I'm beginning to wonder...


Alright, so I have read previous threads about misspellings and poor grammar in Audiogon posts, and I have even joked about it myself in one thread a long time ago. In fact, while I was poking fun at a misspelled word in the thread, I misspelled one myself and was called out for it!
What I am beginning to wonder about is what percentage of Audiogon members speak (or write) english as a first language. Almost every day, there is a classified or a post that is nearly unreadable. The strange thing is that the post will be answered by several readers with no mention of the poor writing. It is so common, that I am wondering what pecentage of regular members are living in the USA. Does anyone have an idea?
128x128roxy54

Showing 4 responses by nsgarch

Has no one heard of iSpell?
http://www.iespell.com/download.php
It's a simple download, and it's free. I know it works with all versions of Internet Explorer above v.5. There may be apps for other browsers as well.

It works from the 'Tools' menu in IE, or if you happen to be on a forum, there's even an icon in the posting window of current versions of v.Bulletin. And you can double click a single word to spellcheck it, just like in word processing programs.

No more whining ;-)
.
does anyone dispute that the subjects of diction, spelling and grammar does not belong on this forum ?
Frankly Tennis, it's a shame the issue has to be raised at all - so in that regard, I (technically) agree with you. HOWEVER Tennis, in my opinion, the value of (any kind of) forum lay first in the accuracy with which the participants communicate their ideas/information/questions. If a person feels they have something important/interesting to share, why wouldn't they respect their own ideas by delivering them as clearly as possible,

It is the people for whom English is not their first language, who I find usually make the biggest effort to be clear, and apologize for their mistakes beforehand ;-) While native English speakers seem to care less about butchering their mother tongue.

With free programs that can fix it all for you with the click of a mouse, I think there is simply no excuse for sloppy spelling, typos, and grammar. They are the medium through which we communicate here, and deserve to be as clean, clear, and "noise-free" as we demand in our audio signals. Otherwise, why listen to them?
Al, you're quite right of course -- there is just no substitute for human proof-reading ;-)
Tennis, once again I (technically) agree with you (comments by themselves aren't much help), HOWEVER Tennis, again, in my opinion, I think it perfectly alright to ask people to help improve the quality of communication so we all benefit, if at the same time one offers ways to help others in doing that. And in one's own efforts, to follow the golden rule -- don't write anything you wouldn't want to read!

I think the OP was simply trying to raise awareness (yes, Roxy54?) Not everyone will respond. Hell, not everyone will read this thread! But if we are going to (try and) communicate with each other (especially about technical stuff like audio) I think a little precision in communication couldn't hurt?

Anyway, I disagree that mentioning such things is a waste of time! In fact, I think it should be mentioned regularly just so folks remember that someone is in fact reading your post and trying to understand what you mean.
.