Do you judge people by their spelling?

[drew8800]

On question of judging people for poor spelling, yes I do. It isn't difficult, especially in an age where most browsers have a spell-checker embedded in them, to have proper spelling.

Grammar, on the other hand, is more difficult. As it's been pointed out already English may not be the person's first language thus making it difficult for a person to form proper syntax. I'll be the first to point out that my grammar isn't stellar, which is why I don't judge on that.

Spelling though? You bet.

 

[FamoFunk]

No, sometimes I might type 'Their' instead of 'There' without realising it, other people make the same innocent mistake.
Some people are dyslexic etc., too.


Wen ppl take da piss nd write lyk dis tho,,, ye i will judge em lyk.

 

[Byere]

If I did that, half my friends wouldn't be my friends...

I admit, it's kind of a pet peeve of mine and I used to always correct everyone's spelling for them, but nowadays I've relaxed on it as I can read what they're putting and know what they mean (almost all the time, anyway). I try not to judge people on their spelling though like I said, it's a peeve of mine when people constantly misspell words, even after you help them with wordings...

I do sometimes judge someone's general intelligence by their spelling, but I won't say anything directly or dismiss them completely because of it.

 

[mjc0961]

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.

If they make the kind of mistake you referenced, no. I only start completely disregarding people if they decide that they need to use text abbreviations like "ur" all the time and write paragraphs that are one giant run-on sentence. And that's pretty much only because I can't read the entire thing without going "oh fuck this" due to the lack of proper sentences. So I guess my real beef is more with grammar than spelling, but whatever.

 

[DirtyMagic]

There's a fine line between a few honest typos and little grammar mistakes and typing like a complete twat.

So yeah, if it's TOO much of an abomination to read...

 

[SenseOfTumour]

Like most people, I have no problem with the occasional typo, and especially in terms of people whose first language is not English, I've got all the the time in the the world for them, as I just can't get my head around other languages.

It's only when typing like a complete dick is a choice that I have a problem with it, like 90% of people who have ever posted a comment on youtube. Top tip guys, most of the symbols above the numbers on your keyboard are NOT in fact part of the regular alphabet, please don't scatter them randomly among the words you're trying to form.

However, it's just irritating when people just seem to live for scanning your post for minor mistakes, don't they have anything better to do? It's not like an grammatical or spelling error makes your point any less relevant.

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

To an extent, yes. I wouldn't say I dismiss their opinion entirely, but I'm a lot more likely to than if the post was well worded, eloquent, witty, and, of course, grammatically impeccable.

EDIT: The comma in front of the 'and' is an Oxford comma, which I have always had as an unshakeable habit, and I am the kind of person that, upon noticing a tiny grammatical flaw, or spelling error, will immediately go and edit the post.

 

[ChildofGallifrey]

I can excuse spelling to an extent, but I admit I'm a grammar Nazi. More on myself than others (I'm not so bad as to correct a stranger over the internet). My general rule of thumb is that if I have to slow myself down or read the sentence more than once just to be able to comprehend it, then I don't want to know. It's a dickish way to think, and I know it, but I just can't tolerate nonsense like this.

those dotz in teh languag that tell u when a sentens iz over r stupid cuz evry1 who deservz 2 c wwat i say can tell that neways its liek a catch 22 sort uv and i luv it when tehy r liek i cant understand :0 cuz then i can lolz in their face cuz their dum and i iz smarts rofl i cant c y sum peeps r 2 dum to reed this i tell them 2 stfu n gtfo b4 i mess their shit up!!!11!1!!111!!11

On my part, it might be a remnant of sorts from growing up in a redneck town where a shocking number of people don't give the slightest damn about this sort of thing, and proper grammar and a vocabulary beyond the 8th grade is actually a hindrance (I literally have to dumb myself down if I want to speak to anyone in my girlfriends family). Of course, this is also a town that largely thinks that Transformers 2 was a masterpiece and literally nobody I know back home could make it more than 20 minutes into District 9...

When I was growing up I read a LOT, and I played almost nothing but RPGs before voice acting became to norm. I have a large vocabulary, and I like to use it. I don't like having to talk like a 15 year old just so someone can understand me.

Okay, I'm going to stop now before I make myself seem even MORE like a smug jackass.

 

[Kargathia]

There's a distinctive difference between occasionally making a typo, not fully having mastered a foreign language, and the outright mutilation of the English language by people who don't care whether they're forcing everyone else to spend more time deciphering their rambling, grammatically incorrect bullshit.

