words and spellings

Synergy/MTS Forum

Help Support Synergy/MTS Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Julia

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 15, 2008
Messages
1,647
Reaction score
0
Location
Near Seattle WA
Sorry about this. it's just that I don't think people really know what they're writing some of the time.

I'm used to "teh" since that's typically a typo like "pwned" was, but it morphed into something else.

It's the use of the words "whether", "weather", and I've seen "wether" a lot. I see it consistently in use on various forums. How many of you know what "wether" means? Raise your hands. Thought it meant "whether"? Guess again.

wether: n. a castrated male sheep.
weather: conditions of the atmosphere over a particular location.
whether: expressing a choice between alternatives.

I'm wondering if we have a lot of sheepherders in the music business. :lol:
 
Personally, I get caught up in the "I could care less" as opposed to "I couldn't care less" thing; if somebody could care less, doesn't that mean they care to a certain extent?

That, and nonexistent words like "irregardless" :x
 
Well Julia...
I think you are just seeing the fruits of a faulty educational system and a further cultural departure from the English language.
Either that or we are closer to "Idiocracy" than we know.
Who knows wether... :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I think it boils down to two sides of the brain. I know some fabulously creative people who couldn't spell their way out of third grade. Then there's the obsessive compulsive engineering / scientific types who run everything through spell-check and grammar-check.

I'm on the fence. I'm trying to become more creative after a lifetime of working with engineers. They'll wring the last ounce of creativity out of you.

Now, spot the obvious grammatical errors in the above.
 
Besides the fact that there are native speakers on forums that have idiotic spelling habits, don't forget that forums are an international thing.
Probably 50% of the mistakes are made by not-native speakers (like me ;) ). I'd say, try and help them when it get's ridiculous or impedes the conversation, but otherwise .. ignore it.

I have commented on someones spelling/grammar on here once, because it was impossible to make out what that person was saying. I couldn't make out whether it was a question or a statement or whatever else. In that case it's necessary to point someone to what's wrong so the conversation can have some progress. Likewise it can be constructive to give some tips to someone who is struggling, but being a "spelling nazi" never really helps. ;)

Now ... let's see if you can find anything in my post :twisted: I bet you can!
 
An extra comment here:

David Mitchell once said something very valuable which is related to this in one of his rants. He was talking about how the word lol is actually a useful new word, because it stands for something that normally would be very hard to express in text. You would have to say "I find your comment very hilarious" .. and that sounds very sarcastic doesn't it? Lol is really a good word to use then.

What I'm getting at with this: language is a fluid thing. Language doesn't exist because of the rules that are made up around it, it exists to communicate. So when the world changes, or people change, the things they want to communicate change, it's very natural for language to change over time. Words get added, words disappear and words change meaning.

So maybe it's a natural progression that "wether" is being used, since "castrated male sheep" is no longer a thing that the majority of people needs a word for. ;)
 
But the sheepherders do!!! It's like "gelding" for horses.

Now there are certain authors in literature who use sentence fragments for emphasis. It is part of their way of writing. That's fine. I just OCD on spelling if there is an actual meaning for the misspelled word.

Spell check? You had spell check? I didn't. Now they've got spell check and grammar check. The thing is that spell check won't catch these things. Spell checks see words like there supposed to and flag them. The spell check in this forum missed that I should have used "they're" in the last sentence. Grammar checks often miss a lot of stuff, too. When I was in college enjineres culd hardley rite. They still can't write software manuals.

Now all you Americans here, try not to blow off your hands tonight.
 
Julia said:
"gelding"
What? :)

I deliberately said "the majority" ;)
What you are talking about is jargon, which is irrelevant here.

Tube means something different to a non-guitarist or even a beginner.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't use this word for what it means to us.
 
Every generation has it's turn to rebel against whatever perceived
"status quo" is the "ogre de jour." Most of it is ridiculing what is threatening,
being too lazy to put the effort into actually learning something, or being
too stoned to even try. Oh, Joy!
Sadly, in general, people only react when it costs them money or otherwise
directly affects them. If someone offered you $100,000.00 a year, rhetorically speaking, and one of the requirements was to properly compose sentences, you would quickly learn how to "spell check."
 
kc2eeb said:
Every generation has it's turn to rebel against whatever perceived
"status quo" is the "ogre de jour." Most of it is ridiculing what is threatening,
being too lazy to put the effort into actually learning something, or being
too stoned to even try. Oh, Joy!
Sadly, in general, people only react when it costs them money or otherwise
directly affects them. If someone offered you $100,000.00 a year, rhetorically speaking, and one of the requirements was to properly compose sentences, you would quickly learn how to "spell check."
Yeah .. don't be deluded though, if you can't spell or use grammar properly .. you ain't gettin' no jobs here.
You learn that pretty quickly when you start applying for a "proper" job (or even career).

Also, it's something most people tend to grow out of.
I used to spell any word ending in "ich" as "ig" just like anybody (Dutch) when I was 13. (FYI they sound the same in Dutch ;) )

Stopped doing that by 15 and by now I'm cringing just like you when I see my nephew do it while chatting..
 
Top