A Call To Better Spelling

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by perchance

One of the reasons I love the English language.

If Lewis Carroll got his roller furling jammed, or his engine would not start, I do not think his use of the language would be so poetic. There is a time to enjoy the beauty of the English language, but it is not on a sailing forum.

[doug86]

Originally Posted by Woodchuck

Wouldn't it be "A Call for Better Spelling" since better spelling is not a place. "A call to spell better" might work better.

I though Better Spelling was Tori's younger sister, and this thread was about making a phone call....

I'm always the last to know

[perchance]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

If Lewis Carroll got his roller furling jammed, or his engine would not start, I do not think his use of the language would be so poetic. There is a time to enjoy the beauty of the English language, but it is not on a sailing forum.

That may be true but just imagine the wonderful new swear words he could come up with.
Move the traveler to windward a bit and harden that jib sheet ( just to keep us in sailing forum mode).

[four winds]

A fun thread to read. Not a call for censorship at all, quite the contrary in my opinion.

And an intelligent, humorous look at the quirks of language, grammar, spelling, and the human condition. Not sure why anyone would get their pants in a bunch over the content. That's pants in the "English" vernacular, by the way.

[Chief Engineer]

You mean knickers in a wad?

[HRDC]

Well, ladies and gents, this post got me to register to CF. Always thought it was great with "good ambiance", but was just an observer really. And what about spelling? So many comments on so many blogs, forums, etc are not always badly written per se. But they are often pitiful (had to check that one actually!) on spelling and typos. Annoying. I'm a translator by trade - French to English and vice-versa. And wear many other hats as I'm also self-employed (commisioning new boats, deliveries, training, involved in boating safety in Quebec and Canada). The thing we tend to forget is to re-read ourselves! Simple. Or search for the correct spelling of a term. Takes time. But it is a pretty basic way to make sure we address others in a meaningful way that is also respectful of the language we use. Not everyone is proficient at writing, but we all can... doublecheck what we write.
Can't wait to get my boat back in the water. Should happen by end of May if weather is nice in our parts (Lake Champlain).

[Janet H]

Welcome to the Board

[hummingway]

It's always nice when a lurker *comes out.

*I resisted the urge to write delurks in deference to the thread

[sarafina]

I prefer boxers inna bunch

or panties inna twist

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, HRDC.

Not THE HRDC*, I presume.
*Human Resources Development Canada

[four winds]

Originally Posted by Chief Engineer

You mean knickers in a wad?

Not sure, but I don't think so. My understanding is that knickers are knee length trousers worn by younger boys in England, but maybe not. And subsequently became known in America as the long knee length undergarment seen in 18c or 19c women's fashion. Think dance hall floozie from the western movies, hence the connection to underwear.

Also, based on an affinity for Craig Ferguson's late night show on US TV, I understand "pants" are actually undershorts or panties (think pantaloons) and not trousers as Americans know them.

So I was saying "panties is a wad", I think. Maybe a distant cousin from England will correct me. One of my great, great, great grandfathers came from England and married a Native American woman. A few generations later my Mum married a Cuban orphan in the 1950's and beget me.

Born in Key West a half century ago and just now getting back to water/inland life.

[CGB GAREY]

Hi everyone.

What an interesting thread. I too have occasionally been dismayed at poor spelling in this forum, yet such dismay happens infrequently. For the most part people here seem knowledgeable (even wise) and tolerant (except when discussing guns/piracy and anchoring). Keep the lively conversations going!

I'll state my context to provide my point of perspective. I am currently studying for my diploma in teaching English as a second language... and have always been casually interested in language. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round.

It seems to me that at the point spelling becomes more an impediment than a means to communicate it ceases its utility. Where that point is will be personal matter. I personally cut a great deal of slack in the matter of correct usage to someone who speaks English as a foreign language. Perhaps this is only to acknowledge my own linguistic ineptitude, as invariably their English is far superior to my ability in their native language. I am less tolerant to those I know speak English as their first tongue. Sometimes bad usage is simply ignorance or negligence.

Is English a confusing and 'rule-less' language? I don't believe so, but I am convinced that it is a language requiring serious involvement if it is to be well understood. It borrows words from other languages easily and unashamedly. A great deal of English is derived from Latin and Greek by way of French after 1066 (& all that). Consider; a Germanic language overlaid with Latin and Greek, no wonder there are numerous rules that at first glance seem contradictory.

I was told that the confusion between contractions and the possessive (Tom's book) lay in the fault of a particular scribe or printer who believed the final 's' to be a contraction of 'his', as in 'Tom his book'. Originally there was no apostrophe (one can go way back to the Old English/Anglo Saxon 'eorla Beowulfes - 'of Beowulf's earls' to see this). 'It's' and 'its' keeps this distinction by following ancient convention.

I sometimes get peeved in a minor way when confronted (in Engish or any other language) with spelling I don't know how to pronounce, but then remember that often this is a sign of earlier sound. The '-gh-' in 'knight' used to be pronounced. Often an 'h-' in Spanish (silent now) shows that this was formerly an 'f-' ('hierro' from the Latin 'ferrum'). I still am clueless to French spelling.

The rules are there, but it takes a fair amount of mental elbow grease to pursue them. It's all part of the moveable feast we call our age. What will future generations make of our obsession to make everything an acronym? (Though, to be sure, it is easier to plot by radar than it is by radio direction and range).

Cheers - Guy

[ty.gregory]

Originally Posted by hummingway

I presume you meant donkey-like and not having to do with an ancient Greek town?

Doesn't this make you question your own participation?

A good point. ANSWER: yes...

[ty.gregory]

And no, I meant the ancient Greek town.

[TeamPoach]

Don't the red lines under a word when you write a post mean the word is misspelled? And can't you just right click the misspelled word and choose the correct word to replace it?

Seems pretty easy to me.

I thought spell check would cure misspelling. I think it's so easy even if you have a disability you can do it. And it will even correct typos(they show up as a misspelled word).

For the most part the posts here on CF seem to be written well, however, there are some that it seems like you are playing a game trying to decipher what the writer has written. That does get annoying. When this occurs I choose to ignore that post. If the offending poster had something important to say then they would have taken the short amount of time to correct their errors before pressing the post button.

The occasional grammar errors are understandable. But with spell check the spelling errors seem to be due to laziness.

This is a great site with great contributors. Maybe sailors are just lazy by nature?