Letters to the Editor
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LymieG thinks we're stupid
and can't take a joke either...methinks he has the pomposity of Frazier Crane
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A couple of random thoughts (not unlike the column).
* George W. Bush's spelling is among the least of his character flaws.
* The dictionary reflects current spelling and pronunciation by speakers both erudite and ignorant. Ain't is in there, along with nook-yalur.
* The English language is a living thing, which is altered over time by those who speak it, including those who are not English majors like us, and although we probably tend to be liberals on a lot of subjects we can get downright reactionary about issues of spelling and grammar.
* My personal bugaboo is those who fail to grasp the difference between the verbs "lie" and "lay." Lie, lay, lain. Lay, laid, laid. When somebody says he's going to lay down for a while, I groan inside, remembering my English 101 professor, whose own bugaboo was a common misuse by the unread freshmen; she interjected, loudly and without fail, on each occasion: "AS I said, not LIKE I said." After a couple of hundred of those, you tended not to forget.
* But I also know many, some friends of mine, who are neither readers nor spellers, yet are decent, salt-of-the-earth people who would make perfectly wonderful Presidents of the United States.
* Still, I'm planning to vote for Obama, probably largely due to his magnificent use of the English language.
ds
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Bible Readers ???????
I frequently get mail advertisements from local churches promoting themselves addressed to: Joesph Lastname
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Spell checkers are part of the problem, not part of the solution
I found this little poem on the Internet in July 2002 and saved it for future reference. Now, I suppose, is the future reference (as well as the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York and the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party).
Spell Checker Poem
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Iran this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
-Sauce unknown
Here's more food for thought:
Q. What ought to be done about all this ignorance and apathy?
A. I don't know and I don't care.
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Sorry about the double spacing above...
I don't know how it happened, but I apologize.
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Language snobbery
When I first immigrated to the United States, I found that I was having to catch myself and not correct people for spelling thing wrongly, realizing that in an immigrant nation there is little demand for niceties like correct spelling.
However, it gets old.
Medical errors are made every day because many hospital personnel cannot tell the names "Roberson" and "Robinson" apart (random example).
My telephone account does not match the name on my credit card,which does not match the names on my social number, because various employees make approximate decisions on how to spell my name.
My neighbor's name is "Jonathan", and he complains that it is often spelled "Johnathan", "Jonothan", "Jonathon", or some other combination of these errors. This would not matter except that this is a name from the Old Testament of the Bible, and that millions of the same people who claim to believe the Bible literally in every word, demonstrate every day that they have not actually read the Good Book at all--or at least have very little familiarity with the contents.
There are two ways you can learn to spell your own language. You can learn by memorizing word by word by rote, as learning a foreign language, or you can learn by reading books (and other written media). Some people apparently do suffer from brain disabilities that make them perceive words backwards or with letters transposed, but in most cases people who cannot spell are simply uneducated or unread.
This is especially true when they cannot spell simple common words correctly. How many hours of school does it take to learn " i before e except after c" as a rule for learning how to correctly spell the extremely common word "receive"?
As hinted in my paragraph about those who follow the Bible without reading it, mass illiteracy is a threat to democracy. A functioning democracy requires that a significant fraction of the population know how to make comparisons between different ideas and be able to refer to written sources rather than depend on folklore for knowledge.
In many respect, although the US has a very advanced superstructure, much of the population is as ignorant and superstitious as the tribes of the Amazon basin.
I guess the real question is what is the tipping point. I think we are close.
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Give me a break
The whole point of written language is communication. If communication is effective with X% of spelling/grammar errors, then it's a waste of time to try and reduce that %. This is as silly as people complaining that a roadway is 1.25 inches narrower than specifications say it should be. Has the road been there 20 years? Has it allowed people to travel safely and efficiently for that time period? Yes? Then leave it alone. Oh the recipe called for those cookies to have 1/4 stick of butter instead of 1/8? Do they taste good? Alright then, leave it.
I very, very rarely encounter a spelling or grammar error that reduces clarity, and therefore do not feel the need to harp about spelling errors. I find that those people that do have this need are frankly picking on others as a way to make themselves feel better.
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Write On!
Keillor makes so much sense. How seriously can we take anyone who, whether dumb or careless, can't be bothered with spelling correctly or using standard English? Poor writing is nothing more than the outward manifestation of poor thinking. Competence is the issue. The Current Occupant is incompetent, in spades. People do not spell or write well because they are lazy and undisciplined. If they can't even speak or write decently, how are we to trust them with more important duties, like performing heart transplants or managing a war? If the truth be known, they can't recite the times tables, either. But watch them text message, golf, watch TV or play computer games. It is critical to learn to think - critically. Turn off (or better, sell) your TV, do not let your kids play with game-boys, and leave the computer for adults, turned off whenever possible. Read to your kids and have them read to you. Go for walks. Recite poetry. Life can be better if you just stand up for the good things.