable (not due to any handicap) or unwilling to properly fill out required paperwork.

When they would be questioned about the blank or unreadable paperwork they would generally give us the your too strict or you have a stick….. It’s quite amusing in a sad way that they would try to turn the problem onto others.

I would have had more respect for someone who could say, I text a lot, and do not take the time to write correctly because of that; than the incorrectly defensive posture.

I am perfectly willing to decipher obvious mistakes and errors, but communicating like a preschool student is only cute and acceptable in preschool.

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4 years ago
?
Spelling, grammar and punctuation are certainly significant. in the event that they don’t seem to be then why even difficulty with having editors and instructors? I do understand that oftentimes people take their frustrations too far, yet incredibly they do rely. Resumes, activity purposes, letters of advice, and various of different sorts of communique are seen familiar. Your Myspace, facebook, and Twitter money owed (no rely if your like it or no longer, or comprehend it) are combed over by employers and companies who’ve gained your call. undesirable grammar, spelling and punctuation are a slippery slope. i’m a instructor and characteristic seen how based scholars have become on abbreviations and technologies to foretell their errors. studying to spell and use impressive grammar is a demonstration of intelligence and benefit. i do no longer understand why somebody could look down upon being proficient in what some regard by using fact the main confusing language to comprehend.
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A few days ago
VeggieTart — Let’s Go Caps!
I am fussy. I am a grammar/punctuation cop of sorts. I know typos happen, but there’s a difference between a typo and not knowing that “it’s” should not be used as a possessive (you should use “its”), “your” does not mean “you are” (that would be “you’re”), and “definitely” is NOT spelled with an “a”!! If someone forgets a capital at the beginning of a sentence or transposes two letters, hey, it happens, but that’s also why we get a chance to correct our little typos before we post a question or an answer.
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A few days ago
Anonymous
I am very fussy. I can’t have something spelled wrong in one of my own questions or answers. I tolerate it from others because I can’t do anything to stop it. πŸ™‚

School is an entirely different matter. It bugs the crap out of me when someone asks me to read a paper and the whole paper is nothing but mistakes. It also bugs me when teachers can’t spell. I blame it on my 9th grade history teacher. πŸ™‚ He graded all our papers rather strictly, and I learned a lot about grammar and spelling and punctuation from that, and I also developed a pet peeve. πŸ™‚

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A few days ago
Anonymous
I Love Typing, Spelling, and using words in a sentence.

However, spelling typing and the works are a hassle sometimes, and really all a person really wants to do is just speak out loud and ask or answer a question.

Just because a person looks incapable of typing or spelling a “spacific” word or sentence does not mean they are stupid or mentally challenged it just means they are lazy or just wants to type the thing that they would like to say, as if they are speaking aloud.

If ud like to know I sometimes use google to fix my words and tell me what the correct spelling is of that word, somtimes double checking it by looking at the listings google has provided in the search results just to make sertain that word is grammercally correct. if a person is really messing up with there words and sentences, they are usally a child, or a young teen that wants a question answered in a decent or normal manner.

Don’t be a hatter.

Give the same amount of respect that you wish upon yourself.

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A few days ago
Lonnie P
Yes, I am fussy with grammar and punctuation to the extreme. Without it, there is no good, clear communication.

And the comments are not ‘one big lower case paragraph.’ There has to be punctuation for a paragraph to exist. What they are really sending out is one long lower-case run-on sentence. That’s annoying.

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A few days ago
Megegie
I am, but not so much online. I’m a T.A. for a professor that teaches first year psychology (I’m a psychology major too) and when marking papers, I am the punctuation Nazi. I’m sure the students aren’t too happy with me but, come on, when you reach the university level you should now how to use properpunctuation. They should just be thankful I don’t ding them for not using APA format.

But for online things like this, no I’m not.

Person to person though, I am turned off of a conversation when people use poor grammar. I ignore the common mistakes but when people say things like, “Naw, I ain’t got none.” That bothers me. I have zero tolerance for the word “Ain’t”. I get that from my paternal grandfather. He’s a stickler for proper English.

Altough I don’t like it, I won’t become condescending by correcting them. That’s just rude.

I WILL correct them if they use the word ignorant incorrectly though.

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