Do you speak english??????

ScoobieWRX · Post by **ScoobieWRX** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:03 am

I've been meaning to post something up about this for ages but have held back to see if the status quo continues or abates......

I'm deeply dismayed at the dire level of written english being used on BP over the last long time, in fact since i've been here. The amount of text speak used has gone up and spelling mistakes (not genuine typos) seem to be the norm and widely accepted without critique or correction.

I've seen better grammar from kids in infants/junior school and i think BP members have forgotten what punctuation is for. General use of everyday correct vocabulary has gone way down south and it's definitely getting worse.

I'm talking about easy words being regularly misspelled and misused for something else, e.g. There and Their, Your and You're, Weight and Wait, and i've seen paid being spelled payed. The list goes on and on and on.

I appreciate this website isn't about spelling competitions or anything else like that but we do all have to communicate with eachother and it would be good if we could just use the Queen's english correctly... just like we were all taught at school!!

Flame me if you want and tell me to feck off because i'm talking shite but
i'm not the spelling police, just a concerned member of one of the best petrolheads websites on the planet, and i give a feck that this goes on. I know lots of foreigners that use english as a second language and they put most of you to shame!! I'm a bloody foreigner myself!!

Anyway, this isn't MAXPOWER or some CHAV forum so please chaps I implore you, get it sorted....coz it ain't gud m8 OK!!

Post by **Stuart** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:48 pm

An interesting post Francis. I'll avoid sifting through it to correct your own cock ups

I read many forums and participate on just a few; BigPower is no different to many other forums in as much as the amount of effort that goes into posting is quite greatly varied. We have many people who are browsers rather than contributors; will an assault on typo's help? I think not.

I am one of the biggest advocates for protection of the Queen's English. One of the principle rules was to eradicate text type and chavism's but this is something that is impossible to stem if not enough people make the effort.

In summary I have concerns about several elements of the forum at present, one of which is the quality of the posts and the grammar within them. I am far more concerned about the way that new threads are drying up. Without new interest and new membership or users, we run the risk of becoming stale.

I can't keep cutting holes in my car just to entertain you guys

ScoobieWRX · Post by **ScoobieWRX** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 1:40 pm

Cut any more holes in Betty and you'll be driving a very quick Tea Bag!!

As far as my post is concerned for grammatical cock-ups, please do correct it...I like to know where i've cocked up.

A lack of subscriptions may require some more creative marketing, personally i like the exclusivety of BP but clearly it's dead at the moment and i hear where you're coming from. As for new posts perhaps members have other more pressing matters to deal with as a result of the curent economic climate. This is true for myself as i haven't been on or contributed as much as i could or have done in the past.

Perhaps a BP meeting is on the cards where as many members as possible attend the usual venue and have a brainstorm with respect to the future direction of BP perhaps finding way for members to feel more involved thereby creating a sense of ownership and value. I would certainly make an effort to be there. In my experience face to face meets get a lot sorted out.

Regardless of what anyone thinks of my post i felt it required saying.

BP stale....NEVER!! Keep cutting Stuart!!

Gerry H · Post by **Gerry H** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:27 pm

'tea bag' isn't a proper noun so doesn't require capitals.

Please remember to use the shift key when using the word 'I'

Quite honestly, your last couple of paragraphs are lacking in punctuation. I can't hold my breath that long these days

Use of a comma where there should really have been a new sentence.

If you expect too high a standard of written English you will cause people to think twice about posting. Personally, I love the idea of no text speak and generally, that rule is observed. Take a look at some of the threads on S/net for instance, they're almost impossible to follow, well for me anyway.

You need to accept that there are varying levels of ability. If dyslexia exists, then it must follow that there are varying levels of it and we need to be tolerant to that fact. When all is said and done, this is a car forum, dotting 'i's and crossing 't's is secondary to an interesting article.

IMO

Please also bear in mind and observe The Disability Discrimination Act. Dyslexia is a recognised condition and as such, must be accomodated within the rules of the site.

BTW Francis, when it comes to the English language, you'd make a good Spaniard.

ScoobieWRX · Post by **ScoobieWRX** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 9:31 pm

Yep!!

Bart · Post by **Bart** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:03 pm

im not being funny but im bit affended by this
i am dislexic and not very good with spelling words,reading or writing
and as for punktuality i have no idea what it all means
my girlfriend is a qualified primary school teacher and im
learning to read and write as if i was in start of school again
as for the short abriviation things they confuse the living hell out me
i have to ask my girlfriend to explane it all to me and i still forget

sorry rant over

ginger ninja · Post by **ginger ninja** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:09 pm

As Stuart said, this is an interesting topic and I also agree that so called text talk is killing the Queens english ( did I need a capitol "E" in english?)

I for one amit that my spelling is not good and my wife is always pulling me up on it and correcting things, but yes I did get an "O" level in english at school but that was 23 years ago and to be honest my maths is not that good either.

In general I can see where you are coming from, but for my lieracy and numeracy faults I for one feel that I have made a success of my life and I can not complain. As we are all different but have the same interest in this site and what it main objective is.

I know that I personally have not posted much on this site recently, but I do log on and see whats been going on.
There are different levels of items and topics that do not suit everyones needs and I for one feel this is a bit out of my league at times, but I am always here to help and asist when and where ever I can.

In the end of the day if we do not all contribute a little then there will not be a site to do so on.

Julian.

ScoobieWRX · Post by **ScoobieWRX** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:13 pm

Bart wrote:im not being funny but im bit affended by this
i am dislexic and not very good with spelling words,reading or writing
and as for punktuality i have no idea what it all means
my girlfriend is a qualified primary school teacher and im
learning to read and write as if i was in start of school again
as for the short abriviation things they confuse the living hell out me
i have to ask my girlfriend to explane it all to me and i still forget

sorry rant over

Bart, northing to be offended about mate. There was no offence intended whatsoever. Hazel, my partner, isn't just word Dyslexic but number too. I write a lot of her press releases and technical product catalogues for her job but she can still design a semiconductor chip. Go figure!!

DJBB · Post by **DJBB** » Sun Oct 25, 2009 11:02 pm

We all spell words wrong every now & then!

I use Chrome which has got a built in spell checker so usually my spelling is pretty good!

I haven't seen any 'txt talk' on here which is good as I find it so much harder to read than normal English!