*takes a deep breath*

In the end I doubt whether anyone isn't influenced by mistakes, or lack of them. After all it is one of the few ways to form an opinion of the poster. If you want to make a positive impression you'll always have to put some effort in how you present yourself. This isn't really limited to internet forums, so I don't see why it should be that different there.

Dyslexia is usually quite easy to spot though: you'll generally see mistakes that make sense when you read them phonetically.

My general rule of thumb is that if I have to slow myself down or read the sentence more than once just to be able to comprehend it, then I don't want to know.

My first association here was my first-time reading of La Divina Commedia: an excellent text, but damn, did rereading every line about five times make me feel stupid...

 

[Sinclair Solutions]

While the occasional spelling error is fine, butt wen some1 spels liek this, it rely bothres meh. They should rely try hrder.

 

[RivFader86]

Well yes and no....i don't care to much about spelling...BUT...if someone whose first language is english doesn't know whether to use "then" or "than" (constantly...not as a typo of course) it's kinda sad ;P

 

[Matt-the-twat]

I do judge them, but only on their grasp of English. I think that's a perfectly reasonable judgement to make. I have plenty of good and insightful friends who are bad spellers though, if that's what you're getting at?

 

[Fraught]

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

Hey! English is my second language, and I am terribly fluent in it. At least, that's what I'd say, even though I am very humble.

Though yeah, I get your point. It's not really a privilege to be here, a privilege only reserved for the most weathered of linguists. Everyone can join, and if you want to ignore those who don't use those they'res and theirs and stuff correctly, then it's your loss. Their ideas might not match their spelling.

 

[Jamboxdotcom]

I judge a little bit. I.e. if it's absolutely sloppy it will bug me and devalue some of what they say. However, if it's obvious that English is not their native language i will cut them a lot of slack. Honestly, it's mostly the "u" and "ur" crap that makes me dismiss people.

 

[eatenbyagrue]

I'm an English teacher, so it's kind of my job. To be fair, I also have to teach them why it'd be wrong, and how it's supposed to be done.

 

[Macgyvercas]

I forgive errors like mixing up their/there/they're, to/two/too, etc, but if someone is so bad at spelling that I have to spend more than 60 seconds trying to decipher just what the hell they are trying to say (i.e. lolspeak, leetspeak), then yes, I'm ignoring that.

 

[Vigormortis]

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.

I don't hold slight mistakes against someone. For example, occasionally misspelling a word or two, or confusing there/their/they're once in a while. Constant misspelling, egregious mistakes, run-on-sentences, and a complete lack of punctuation on the other hand...

I find it hard to listen to or take seriously someone who can not form a cogent, cohesive sentence or line of thought for no other reason then they didn't take the time to proofread or were too lazy. If they're not taking the time to think about what they're typing, then they're probably not taking the time to actually think on the topic at hand. Thus, it's hard to take their opinion seriously.

No.
Those that do should introduce a foot to their bum.

Well excuse those of us that (correctly) assume someone should be spell checking themselves. Especially given that their post isn't submitted until they click the "post" button. Besides, at this point, virtually all web browsers automatically spell check for you. So really, there's no excuse anymore beyond laziness.

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

Right. Because it's somehow "bad" and "American" to assume people can spell check themselves, regardless of what language they are typing in or translating to. Please, keep the irrational, anti-American sentiments coming. It's really constructive and definitely adds to the conversation.


[edit]
Just to clarify, if someone is typing in English, or any other language, and that language is not their primary language, I am definitely more forgiving of spelling errors and the like. It would be both arrogant and idiotic of someone to expect perfect spelling in that regard. My point is more towards those who are fluent in both the spoken and written forms of a language but still make terrific spelling errors and fail at sentence structure.

 

[plugav]

I won't always ignore a person's opinion based on their spelling, but if you think about how you write, you usually think about what you write as well.

 

[Furbyz]

I'm an aspiring English teacher, so yeah, I totally judge people based on their spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Not to the point of thinking they're a complete idiot, but I often contemplate sending them a pm about all the things wrong with the so-called sentence they birthed into the world after violating the English language.

None of that extends to non-native speakers, of course. Kudos to all of you for doing something that I never could.

 

[Alade]

I do, it's almost always a good indicator of their intelligence.