Do you judge people by their spelling?

[ScoopMeister]

I'll personally admit that until i'm told otherwise I will assume someone is white and speaks English as a first language.

Not that it matters, because most of the white Brits I know can't spell worth a damn and the dudes from Africa I know can.

So OP: Yes I do. If they say they're from another country, then fair enough, but if not, THEY NEED TO GO TO SCHOOL AND LEARN DAMMIT

What I find ironic is that people for whom English is not their first language take a lot of care over their typing, spell everything perfectly, then use the correct grammar, and then still apologise incase they have made any mistakes, but then idiots who can only speak English rush through it, make tons of really stupid mistakes, then act as if they're the smartest, greatest human being on the planet.

That really gets on my nerves.

 

[Necator15]

I typically do unless it's written out. Everything has spell-check these days, if you're too lazy to bother checking on it why should I invest any energy in reading it?

 

[Ashcrexl]

i dont judge people badly for spelling errors as i make frequent errors myself, but if someone has perfect spelling and grammar, i tend to pay attention more.

 

[Corpse XxX]

I don't judge people by their spelling.. I judge people who judge peoples spelling...

Grammar Nazis, yes im looking at you!


Unless it is in the purpose of harmless trolling, then it can at times be funny..

 

[DasDestroyer]

If they use chatspeak, then yes, if english is simply not their primary language, then no.

 

[OliverTwist72]

Yes, I do. I don't mean to but it happens, and I think if most people were honest with themselves they'd admit they do as well. Especially if they make frequent mistakes (one or two aren't that big of a deal). I don't totally dismiss them, but it weakens the point you are trying to make if you can't make it coherently.

Picture it this way, do you judge people that slur their words or mispronounce them or hell even have a stutter or something to that effect? Because that's the equivalent of misspellings. You can say no that's mean I would never. But you definately notice and judge someone whether you want to or not. Also, just because you judge someone does not necessarily mean it's a bad thing. Only when you allow your personal beliefs to cloud your perceptions, judgments, and ultimately your actions is when judging people becomes detrimental.

 

[the27thvoice]

You must be American and think English is the only language spoken in the World...

Not that it really matters, but no. I am Norwegian and English is my second language. And it annoys me when people confuse Norwegian words that sound alike too.
Actually, it seems these mistakes are more common among native speakers. If you use a language in your daily speech it's a lot easier to confuse words that sound alike, whereas if you use it primarily in the written form you are more aware of the differences.

 

[PurplePlatypus]

No, but then to spot such mistakes I usually need to read slowly and have a spell checker backing me up so I?m not really going to spot such mistakes while casually reading through other peoples post.

I only start judging if someone starts to use chat speak or is deliberately fucking around with capitalisation. Mostly because it means I need to slow down to read it and they probably know how to write properly.

 

[EradiusLore]

I catch myself often dismissing people entirely because of their spelling. Not the occasional typo, but the consistent mistaking of words like their/there/they're or where/were/we're, words that sound alike when spoken out loud.
If someone posts anything starting with "My aunt and uncle own a shop and when were going to there place..." I tune out, decide that this poster is an idiot and completely ignore anything they have to say, no matter how valid or thoughtful it may be.

Does anybody else have this experience?

PS: Since I'm sitting in a glass house throwing stones, let's just assume any errors in my own post are put there for satirical purposes.

Do you mean grammer? spelling is something a lot of people genuinly have trouble with, i wouldn't dismiss people especialy considering some who have things like dyslexia. you should only ignore the people who abbreviate everything; much like the following statement: wht u up 2? cmn 2 twn!

 

[Mike Laserbeam]

Yeah, I suppose I do judge people based on their ability to form a sentence. But I think that's just because I like being able to easily understand what somebody has written.

Or maybe I'm just a massive snob...

 

[twistedmic]

Yes, I tend to do that quite often, I also judge people based on continuous punctuation and capitalization errors.

 

[Tiger Sora]

I do judge especially if it's just appalling. If you can't take the time to use spell check, you obviously can't bother yourself to do alot of things you should.

 

[loc978]

I do have an initial negative reaction to people making obvious errors in their spelling and grammar online. I usually give them th benefit of the doubt and assume they don't speak English natively, though. I can relate, since I lived in Germany for three years and barely speak the language as well as a native five-year-old.

...but for native English speakers, I have no sympathy for chatspeak, word substitution or grossly incorrect spelling. I correct myself as I type, and I expect others to do the same.

 

[thylasos]

In a way. I mean, on the internet, a few typographical errors, fair enough. But if you've been on the internet for any time whatsoever, someeone will probably have pointed out that your spelling is absolutely atrocious, you'll likely have got some kind of spell-checker.

As long as there's some sort of logic to it and it's not the work of more than 20 seconds to figure out what you're trying to say, you'll generally be fine.

I'm also concious of grammatical errors, though that's often balanced out by me thinking "Oh well, maybe English isn't their first language, and they're basing the spelling they're using off the one they've heard. Fair enough."

Consistent misspelling or deliberately obtuse use of capitalisation, though, do tend to grate after a while.

 

[Je Suis Ubermonkey]

And offtopic, what the HELL is up with your avatar!?

What it is is dominatrix Fluttershy (I call her Flutterdom)
Why it is? I really don't know. Suffice to say my brain is a strange place. Ponies make it stranger.

OT: I put dyslexics into the same acceptance boat as foreigners; I don't expect them to be great, just coherent.
I also don't expect them to choose to do anything requiring fluency. Fiction by semi-illiterate people is infuriating and an excellent demonstration of stupidity at every level.

 

[IndianaJonny]

Not really, though I think particular use of grammar is more revealing of a poster's unique style.

 

[Marudas]

Interesting. Are you asking me if I judge people for making a typo, or if I'm judging people for barely being able to cobble together a coherent sentence?

If someone trips over a few words, its not a big deal, but if someone's entire paragraph is an amalgamation of Text-Type and grammar butchery, it becomes hard to put stock in their opinion. I can't tell you how many times someone has substituted things like "U, R, Y" and the like for the three letter words they represent. This isn't Twitter, two extra characters wont make or break your post. I don't know if "judge" is the right word though. If someone has taken 15 seconds to throw their opinion at me, I don't plan to take longer than 15 to try to read it.

 

[sokka14]

Unless it's probably a typo I do, everyone does to a certain extent. Exceptions like proper dyslexia aside, if your spelling and grammar are poor in a work environment, people will rightly think less of you. If you don't know how to spell something, fine, but on the internet you can check in a second.

My brother used to be terrible at spelling, but over the last few years he made a conscious effort to improve and he's now better than most people.

It is important to understand that language evolves, but that means new words are created and certain words developed to suit new purposes. That does not mean you're allowed to spell anything however you want to. Text speak, however convenient, unfortunately encourages a lack of clarity in communication, and that is essentially what I'm opposed to.

 

[Sir Broccoli]

I can forgive the occasional typo or mistakes made because English isn't their first language but anyone who claims they can speak/write English and doesn't know the difference between they're, their and there deserves no less than a swift kick to the balls.

So I guess that's a yes.

 

[Gudrests]

Slnpelig ins't as inoprmant as you mhigt tnihk, I'm tlod. Yuor biarn anprltpaey rdaes wdros as a wolhe as lnog as the frsit and lsat ltretes are in pacle.

I don't worry about spelling and such as long as I can generally tell what is being said.

AHHHH I remember the first time I saw one of these, I went into my teachers office and he was laughing as hard as he could and yelled read this, So I read it better than I have ever read anything else. He was laughing so hard and an old lady was stairing at me like ...HOW DO HE DO THAT!!! ME BRAIN NO READ THAT!!!!

AHHHH but no I can't judge people for spelling or grammar because mine is horrendious. That and im so used to seeing red lines on the screen I dont really care anymore. I think im getting better though.